Our Founding Managing Partner Yinglan Tan joins CNBC’s Squawk Box Asia (aired July 8, 2026) to map where Southeast Asia’s next wave of venture value will come from: the emerging hubs beyond Singapore and Indonesia, the deepening of the region’s financing and exit ecosystem, and the technologies coming after the current AI cycle.

Key takeaways:

• Why geopolitical tension makes Singapore a neutral magnet for capital and company formation
• What makes Vietnam’s gaming and AI talent world-class, and why Malaysia’s semiconductor diversification play matters
• How SGX initiatives, Japanese conglomerates, and Gulf sovereign capital are deepening Southeast Asia’s financing ecosystem
• Why capital is concentrating on proven companies, and how that raises the underwriting bar at the earliest stages
• What the “20-year test” reveals about how Insignia underwrites founders playing the long game
• Why the AI cycle is still in its early innings despite trillion-dollar IPOs
• What comes after AI: quantum, stablecoins and agentic payments, and the AI x biotech intersection

Timestamps

0:00 – Beyond Singapore and Indonesia: Vietnam and Malaysia Rising

1:23 – Deepening Southeast Asia’s Financing Ecosystem

3:28 – Exit Timelines and the 20-Year Test

4:51 – What Comes After AI: Quantum, Stablecoins, and AI x Biotech

About our Guest

Yinglan Tan is the Founding Managing Partner of Insignia Ventures Partners, an early-to-growth stage venture capital firm focused on Southeast Asia that he founded in 2017. The firm manages capital from premier institutional investors including sovereign wealth funds, foundations, university endowments, and family offices across Asia, Europe, and North America. Before founding Insignia, Yinglan was Sequoia Capital’s first hire and Venture Partner in Southeast Asia.

Transcript

Beyond Singapore and Indonesia: Vietnam and Malaysia Rising

JP (CNBC): So when I think about the tech scene and startup scene in Southeast Asia, I think about two countries prominently. I think about Singapore because of the sandbox and the fact that it’s such a great place to start and incubate some of these ideas. In Indonesia, we’re seeing a lot of these startups and tech firms coming in because they want to take advantage of that massive population.

Where else in Southeast Asia do you see signs of perhaps the next tech scene or tech hub emerging? Or do you think that startups and tech will be skewed towards these two countries for the time being?

Yinglan: These two countries certainly dominate in terms of headline numbers, investment dollars, company formation.

Having been in Singapore, we see a lot of activity. I think when the world is a safe place, Singapore maybe has less activity, but when there’s geopolitical tension, Singapore becomes a very neutral place for capital and companies to form and flock to.

Another interesting country that we’ve been spending time on is Vietnam (see: “2025 in Review: Four Pillars of Vietnam’s Startup Ecosystem Transformation”). I think there is a lot of interesting gaming talent and AI talent actually in Vietnam. They are building global applications and games (see: “Vietnam’s 11 High-Tech Industrial Priorities to Breakthrough Economic Growth”). They are truly, I think, world-class, or beginning to be of world-class standards. So I think that’s an interesting area to also spend time on.

“A series of strategic government initiatives and significant new capital injections have reshaped the landscape, firmly establishing the foundations for Vietnam’s ascent as a leading innovation hub in Southeast Asia.” — from “2025 in Review: Four Pillars of Vietnam’s Startup Ecosystem Transformation”

“In its pursuit of long-term, sustainable development, Vietnam is placing innovation at the heart of its economic strategy… technological advancement and digital transformation have emerged as the key levers for breakthrough development in the new growth cycle.” — from “Vietnam’s 11 High-Tech Industrial Priorities to Breakthrough Economic Growth”

The other country that’s of course interesting is Malaysia, mainly because of the whole semiconductor supply chain diversification play (see: “Semiconductor Supply Chains in Flux: Where is the Southeast Asia Opportunity?”), and to a lesser extent, Vietnam as well. So I think these are the few interesting spots that we spend time on.

“Southeast Asia, particularly Singapore and Malaysia, has emerged as hotspots for semiconductor manufacturing… Malaysia boasts a history of skilled labor in the sector and houses strong domestic and foreign companies.” — from “Semiconductor Supply Chains in Flux: Where is the Southeast Asia Opportunity?”

