Wavemaker Partners Names Andy Hwang as General Partner

SINGAPORE, November 23, 2022 — Wavemaker Partners, a leading venture capital firm in Southeast Asia, today welcomes Andy Hwang as new General Partner, as it celebrates 10 years of investing in the region.

Andy is transitioning into venture capital after angel investing and coaching startup founders full-time for the past year. He brings extensive experience in sales and marketing, risk, and scaling businesses after spending over a decade as a global leader at tech companies such as Facebook, Google, and Stripe. 

At Wavemaker, Andy will join the firm’s Investment Committee and work closely with Managing Partner Paul Santos in growing the organization. He will also sit on the boards of portfolio companies. Wavemaker is Southeast Asia’s leading VC investing in early-stage enterprise, deep tech, and sustainability startups. Since 2012, the firm has backed 180+ companies and posted over US$300 million in AUM across 4 funds in Southeast Asia. It has seen 24 exits and acqui-hires with a combined value of US$800 million. The firm’s thesis revolves around investing in founders with unique insights and solutions to unaddressed problems in the region, and key to uncovering those insights is keeping a curious mind.

“We’re excited to have Andy join the team as he brings a rare combination of operational, investing, and coaching experience. His credibility—combined with his curiosity, humility, and maturity—will help strengthen the firm’s leadership as we continue to evolve and grow over our next 10 years,” said Paul Santos.

Andy grew up in California and started his career in Silicon Valley, then moved to Singapore in 2012 as part of Facebook’s founding team in Asia. At Facebook, he spent 10 years, first as Managing Director of the Small and Medium Business (SMB), which he grew to over 2 million customers and US$6 billion in annual revenue, then later as Director of Business Integrity in APAC. In the latter role, he ensured safe and trusted connections between millions of businesses and Facebook’s users, and acted as Site Lead for global operations and Executive Sponsor for diversity. After Facebook, Andy joined Stripe, where he led Risk Partnerships & Strategy for APAC. 

Andy has personally invested in 60+ startups, special-purpose vehicles, and funds. He has also spent the past year coaching founders, including some from Wavemaker’s portfolio, on go-to-market strategies and scaling their teams.

Andy holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from The Wharton School.

“What attracted me most to Wavemaker were the testimonials from startup founders about how Wavemaker bet on them when nobody else would, and built a partnership based on curiosity and trust rather than a scripted playbook,” Andy said. “I’m excited to bring my experience in helping scale B2B startups both in Silicon Valley and Singapore, and support founders to build long-lasting companies that positively impact our world. I believe Southeast Asia’s founders are highly capable of creating solutions that can truly become global.”