EAST Ventures, a venture capital (VC) firm focused on early stage investing, has appointed Koh Wai Kit, a founding member of Temasek's Pavilion Capital, as venture partner.

Mr Koh brings over a decade of investment experience, a vast network and expertise to the East Ventures team, the VC firm said in a press statement. As part of the team that founded Pavilion Capital, a Temasek subsidiary focused on Asia private equity and VC, he spearheaded investments in China, Japan, South Korea and South-east Asia.

Prior to setting up Pavilion Capital, Mr Koh served in investment, strategy and portfolio management functions at Temasek. Before joining Temasek, he was a member of the Singapore Administrative Service where he was involved in public policy formulation and implementation.

He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

"We have worked closely with Wai Kit for years and we truly value his advice. Wai Kit is a quick-witted thinker with a great deal of empathy, sharing the same core value we hold at East Ventures," said Willson Cuaca, co-founder and managing partner at East Ventures.

The VC firm was founded in 2009, and has supported over 180 companies in South-east Asia including Indonesian unicorns Tokopedia and Traveloka. Other portfolio companies include ShopBack, Sociolla, Kudo (acquired by Grab) and Loket (acquired by Gojek).

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EV Growth, a growth-stage fund set up by East Ventures in 2019, has invested in more than 12 companies through its first US$250 million vehicle.