Deepening Southeast Asia’s Financing Ecosystem

JP (CNBC): And I wanted to get your thoughts also, Yinglan, on another comment brought up by another investor I spoke to a couple of months back, talking about the need for the startup scene and for venture capital financing to see a broader maturity and deepening of the entire financing ecosystem to really unlock the potential of venture capital.

Meaning they need the big banks, they need institutional funds, they need also financing to be big enough to make sure that financing from the seed stage all the way to the end, and even into exits, for instance, really matures before you can unlock full potential and see venture capital activity achieve what we’re seeing in the likes of China, in the likes of the United States.

Do you think that’s possible, and do you think that is something that is achievable, or perhaps a necessary achievement, for venture capital financing to really unlock its true potential in Southeast Asia?

Yinglan: Yeah, certainly I think that is correct. Given your office’s position in the Singapore Stock Exchange, I’m sure you’re aware of the many efforts by the Singapore government to stimulate the stock exchange (see: “Sail While the Wind Is Blowing”).

I think the whole global listing board for companies to dual list in Singapore and NASDAQ is very positive momentum. And also the introduction of funds to support Singapore-listed companies, I think that’s certainly going to be beneficial, additive to the ecosystem.

“The 2026 IPO window is open right now. Across five major Asian exchanges and a US market bracing for the biggest listings in history, the conditions are the best they have been since 2021… SGX: IPO proceeds at a 7-year high. SGX-Nasdaq dual-listing bridge launches mid-2026 — one prospectus, two markets.” — from “Sail While the Wind Is Blowing”

We also see a different influx of capital from Japan. I think Japanese conglomerates are trying to chase growth outside Japan (see: “From Landing to Belonging: Unlocking the Japan-Southeast Asia Opportunity”). We see Gulf sovereign capital investing in AI infrastructure (see: “Finding the Southeast Asia Opportunity in Jensen Huang’s AI Cake”) and fintech rails. We see private capital flocking into AI infrastructure investments.

“A bidirectional dynamic is at play. Japanese corporates have capital but need new growth engines; Southeast Asian startups have growth engines but need capital.” — from “From Landing to Belonging: Unlocking the Japan-Southeast Asia Opportunity”

“What this region is hosting, in other words, is global AI factory capacity, not regional AI factory companies. The capital is sovereign, hyperscaler, and infrastructure-fund; the operating model is industrial, not venture-scale.” — from “Finding the Southeast Asia Opportunity in Jensen Huang’s AI Cake”

I think these are all very positive trends for industry players like myself. And certainly we are assembling the building blocks in the whole ecosystem to make it more palatable for foreign capital, and actually for companies to be listed on the public markets. For us, I think the best exit is actually to have a legendary company that goes public and is sustainable (see: “Southeast Asia’s VC Exits Conundrum: Navigating the Path to Proven Returns”).

So I think the efforts by the regional governments to stimulate the stock exchanges are very positive for us.

“Ultimately, demonstrating returns, not just generating them, will solidify Southeast Asia’s venture landscape. Fostering transparency and diverse, well-documented exit pathways are key to this evolution.” — from “Southeast Asia’s VC Exits Conundrum: Navigating the Path to Proven Returns”

Exit Timelines and the 20-Year Test

Serenitie (CNBC): Do you feel that in the markets that you operate in and invest in, exit timelines are slower now compared to, say, five years ago? And how does that change perhaps your size of ticket? Do you find yourself nibbling at certain companies, even if you like the vision, even if you like the founder? Then maybe you don’t have to own 10 to 15%. You can go slowly, because of the horizon that you need to think about here.

Yinglan: I certainly think that’s somewhat true.

One of the things, as I mentioned earlier, is that capital is concentrating on the best and proven companies (see: “Why Capital is Flocking to Growth-as-a-Service Platform Companies”). And it’s lucky that actually we are in some of these proven companies that have grown to scale. But we remind ourselves, however, that if we were not there on day one to help them, support them, and grow them, there would not be the opportunity for us to increase our stake at subsequent rounds where it’s more proven.

