The Top 10: #4 Tiffine Wang, partner, MS&AD Ventures
Tiffine Wang is a partner at MS&AD Ventures, an early-stage, $120m corporate venture capital (CVC) vehicle for Japan-headquartered insurance group MS&AD (Mitsui Sumitomo and Aioi Nissay Dowa) Holdings.
The US-based unit has a global mandate focused on investing in enterprise technologies including financial and insurance technologies, artificial intelligence, impact investing, big data, enterprise software and cybersecurity.
“Tiffine has been a partner at MS&AD Ventures for just over a year now, and she has made immense contributions in multiple areas already,” said Jon Soberg, a managing partner at MS&AD Ventures.
“Her tireless work ethic and her ability to work with people at all levels have earned her the respect of teammates and executives alike. Tiffine bridges gaps between incumbent approaches and startups, and her patience and ability to teach has proven very valuable to our business development efforts.
“On the investment side, Tiffine builds strong relationships and uses her network and her research skills to find and connect with great startups. People love working with Tiffine; her energy is infectious, and she is always working to improve.
“Tiffine is a highly valuable member of our team and she has already become a leader by taking so much initiative and driving success at MS&AD Ventures.”
Wang, who worked at another CVC unit, Singtel Innov8, representing telecoms firm Singapore Telecommunications, added: “You get the best of the worlds, VC plus corporate. I get to spend time working with brilliant founders, testing new technologies and I also get to work closely with CEOs and executives of our various business units which are often responsible for individual deals and partnerships that are larger than our whole fund.”
Regarding her deals, she said: “One of my earlier investments – Carro, Southeast Asia’s largest automotive marketplace and car financing services – is doing well both financially and strategically. I was happy to hear that they have successfully partnered with our entity in Southeast Asia, MSIG, and the partnership continues to grow.”
