Poonyatorn “Champ” Suthipongchai

General Partner, Creative Ventures

Industry : Business

Poonyathorn, or Champ, is the founder and managing partner of Thailand''s first venture capital fund based in Silicon Valley. Creative Ventures serves as a bridge between Silicon Valley and Southeast Asia, investing in US-based deep tech start-ups in the fields of industry, healthcare, agrifood and energy, in the process providing access to artificial intelligence not readily available in the region. As the only son of the family that owns white goods firm Krungthai Electric, Champ was expected to take over the family business. Following his graduation with degrees in electrical engineering and industrial engineering, he introduced new business models such as Enterprise Resource Planning to the company, often meeting with resistance. He then earned an MBA with special interests in design thinking and business model innovation. To set up Creative Ventures Champ secured initial funding of US$ 11 million from his father and then a further US$50 million from several corporate ventures in Thailand. He has expanded to Hong Kong and Taiwan. He remains chief strategy officer of his family’s business.