“Carro, WIZ.AI, Surfin, and Konvy share no common vertical. What they share is a structural function: each is a capital bridge converting East Asian and emerging market growth from a conviction held by global institutions into an instrument those institutions can directly act on.” — from “Why Capital is Flocking to Growth-as-a-Service Platform Companies”

So I think we remain active at the earlier stages. However, the bar has risen for underwriting some of these investments, where you really need a founder that is committed to playing the long game (see: “Building an enduring company in Southeast Asia is not always about being first or fastest, but running the right race”). A test for us is to ask: will we still be happy to be investors in this company 20 years from now?

And that says two things. One, there has to be longevity in the company. And two, it has to be a meaningful company 20 years from now. So I think that sort of first principles thinking helps us underwrite our investments.

“The companies positioned to benefit are not necessarily the ones moving fastest today. They are the ones that understood, months or years in advance, which race they were already in.” — from “Building an enduring company in Southeast Asia is not always about being first or fastest, but running the right race”

What Comes After AI: Quantum, Stablecoins, and AI x Biotech

Serenitie (CNBC): And just really quickly, I know that we’re almost wrapping up here. What’s after AI? If you’re thinking 20 years down the road, say three years later you come back to Squawk Box Asia, what are we going to be talking about?

Yinglan: First, I think the whole AI cycle is still in the early days, right? People may argue that we have trillion-dollar IPOs (see: “Three Moves, One Signal: How OpenAI, Anthropic, and NVIDIA are Rewriting the AI Value Map”) happening, but I think the impact on society is still very early. So there is still a long way to play. We believe we’re still in the early innings.

“On May 28, Anthropic closed a $65 billion Series H at a $965 billion post-money valuation, with GIC as a co-lead investor and Temasek as a significant investor, Singapore’s two sovereign wealth funds anchoring the round together.” — from “Three Moves, One Signal: How OpenAI, Anthropic, and NVIDIA are Rewriting the AI Value Map”

But having said that, I think there are interesting green shoots in the space of quantum (see: “The Convergence Triangle: AI, Digital Assets, and Quantum Computing”), where there are some bright spots in Singapore, and it has the ability to disrupt certain industries.

“Quantum computing is compressing the timeline for when existing cryptographic infrastructure — the kind that secures every bank transfer, wallet signature, and token transaction on the planet — becomes vulnerable.” — from “The Convergence Triangle: AI, Digital Assets, and Quantum Computing”

I think stablecoins (see: “The Future of Local Stablecoins’ US$1.2 Billion Supply Runs Through Local Rails”) and agentic payments (see: “When Agents Go Shopping: The Infrastructure Behind Agentic Commerce”) as well are still in the early innings, right? Adoption of Bitcoin as a payment method is still very low. Enterprises using Bitcoin or crypto stablecoins as a ledger is still very low. So I do think that actually these three waves could have some interesting cross-pollination as well.

“The real opportunity is not simply putting fiat on-chain. It is putting the right fiat on-chain.” — from “The Future of Local Stablecoins’ US$1.2 Billion Supply Runs Through Local Rails”

“There is one scenario, which I think is quite plausible, in which agentic commerce becomes larger than human-driven commerce in the future.” — Coinbase Singapore Country Director Hassan Ahmed, quoted in “When Agents Go Shopping: The Infrastructure Behind Agentic Commerce”

And the intersection between AI and biotech is still in the early days as well, right? The whole genetic testing space and related industries are still early.

References

• 2025 in Review: Four Pillars of Vietnam’s Startup Ecosystem Transformation
• Vietnam’s 11 High-Tech Industrial Priorities to Breakthrough Economic Growth
• Semiconductor Supply Chains in Flux: Where is the Southeast Asia Opportunity?
• Sail While the Wind Is Blowing
• From Landing to Belonging: Unlocking the Japan-Southeast Asia Opportunity
• Finding the Southeast Asia Opportunity in Jensen Huang’s AI Cake
• Southeast Asia’s VC Exits Conundrum: Navigating the Path to Proven Returns
• Why Capital is Flocking to Growth-as-a-Service Platform Companies
• Building an enduring company in Southeast Asia is not always about being first or fastest, but running the right race
• Three Moves, One Signal: How OpenAI, Anthropic, and NVIDIA are Rewriting the AI Value Map
• The Convergence Triangle: AI, Digital Assets, and Quantum Computing
• The Future of Local Stablecoins’ US$1.2 Billion Supply Runs Through Local Rails
• When Agents Go Shopping: The Infrastructure Behind Agentic Commerce