Who We Are
The Myanmar Private Equity & Venture Capital Association is a group of institutional investors dedicated to improving the venture capital and private equity industry in Myanmar. MPE&VCA aims to provide a forum where the importance of venture capital and private equity can be discussed and shared amongst its members, and can then be used to benefit all industries in the Myanmar market.
MPE&VCA will promote the role of member firms in value creation, innovation, and economic development. The association holds regular conferences, training and social networking events, and presents members with a platform to engage with businesses and government in Myanmar on topical issues.
Our Mission
The Myanmar Private Equity & Venture Capital Association is an independent, non-profit membership organisation incorporated in May 2019. The association includes the leading private equity and venture capital organisations operating in Myanmar, each of which has extensive experience working within Asia. These institutions have come together to highlight the importance of venture capital and private equity to the economy in supporting entrepreneurship, innovation and overall economic development.
Our Vision
MPE&VCA will achieve its vision by promoting and nurturing the training and professional development of private equity and venture capital professionals in Myanmar, building local and international market awareness about the private equity and venture capital industry in Myanmar, enabling dialogue with the government and industry associations as well as building links with the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association and other regional groups.
Our Board Members
Ray Aye, Chair of the association, is Partner and COO at Delta Capital, a Southeast Asian private equity fund manager with AUM of USD 120M and a responsible investor backing leading companies in emerging markets. He has more than 20 years of experience in business development, commercial operations, corporate finance, corporate law and M&A in Southeast Asia and internationally. He joined Delta Capital in 2017, having been active in investing and portfolio management since then, and holds board positions in connection with the investments. Ray graduated with honours from UCLA with BA Business Economics, from University of Sydney Law School with JD and from University of Oxford with MS Law and Finance. He holds professional qualifications such as CA, and CFA and is admitted to practice as a lawyer in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Australia.
Stefan Chapman, founding partner of SCM Legal and known as one of the very first internationally trained transaction lawyers in Myanmar, is an experienced and well rounded international lawyer. He has assisted a number of foreign investors establish and carry on their operations in Myanmar, particularly in the infrastructure and the telecommunications sectors.
Stefan is motivated to participate in the growth of private equity in Myanmar as he sees it as a key driver of growth. His particular area of interest is to see the MPE&VCA continues to help creative, innovative and successful businesses in Myanmar prepare themselves for private equity investment. As a lawyer based in Myanmar since 2011 he has been involved with numerous PE investments advising both Myanmar businesses and investors, experiencing the challenges which need to be overcome. As a director of MPEVCA, he supports initiatives to help prepare Myanmar businesses to take advantage of investment opportunities and encourage the continued advocacy by the association on regulatory reform.
Bradley Kopsick is the Myanmar/Cambodia Country Director for Insitor Partners, an impact investment fund backing entrepreneurs who build life-changing solutions for low-income consumers in developing Asia. Insitor’s target investees make essential services more affordable through simplified product design or improved business processes, and more accessible through efficient distribution models. Sectors include affordable housing, education, water and sanitation, healthcare, agriculture, and financial inclusion.
In his role, Bradley oversees operations across both Myanmar and Cambodia, exploring investment opportunities, conducting market analyses, and working closely with portfolio companies. Bradley has lived in Myanmar for the past 12 years and has served as a board member for the Myanmar Private Equity and Venture Capital Association since its inception in 2019.
Josephine Price was the inaugural Chair of MPE&VCA, holding office from May 2019 to December 2023. She has been working in Yangon since 2012 as co-founder of Anthem Asia, an independent, women-led investment group that has invested in small- and medium-sized enterprises in Myanmar. She has lived in Asia since 1983, originally working as a lawyer, before moving into corporate finance and then private equity. She co-founded the private equity business of CLSA, an Asian investment banking group, and led its pan-Asian private equity mid-market platform for 13 years. She currently serves on the investment committees of private equity groups, social impact funds and family offices.
