PepperHi Global Ventures, a China-based venture studio specializing in cross-border innovation and market expansion–acts as a strategic bridge between China and global market, has completed an angel round funding led by Wisee Capital, with participation from TusHoldings Seeds Fund and Kairous Capital.

The funds will support the local market access team and operational expansions across five Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam, with headquarter in Shenzhen and offices across Beijing, Shanghai, the Greater Bay Area and Kuala Lumpur.

This investment marks a strategic milestone, reflecting the recognition of regional institutional investors in the mission to globalize local companies while forging a strong alliances to leverage shared resources for successful market expansion, according to a statement.

With a dual focus on facilitating outbound growth for Chinese enterprises and attracting inbound opportunities from global innovators, PepperHi supports companies in navigating regulatory environments, securing strategic partnerships, and gaining market traction across Southeast Asia and beyond.

Through deep connections with both government and industry leaders, PepperHi provides a robust platform for global partnerships, empowering companies to expand and innovate on an international scale.

Founded in January 2024, by two accomplished women and a team of advisors with extensive experience in S&T services, industrial park operations, government relations, capital markets, VCPEs and a distinguished clientele.

Wil Chan, Co-Founder and CEO, previously led tech incubators in Southeast Asia under TusHoldings, a state-owned enterprise affiliated with Tsinghua University, promoting Science & Technology Services at large scale.

Starlett Pan, Co-Founder, is a senior capital markets lawyer, active investor and partner in several institutional investment firms, bringing strategic depth and industry connections to this venture.

It is noted that the success rate for local companies attempting global expansion remains below 20 percent, even among top-performing enterprises. Over 70 percent of these unsuccessful ventures can be attributed to challenges in resources allocation, regulatory compliance, and limited local partnerships.

Inspired by pepper, once cherished as “black gold” on the Ancient Silk Road, PepperHi carries forward the legacy, brings that spirit of trade, cooperation, and exploration to the modern global markets.

The scope primarily includes businesses in the intersections between China and Southeast Asia markets. This could be for example companies originating in either regions and expanding to the other, companies having or seeking access to capital across regions or companies with significant operations or supply chains across regions.

PepperHi focuses on accelerating high-tech, high-value, and high-impact scaleups that we both believe in and support with everything from partnerships, fundraising, strategy and advisory, as well as with outsourced operations in areas such as business development, human resources and sourcing.

“We are witnessing an unstoppable wave of Chinese enterprises advancing toward globalization in this economic cycle, creating an essential demand for market expansion services. As a family office with prior experience invested in ByteDance on its early market expansion, we see PepperHi as a strong partner to co-venture with their emerging portfolio companies on this journey,” ZeCong Chen, Managing Partner of Wisee Capital said.

“For the past decade, Kairous has focused on bridging our investees between China and Southeast Asia, consistently creating tremendous value through cross-border collaboration. We see PepperHi as a team with a deep understanding of both regions, and we are excited to support them in executing this mission to the mass markets,” Joseph Lee, Managing Partner of Kairous Capital said.

“At TusSeeds Fund, we empower visionary entrepreneurs driving technological innovation. This also aligns with our mission to support our portfolio companies with more than 2 billions invested into next phase of global ventures,” said ZhiHao Zhang, Managing Director of TusSeeds Fund.

#CrossBorderInnovation #MarketExpansion #SoutheastAsia #VentureCapital #GlobalBusiness #Ifvex