Thomas G. Tsao

Tom Tsao (1988, NY) is a Managing Partner and co-founder of Gobi Partners, a venture capital firm headquartered in Shanghai and with offices in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. Established in 2002, Gobi is a leading investor in digital media, IT, and TMT companies in China and ASEAN. To date, Gobi has funded more than 150 companies.

Previously, Tom was the former CEO and a Director of DMG (acquired by NASDAQ:VISN), the largest operator of passenger information systems and digital media networks inside China’s subways. At DMG, Tom was the executive producer for the company’s award-winning A Sunny Day, Dancing Without You, and A Starry Night programs, the world’s first series of subway soap operas sponsored respectively by Starbucks, Nine West, and the MDA of Singapore.

Tom is the founder of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) China, a non-profit organization aimed at providing internship opportunities for underserved college students, which is modeled after SEO in the US. He also helped create Gobi’s Oasis Program, one of China’s earliest incubation initiatives, whose list of successfully nurtured startups includes GoKuai, NetQin (NYSE:NQ), Teambition, and Zhiyoula.com.

Tom started his career as an investment banker in the Financial Institutions Group with Merrill Lynch in New York and Hong Kong.  He worked on numerous M&A transactions and developed relationships with banks in Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand. Tom is a graduate of Harvard College where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. He currently lives in Kuala Lumpur with his wife and two children.