La Woon is leading EME, a venture capital firm focusing on the markets of Myanmar and Cambodia. La Woon brings a wealth of experience in fostering innovation and sustainable growth within Myanmar’s startup investment ecosystem. He has been with EME since 2017 and during his tenure, he has supported many early-stage businesses with venture capital deal structuring, strategic planning, investment and post-investment assistance. With a keen understanding of emerging markets, mainly Myanmar and Cambodia, La Woon brings valuable expertise to drive the association’s mission and is determined to contribute to the advancement of the venture capital and private equity landscape in Myanmar. La Woon’s commitment to ethical business practices aligns with the Association’s goal of promoting responsible investment. He is ready to actively participate in the association’s initiatives.
Rudolf Gildemeister is the co-founder and Managing Partner of All Myanmar Advisors. Rudolf has over 20 years’ experience in successfully building and leading businesses across different industries including FMCG, Banking, Manufacturing, Private Equity and Management Consulting. Rudolf is a current non-executive director at Myanmar Investment International Limited. Rudolf has been an active investor in Myanmar since 2012 and has lived in Yangon since 2014. He started his career as a business development manager and brand manager at Nestlé and later helped build the businesses of Nestlé in Vietnam and Myanmar. He worked in the marketing and corporate finance functions at Nestlé, Credit Suisse, managed private equity portfolio companies, provided M&A, restructuring and corporate strategy strategic advisory services. He started his career at Nestle as a Brand Manager and Business Development Manager in Asia, and was a key player in building the businesses of Nestlé in Vietnam and Myanmar. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is a member of Asia Pacific Advisory Board of Harvard Business School.
Shinsuke Goto has led Trust Venture Partners since 2016 and prior to that, had been largely involved in Daiwa Securities Group’s work in Myanmar and had advised businesses on the initial public offering initiatives to joining the Yangon Stock Exchange. Shinsuke also led Yangon Capital Partners, a leading venture investment firm in Myanmar. Leveraging over a decade of his experience and network in the financial advisory and venture investment industry, Shinsuke will be furthering his contributions to the country’s development by bridging between local companies and multinational corporations, and promoting direct investments. Under Shinsuke’s leadership, TVP is continuing operations in Myanmar to grow local businesses and provide benefits to foreign investors. Shinsuke is confident that his strong international network could be of help in imposing a positive impact on the country’s overall economic recovery and long-term development. Shinsuke graduated from Nagoya University and completed Program for Leadership Development at Harvard Business School.
Having a focus on Southeast Asia and the financial services area, Sugasini Kandiah has been core to the investment decisions of EMIA in Myanmar since the firm’s set-up in the country in 2016. She lived and worked in Myanmar for nearly four years until early 2020, mainly responsible for examining numerous potential investment opportunities in Myanmar. Since then, she has continued her involvement in the Myanmar Investment Community. As part of the investment team of EMIA, Suga has been actively involved in overseeing and supporting EMIA’s portfolio companies in Myanmar and currently sits on the Board of three companies as a board observer or director. She has a strong understanding of the commercial landscape of Myanmar, having become well-acquainted with the business community in the country during her time here. Sugasini is determined to continue her contributions to the development of private sector initiatives in Myanmar. She received an economics degree from Yale University.
Trent is the Secretary of the association and also represents fund manager Emerging Markets Investment Advisers, a founding member of MPE&VCA.
With EMIA, Trent has supported numerous private equity investments across “frontier ASEAN” (Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia) since 2009, across a wide range of sectors. Prior to this, Trent was a consultant with Bain & Company, before establishing a management and investment consulting business in Cambodia in 2000. Within EMIA, which he co-founded, Trent is a Director and Investment Committee member, in particular taking responsibility for the firm’s Myanmar activities, portfolio management, infrastructure development, and fundraising.
Trent holds an MA in Economics from Cambridge University and an MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics.
Wang Li Jun assumed the role as CEO of City Ventures in 2021 after nearly a decade working in Myanmar and taking a leadership role in companies, City Holdings and Premium Distribution Group. Li Jun is also continuing her position as Group Commercial Director at City Holdings. As the motto of City Ventures for the past two years has been #strongertogether, she believes in the power of cohesion. While international companies and investment firms took a pause during the crisis, Li Jun sees the importance of supporting each other and working together during these difficult times. Li Jun will be supporting within her capacity, the development of the private equity and venture capital industry and the overall development of Myanmar. Li Jun studied economics at the Singapore Management University.