Author

Christine Tsai

Christine Tsai is the Founding Partner and CEO of 500 Startups.

Latest Articles

July 29, 2020
July 29, 2020

It’s Never Too Soon for Entrepreneurs to Make the World a Better Place (And Mean it)

Christine Tsai
The Black Lives Matter movement has reminded us of our collective failure to forcefully address systemic discrimination. The venture capital community is no exception. Women and minorities are woefully underrepresented as both entrepreneurs and fu...
July 17, 2020
July 17, 2020

Martin Basiri of Newly-Minted Unicorn ApplyBoard on the Future of Edtech

Christine Tsai
In May, Ontario-based ApplyBoard announced that it raised $75 million, making it 500 Startups’ latest unicorn with a valuation of $1.4 billion. This was a feat for a couple of reasons: the edtech company is only five years old, and it managed to r...
June 02, 2020
June 02, 2020

Black Lives Matter

Christine Tsai
We are grieving the tragic murder of George Floyd in Minnesota.  Mr.Floyd is one of many Black Americans who have been senselessly killed. Ahmaud Arbery. Eric Garner. Tamir Rice. Breonna Taylor. These are just a few of the names and precious li...
April 28, 2020
Christine Tsai
April 28, 2020

Why Investing in Female Founders Matters Now More Than Ever

Christine Tsai
Long before diversity and inclusion became buzzwords, we decided to make venture capital inclusive from day one at 500 Startups. They became our guiding principles, because we know that great talent exists in all forms, no matter your gender, race...
April 03, 2020
April 03, 2020

How the 500 Startups Community Is Helping Those Affected By COVID-19

Christine Tsai
We at 500 are focused on helping the global community during these unsettling and unprecedented times. We are hosting roundtables and webinars with our partners and founders to address relevant topics, including the state of financing with our por...
September 24, 2019
September 24, 2019

Welcome Tony Wang as 500’s New Managing Partner

Christine Tsai
500 centers itself around supporting bold, innovative founders around the world. As venture dollars increasingly shift towards being deployed outside of the U.S., firms need to be thinking about their strategy to manage the trend towards globaliza...
July 29, 2019
July 29, 2019

Announcing Courtney Powell as COO of 500 Startups

Christine Tsai
500 has seen incredible growth over the past 9 years, yet our goal has always stayed constant: back the world’s most talented founders. Everything we do is centered around bringing incredible ideas and entrepreneurial ecosystems to life through in...
March 04, 2019
March 04, 2019

500 Japan Partners Launch Coral Capital

Christine Tsai
In 2010, 500 invested in our first Japanese company, Gengo. Since then, we’ve gone on to invest in over 57 Japanese companies to date, including Whill, Paidy, TokyoOtakuMode, FlyData, and SmartHR. 3 years ago, we launched 500 Japan as our first Ja...
February 28, 2019
February 28, 2019

Congrats to Tim Chae, 500’s Newest General Partner

Christine Tsai
In our 2018 highlights, we shared our excitement about 2019 and where we’ll be in twelve months time. One of the most critical ingredients to our growth over the last 9 years and our growth going forward is people. We have invested in and supporte...
January 16, 2019
January 16, 2019

500 Startups: 2018 by the Numbers

Christine Tsai
2018 was a busy year for 500. I’m proud of what our team has accomplished over the past 365 days and am excited to share some of our 2018 highlights. 500’s mission is to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them crea...

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