Douglas Gan
| Douglas Gan | |
|---|---|
| File:Douglas Headshot.pngDouglas Headshot.png | |
| Born | August 3, 1983 Singapore |
| 🏡 Residence | Singapore, Japan, Philippines, Cambodia |
| 🏳️ Nationality | Singaporean |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Ngee Ann Polytechnic |
| 💼 Occupation | Co-Founder & CEO of GBCI Ventures |
| 📆 Years active | 1997–present |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Kanna Kawaguchi |
| 👴 👵 Parent(s) | Richard Gan, Mary Jane Tan |
| 🌐 Website | Douglas Gan Linkedin account |
Douglas Gan 颜義东 (born 3 August 1983) is a serial technopreneur, investor, venture builder, and a thought leader in smart city solutions using blockchain technology. He currently serves as the co-founder and CEO of GBCI Ventures, a US$100M Smart City Investment Fund[1][2][3] and co-founder and Executive Director of iFashion Group.[4] He is also an angel investor investing in startups in Southeast Asia.[5]
Douglas’ entrepreneurial spirit started in the year 2008, where he founded ShowNearby, a location-based mobile application that won multiple awards in Asia. By 2018, he had founded 6 companies, which were then later sold to MNCs, including the sale of iFashion Group to MC Payment for S$25 million.[6]
His achievements can be marked by winning the Young Professional of the Year[7] award from the Singapore Computer Society in 2011. In addition, he received the Top 25 Outstanding Alumni Award in Technopreneurship[8] from Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore.
Career
Gan was a school dropout[9] who started his first business attempt at the age of four when he was still in kindergarten. He sold toy cars for $2 apiece and later sold marbles, bubble gum, chewing gum, stickers, stamps, and Dragon Ball cards, amassing a small fortune of $15,000 by age 11. At 12, he started selling Magic: The Gathering card games and made more than $20,000 throughout his four years of secondary school education.[10]
Gan's first business was incorporated by his mother. In an article in The New Paper, he is quoted as saying: "She became my administrative assistant and my accountant. She was with me every step of the way."[11]
In 2008, Gan founded ShowNearby, a location-based mobile application that won multiple awards in Asia.[12]
In 2012, Gan founded VanityTrove, a beauty sampling business.[13]
In 2015, Gan pivoted[14] VanityTrove's beauty sampling business to Vanitee, a beauty and wellness marketplace.[15][16]
In 2014, Gan founded iFashion Group together with Fatfish Co-Founder, Chairman, and CEO Lau Kin Wai.[17] In 2016, iFashion Group raised US$736,000 to help 3- to 5-year-old fashion startups with mentorship, marketing, logistics, warehousing, sales, fulfillment, and financial services.[18]
In 2019, Gan founded GBCI Ventures together with ex-ShowNearby Co-Founder and CTO Lee Changjin.[19] GBCI
Recognition
Among the awards and recognition Gan has received for his entrepreneurial achievements are:
- 2011: Named a "Young Professional of the Year" by the Singapore Computer Society. The award was presented by Singapore's Minister for Communications and Information & the Arts, Lui Tuck Yew.[20] 2011年：新加坡計算器學會被新加坡傳播與資訊與藝術部部長提名為“年度青年專業人士”，由MICA部長Lui Tuck Yew頒獎[49]
- 2012: Named a recipient of the "Outstanding Alumni Award" at the Ngee Ann Polytechnic Alumni 50th Anniversary. The award was presented by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.[21] 2012年：于“義安理工學院校友50周年”由李顯龍總理頒發“傑出校友獎”[50]
Education
Gan studied at Ngee Ann Polytechnic in 2003, graduating with a Cambridge IT Skills Diploma.[21] He previously attended Ngee Ann Primary and Secondary School.
Gan attempted a year at UOL in Singapore through Stansfield University for a double degree in Economics and Management, dropping out after two semesters to focus on OhGenki, an online forum.
References
- ↑ Singapore-based GBCI Ventures opens US$100m smart city fund, 23 January 2019
- ↑ Smart city-focused venture funds launch in Singapore with $160m kitty Read more at: https://www.dealstreetasia.com/stories/smart-city-funds-singapore-118534/, 23 January 2019
- ↑ New $100m fund launches in Singapore to invest in smart cities, 23 January 2019
- ↑ iFashion Group acquires Megafash for US$2.48M, 9 February 2017
- ↑ More can be done to boost private funding: Investors, 9 February 2017
- ↑ [1], 3 May 2018
- ↑ IT role models honoured at SCS Gala Dinner, 4 March 2011
- ↑ PM Lee graces Ngee Ann Poly’s 50th anniversary Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine, 3 May 2013
- ↑ 8 Entrepreneurs In Singapore Who Proved That You Don't Need A Business Degree To Succeed, 21 November 2016
- ↑ The Entrepreneur Who Lost it All, and Made It Back Again, 3 December 2012
- ↑ Entrepreneur could not have done it without mother, 26 March 2016
- ↑ "ShowNearby Corporate Website". Archived from the original on 2017-03-04. Retrieved 2017-03-03. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Serial Entrepreneur joins beauty business Archived 2017-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, 16 February 2013
- ↑ The men behind booking apps for beauty and wellness, 27 June 2016
- ↑ Taking the beauty biz straight to customers, 26 August 2015
- ↑ On-demand beauty services through an app Archived 2017-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, 1 September 2015
- ↑ Fatfish-backed venture platform iFashion Group raises $730k from Rimu, 22 Mar 2016
- ↑ Singapore’s iFashion raises funding to help small online fashion retailers grow bigger, 22 Mar 2016
- ↑ Singapore’s GBCI Ventures launches US$100M fund for Smart City development, 26 January 2019
- ↑ "Mr Douglas Gan, Young Professional of the Year, 2011". SCS. Singapore Computer Society. 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "PM Lee Launches Ngee Ann Poly's 4th Strategic Plan". NgeeAnn. NgeeAnn. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
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