It’s with gratitude and excitement that we announce that Gavin Lee is now General Partner at Wavemaker Partners. We wouldn’t be where we are today without his leadership, grit, and commitment to excellence.
Gavin built the investment team at Wavemaker Partners and is responsible for all investment-related activities. He has led and participated in more than 100 investments and actively supports several Wavemaker Partners’ portfolio companies including Shield and eFishery.
Gavin had started his career in venture capital with Matrix Partners China and Infocomm Investments, a Singapore government venture firm now called SGInnovate. Even before that, he had cut his teeth helping to run his family business in home furnishings and sleep products.
He graduated with a BA in Financial Economics from Columbia University. He is currently completing his Executive MBA in Finance at Tsinghua University.
Over the last five years, Gavin has been working closely with Managing Partner Paul Santos in Singapore.
“We had met in 2015 while he was still at Infocomm Investments. We co-invested in regulatory technology startup Silent Eight. When we closed the deal, he told me he was moving on so I jumped at the opportunity to ask him to consider joining the firm.
“Gavin had several options at the time and it’s fair to say that Wavemaker wasn’t exactly the obvious choice. I was pleasantly surprised he accepted, confirming my suspicion that he was keen for an adventure,” says Paul.
Gavin eventually joined as Investment Manager and was subsequently elevated to Principal.
“Through the years we’ve agreed on many things and fought over many things. I tend to be intuitive and creative while Gavin tends to be analytical and disciplined, so together we can dream with our feet on the ground. We’ve made good decisions and bad decisions. We’ve seen our fair share of up rounds and exits as well as zombies and deaths. Somehow, we’ve managed to keep our sanity and sense of humor.”
We can dream with our feet on the ground.
“Ultimately, we’ve both grown as leaders and become smarter working as a team. Time will tell how good we really are, but our mid-term marks are looking quite decent.”
The firm has had a wonderful journey so far and being pathological optimists, we are hopeful that it just gets better from here, especially with your friendship and support.
