The top 100 leading venture capital firms, published by Stanford Graduate School of Business, has a new entry, with K2 Global coming into the charts for the first time at 89.
K2 Global a relatively small, independent venture capital firm has broken through for the first time. It is the only company with its headquarters based in Singapore, and one of five based outside of the United States.
Its portfolio reflects its core target of artificial intelligence and frontier technologies. This refers to scientific breakthroughs which are then translated into real-world scenarios. This cutting edge technology is at the forefront of exploring how people can communicate and new ways of problem solving.
“Artificial intelligence is reshaping every industry, from national security and robotics to healthcare and industrial systems,” said Ozi Amanat, Founder of K2 Global. “We believe many of the defining companies of the next decade will emerge at the intersection of intelligence, compute, and the physical world. Our focus is to back exceptional founders building foundational technologies that strengthen technological leadership.”
Who is Ozi Amanat?
The Harvard graduate studied psychology and economics, as well as having a strong interest in technology.
In a very fortunate meeting, Amanat met up with an acquaintance who had a connection with the founder of Twitter. Because of this meeting, Amanat was convinced about the future of the social media company and took the decision to plough $25m in the social media platform. The VC investor never looked back. When Twitter went public, these shares skyrocketed to $100m.
The founder of K2 Global launched the company in 2015 to invest in private technology companies. He was an early backer in startups such as Spotify, Coinbase, Airbnb and Uber.
Amanat believes that Singapore is the beating heart of technology’s future evolution. “Silicon Valley has had some 50 good years in flourishing technology endeavours. But, if you look at the future, Singapore is the neutral geographical gateway that grants one access to Asean, in addition to China and India. If one can understand the social and economic ecosystem of the Far East, then that gives rise to the greatest opportunities we will ever see.”
The Singapore resident believes this location has global connectivity and his dream is to build a bridge between Singapore and Silicon Valley that also stretched out to Malaysia, China and Indonesia.
“We’re a relatively small, independent venture capital firm, so it’s especially meaningful to be recognized alongside some of the most established names in AI investing,’ Amanat said in a LinkedIn post.
“I’ve spent years doing what I love most — finding exceptional founders, believing in their vision, and supporting them as they build companies with the potential to change the world.”
