Building Startup Infrastructure in Southeast Asia with Ankit Upadhyay

Episode 33 of The Exponential Show features a conversation between host Mayank Singh and Ankit Upadhyay, Founder and General Partner at A2D Ventures, Co-Founder and CEO of VentureGrid, and Co-Founder of Venture Spark.

In this discussion, Ankit shares his journey from Silicon Valley to Southeast Asia and explains why he believes the region is still in the early stages of building a thriving startup ecosystem. Drawing on his experience as an operator, investor, and ecosystem builder, he outlines the structural gaps founders face and the initiatives he is building to address them.

From Silicon Valley to Southeast Asia

Ankit describes his story as a classic “Delhi boy” journey. Born and raised in India, he moved to the United States to pursue engineering and spent more than a decade working in Silicon Valley.

Although he started his career in engineering, he quickly realized his strengths were in solving business problems rather than writing code. Within the first year of his career, he transitioned into product management and began working across the semiconductor and advanced electronics industries.

His career eventually took him across multiple countries including China, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, the Middle East, and Thailand. During this period, global manufacturing was shifting toward Southeast Asia as companies such as Intel, IBM, and SanDisk expanded operations in the region.

A consulting engagement eventually brought him to Thailand. What started as a short-term assignment soon turned into a long-term commitment when he realized both the professional opportunities and the lifestyle Thailand offered.

After working at McKinsey and later holding leadership roles at Shopee, Ankit began focusing more deeply on venture investing and startup ecosystems.

Identifying a Gap in Southeast Asia’s Startup Ecosystem

While exploring the startup landscape in Southeast Asia, Ankit noticed something missing. Platforms like AngelList had transformed early-stage investing in the United States by connecting founders with angel investors. However, no equivalent platform existed in Southeast Asia.

This realization led to the creation of A2D Ventures, an angel investment platform designed to provide early-stage capital to founders who struggle to raise their first checks from traditional venture capital firms.

Since launching, A2D Ventures has completed around twenty investments while building a network of global angel investors. One of the key innovations was lowering the barrier to entry for investors by enabling ticket sizes as small as $1,000 through structured investment vehicles in Singapore.

This approach helped attract investors from around the world including the United States, Europe, India, the Middle East, and East Asia.

According to Ankit, the goal was not just to provide capital but also to build education and community among early-stage investors.

Building the Missing Pieces for Founders

As A2D Ventures grew, another challenge became clear. Many founders had strong ideas but were not yet “venture ready.”

To address this, Ankit and his team launched Venture Spark, an accelerator designed to help founders develop the skills and structures needed to build venture-scale companies.

The first cohort received nearly two hundred applications for fifty spots, demonstrating strong demand among both Thai and international founders building businesses in the region.

The team also launched VentureGrid, a platform that connects founders with global mentors who can support them with areas such as go-to-market strategy, financial modeling, and scaling operations.

Today, the network includes hundreds of founders and mentors working together across multiple markets.

What began as a simple idea to improve early-stage investing gradually evolved into a broader effort to strengthen the startup infrastructure in Southeast Asia.

Trends Shaping the Startup Landscape

Looking ahead, Ankit believes Southeast Asia is still in a maturation phase. While the region has seen moments of skepticism due to slower exits and occasional setbacks, he sees this as a normal part of the ecosystem cycle.

Historically, some of the most successful companies globally have been built during difficult economic periods.

One major trend he highlights is the growing role of artificial intelligence. In his view, modern startups cannot ignore AI.

While Southeast Asia may not build the foundational AI models competing with the United States or China, the region has enormous potential in the application layer, where AI is used to solve real-world problems.

Some of the sectors he is particularly optimistic about include:

• Health technology and medical diagnostics

• Fintech tailored for gig economy workers

• Agricultural technology

• Longevity and healthcare innovation
  

He also believes Southeast Asia must define success on its own terms rather than copying startup models from the United States or India.

Advice for Early-Stage Founders

Throughout the conversation, Ankit emphasizes that building a startup in Southeast Asia requires resilience and self-awareness.

His advice to founders centers around three ideas.

First, founders should lean into their cultural strengths. In Thailand, the local culture of humility and openness can become an advantage when building customer-centric products.

Second, founders should actively seek help. Joining communities, accelerators, and mentorship networks can dramatically improve a startup’s chances of success.

Third, failure should not be stigmatized. Ankit reflects on the shutdown of Shopee India during his time with the company as a defining learning experience. The process taught him humility, empathy, and the importance of supporting teams through difficult transitions.

What Comes Next

Looking forward, Ankit plans to expand the Venture Spark accelerator and explore entrepreneurial ecosystems beyond Bangkok. He is particularly interested in supporting founders emerging from universities and regional innovation hubs across Thailand.

By helping more founders access capital, mentorship, and infrastructure, his broader goal is to strengthen Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem for the long term.

This episode of The Exponential Show was recorded at True Digital Park, Thailand’s most comprehensive soft-landing platform for international individuals and companies. True Digital Park brings together workspace, community, and ecosystem support to help businesses launch, grow, and scale in Thailand.