XA Network appoints YouTube co-founder, Twitter VP to advisory board

XA Network, an investment circle of tech executives, has named YouTube co-founder Steve Chen and Maya Hari, Twitter's vice-president for Asia-Pacific, to its advisory board.

Other advisers added to the board are John Wood, a former Microsoft executive who founded the non-profit Room To Read, and David Thevenon, a general partner at Balderton Capital who previously worked for Google.

The appointments come as XA Network has grown to about 100 members over two years. The network originally started out as Xoogler Angels, a collective of former Google executives who backed early-stage startups. It has since evolved to include executives from other US and regional tech companies, such as Alibaba, Gojek and Grab.

Earlier this year, the network entered into a partnership with Vertex Ventures and invested in the venture firm's fourth South-east Asia and India fund.

XA network has made 30 investments thus far, deploying two-fifths of its portfolio in Series A and B rounds. It saw its first exit with the sale of TikTok rival Lomotif for US$125 million.

The network's investments include Indonesia-based Sampingan, which provides on-demand blue-collar workers, and Bukukas, which helps small businesses digitalise, as well as Singapore-based mentor platform Tigerhall.

Mr Wood said of his appointment: "I believe this generation of technology leaders, by working together to support the startup ecosystem in South-east Asia, will have an immense impact on the region. We are all very committed to the power of smart capital, intense mentoring and fuelling inclusive innovation."