Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with Republic

Hello, and happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month! This month, we’re celebrating the many generations of Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and Asian immigrants who have contributed so much to America’s history and culture.

I’m Youngro Lee, EVP at Republic and head of Republic Asia, a new corporate initiative at Republic to expand the reach of our services and community into Asia as we continue our journey to democratize finance globally.

AAPI Heritage Month is so important to all of us here at Republic, and it’s very much a personal matter for me. I’m an Asian American immigrant myself, having lived in both Korea and the United States. (Our founder and CEO, Kendrick Nguyen, is also an Asian-American immigrant.)  Over the past decade and especially in the past few years, AAPI issues have become more front-and-center in our society, sometimes in difficult ways. Nonetheless, we believe the best way, and often the only way, to make true progress is to try to understand these difficult issues and actively seek to make incremental improvements.

We at Republic have always strived to level the playing field for entrepreneurs and investors from all backgrounds, to do our part in improving upon the traditional financial system that often doesn’t work for minority or female founders (or, for that matter, smaller investors). As a natural extension of our mission to eventually enable anyone to invest in anything from anywhere, I’m so excited for Republic to begin working in the Asian private markets.

I also believe we’re at the forefront of a global paradigm shift that could see many of tomorrow’s greatest companies arise from Asia, while a deeper connection amongst diverse and nontraditional communities around the world will be made possible through improved technology and social media integrations. From both an entrepreneurship and investment perspective, it will be very important to be cognizant of how the world is evolving in the future.  Just in the last quarter of 2021, 36% of global VC deal share went to Asian startups—and there are good reasons for that huge flood of capital. Let’s go over what those are.

Asia’s private markets are huge… and growing fast

There are a few main factors driving rapid growth in the Asian private markets today. First is the simple fact that 60% of the world’s population lives in Asia… making it the largest geographical market by population. It’s also the most youthful region in the world, which means two things: one, that the potential customer base available in Asia for any companies will continue to grow larger than in other parts of world; and two, more of tomorrow’s global leaders and innovators (meaning young people) are likely to come from Asia.

There’s also a massive cultural shift underway when it comes to how innovation and future possibilities are perceived in Asia. Over the past couple of centuries, most Asian countries generally looked to the West for leadership in technology and societal progress. But considering how fundamentally different Western countries are from Asian countries, historically, economically, and culturally, it should come as no surprise that as the overall Asia region has advanced, many Asian communities no longer view Western solutions as always the right choice to solve their various challenges. As a result, we now see more Asian governments and innovation ecosystems start to lead their own way, even implementing their own unique national regulations to encourage innovation at home.

In addition, there is a huge cultural difference in the way technology is perceived and adopted by the mainstream population in Asia. Advanced economies like Korea and Japan have always pushed the envelope on technology integration and are very comfortable with change. On the other hand, many developing nations are actively skipping the “wired revolution” (e.g., landline phones, wired internet) entirely to move into mobile/wireless technology and exploring web3 applications as a means to accelerate economic growth.  

Coming from an AAPI perspective, the challenges and developments in Asia are also actually creating more opportunities for AAPI communities that are looking to build a deeper relationship across borders and communities. While there are significant differences between the Asian-American experience of living in the U.S. and the actual life experiences in Asia, there are also quite a few shared cultural identities and traditions that can make it easier for these different communities to interact personally and professionally.  

For all the reasons expressed above and so many others, we officially launched Republic Asia last month (in case you missed it, check out the article here). 

Republic’s expansion into Asia will lead to more interactions that improve cultural understanding amongst diverse communities as well as increase investment opportunities.

We’ve tried to hit the ground running with this new initiative, as we completed several strategic investments and partnerships that we believe can help build out the Republic Asia ecosystem.  Our goal for Republic Asia is to continue on the journey of Republic, which evolved over time to grow beyond investment crowdfunding and led to deep expertise in areas such as venture capital and crypto advisory services, and open up our community to a more global audience that would like to join our journey.

Our vision is to build a global financial ecosystem where everyone can participate—one that can improve their lives and communities. From the beginning of Republic, however unlikely such a possibility seemed, we’ve always imagined what that world should look like, and aspired to find the people and partners who can help make that vision into reality. While there may not be a precedent or roadmap to achieve this vision perfectly, following this North Star is how we’ve built (and grown) Republic.

We envision a future in which investors around the world can back companies and projects in both developing and developed nations, where there’s so much potential for societal and economic growth. From New York to Seoul, London to Singapore, Houston to Hanoi, we believe we can influence the world to become what we imagine it to be, at least in the ways we can impact and support via our investments. This journey will be never-ending, but I’m proud to be part of a team that’ll never stop trying. 

As part of this journey, I hope you’ll celebrate these efforts with us—and AAPI Heritage Month—by learning more about the various opportunities currently live on Republic with AAPI founders (listed below). And stay tuned… there will be much more exciting news coming from Republic soon from around the world!