INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
to its most loyal viewers
branched into tech startups
Though their multi-family investment office Batu Capital just launched this year, it reached a big milestone this week when one of their
first investments, MJ Freeway, an enterprise software developer for the cannabis industry, entered into a merger agreement with MTech that
by Ian Chen and Forrest Wheeler
(Photo by Vivian Zink/ABC via Getty Images)In an interview, the two brothers told TechCrunch about moving into the tech sector and the
startups they want to fund in the United States, China and Southeast Asia
Batu Capital is focused on finding companies in the cannabis, blockchain and crypto sectors, as well as big data.In addition to MJ Freeway,
which provides enterprise resource planning and compliance tracking software for the cannabis businesses, its portfolio also includes Vidy,
a startup building a new approach to video ads on Ethereum, and Sora Ventures, a crypto-backed blockchain and digital currency venture fund
Batu Capital invests in seed or Series A stage companies or Series C and pre-IPO and its typical check size will be about $500,000 to $2
amassed a railroad fortune, but lost it all during the Japanese invasion of Nanjing
They escaped to Chongqing and began rebuilding their wealth through real estate, but were forced to flee to Taiwan during the Chinese
Communist Revolution, losing everything once again
Meanwhile their maternal grandparents had also fled from China to Taiwan to escape the Japanese army
Though they had worked in banking before, they survived in Taipei by selling steamed buns on the street for several years until getting jobs
new industriesAll three brothers gained business experience by working on BaoHaus, the popular restaurant chain Eddie launched on the Lower
East Side of Manhattan in 2009
Emery, who had won the Writers of the Future Grand Prize for science fiction writing, exited early and moved to China
He wanted to work on novels set there, but also look for new investment opportunities
At that time, Emery and Evan were helping their parents prepare for retirement by exiting the restaurant business and they began investing
branch into tech.Batu Capital is named after Batu Khan, the Mongol ruler and founder of the Golden Horde dynasty, in a nod to their love of
Mongolian history (they also recently discovered, thanks to 23andMe tests, that they have some Mongolian heritage through both their
In particular, the brothers are hopeful that it can replace the $17 billion painkiller market, but without the side effects that have
contributed to the opioid epidemic
Freeway helps growers and dispensaries manage their business while making sure they comply with state and federal regulations
Vidy, meanwhile, is using blockchain to reboot the way publishers display ads
Instead of automatic pop-ups or embeds, readers can decide if they want to see a video by placing their finger or cursor over text in an
online article (try it in this Esquire Singapore article by hovering over the pink highlighted text).By allowing readers an easy opt-in to
streaming videos, Vidy hopes to give publishers a more nuanced understanding of user engagement
The startup, whose partners include Mediacorp, Mercedes-Benz, and Deliveroo, also created its own ERC20 utility token, called VidyCoin,
which advertisers use to purchase ad placements and readers can earn by watching videos
Recording transactions on blockchain enables Vidy to guard against different types of online ad fraud, including click spam.With their
In addition to the United States and China (Emery is based in Shanghai and Evan is planning to move from the United States to Beijing
soon), Batu Capital is also looking at growth markets in Southeast Asia, in particular the Philippines and Cambodia
startups is the executive team
experience that can transfer over
They have to have a competitive edge in the market
