Tony Sun, director of corporate venture capital at GC Ventures, is one of the 100 leading corporate venturing professionals in our 2026 Powerlist.
Tianyi (Tony) Sun is the director of corporate venture capital at GC Ventures, the investment arm of Southeast Asia-based integrated chemical company PTT Global Chemical.
Sun has played a pivotal role in transitioning GC Ventures into a strategically embedded unit aligned with the parent company’s long-term transformation agenda. He is also heavily involved in supporting sister CVC funds within the PTT ecosystem, such as Xplor Ventures and ExpresSo, in their international presence.
Under Sun’s leadership, GC Ventures operates as a global-facing innovation bridge, connecting emerging technologies in advanced materials, clean energy, industrial biotechnology and digital manufacturing with GC’s industrial footprint in Asia and beyond. He played a crucial role in strengthening GC’s access to frontier innovation ecosystems in North America and China, and deepened partnerships with global founders, venture funds and research institutions.
Sun’s role extends externally. He has been a visible contributor to the broader CVC community, including his role as chair of GCV’s energy council where has helped foster collaboration among corporate investors, promoted best practices and advanced discussions on how CVC can support the energy transition and industrial decarbonisation.
GC Ventures’ portfolio reflects this combined strategic and ecosystem-driven approach. The team has backed a range of companies, such as actnano, Låkril Technologies, Turnover Labs, Boston Materials, Ardent Technologies, and Phase Change Energy Solutions —from early-stage innovators to scaling growth-stage businesses—while also maintaining LP commitments to leading venture funds, including Pangaea Ventures, Builders VC, and Volta Energy Storage Fund. Across these investments, the focus remains consistent: identifying technologies that can be validated and scaled through GC’s industrial capabilities, on top of financial return considerations.
Investment theses typically originate within the venture team, yet those with near-term impact to business units, which can significantly shorten the path from deal to deployment inside GC, are what Tony and his team prioritise.
A reported success story was the team’s backing of Tidal Vision, a startup extracting and commercialising chitosan, a biodegradable biopolymer, from crab shells. GC Ventures was an early investor in the company, which raised an oversubscribed $140m series B funding round last year.
“That is a huge number in our sector, especially in a tough fundraising market,” says Sun.
“The round ended up being oversubscribed because investors understand that the company has very good fundamentals, both in terms of financial numbers and in terms of its technology potential.”
The GCV Powerlist represents the 100 individuals spearheading the future of the corporate venturing industry.
These individuals excel in terms of their venturing approach and structure, number and quality of portfolio companies and in their contributions to the corporate venturing profession.
Here’s a snapshot of their recent deals:
