Whampoa Group hires leaders for digital asset investment arm

Whampoa Group has appointed Jeffrey Ma and Peter Huo as Co-Chief Investment Officers and Managing Partners of its newly-established digital asset investment arm, Whampoa Digital.

Whampoa Digital will invest in and incubate early-stage ventures, in particular those involved in developing blockchain infrastructure and applications that facilitate the mass adoption of Web3 technologies.

Its investment themes include regulated user entrance, open finance, decentralised creator economy, adoption-driven blockchains, infrastructure and software as a service, and data analytics. It aims to deploy about US$100 million in promising start-ups in the Web3 space.

As Co-CIOs, Ma and Huo will be responsible for developing and implementing Whampoa Digital's venture investment strategy in the Web3 space, as well as managing its portfolio of investee companies.

"We are excited to have Jeffrey and Peter join us as co-CIOs of Whampoa Digital," says Shawn Chan, CEO, Whampoa Group.

"Their experience in traditional finance and expertise in the Web3 industry make them an invaluable asset to our team, and we are confident that they will help drive our continued success in the digital assets space."

Ma was formerly Global Head of Mergers and Acquisitions for Huobi, a major digital asset exchange, where he focused on strategic investments. He was also an Investment Director at Binance.

Prior to joining the Web3 industry, he was an investment professional with GIC and Goldman Sachs for over seven years, where he deployed over US$1 billion in private equity/infrastructure investments across Asia.

Huo was most recently Executive Director at Binance Labs, the venture capital arm and accelerator of Binance, where he led investments in early and growth stage projects across various Web3 sectors.

Prior to Binance, he spent several years covering technology investments at T. Rowe Price, Klook Technology, and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.