Pre-seed fund established by former fave executives to aid consumer-focused startups in Southeast Asia

Joel Neoh and Audra Pakalnyte, two former Fave executives, have established First Move, a founder-led early-stage fund, to support consumer-focused startups throughout Southeast Asia.

In a statement on Tuesday, First Move said that by pledging to hasten the success of early-stage consumer ventures, the fund “sets the bar high.”

The fund offers crucial pre-seed funding of up to $100,000 and currently has seven companies in its portfolio that are located in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

This launch represents an important step in fostering innovation and changing the regional consumer technology landscape.

“Southeast Asia is a vibrant epicenter for consumer technology innovation. With the ecosystem and infrastructure primed for growth, First Move is thrilled to partner with emerging entrepreneurs embarking on their journey to fuel the creation of tomorrow’s consumer-tech giants,” said Audra Pakalnyte, Partner of First Move.

“As founders ourselves, at First Move, we go beyond capital injection. We believe in providing guidance, mentorship, and access to a vast network of industry connections which is crucial in early stages to get on the right path,

“We understand the pain points of founders and aim to leverage our experience to provide invaluable mentoring support during the early days of their journey and set our portfolio startups up for long-term success,” she added.

Prior to moving a partner, according to Joel Neoh, the fund is dedicated to helping others, supporting entrepreneurs, traveling alongside them, and bridging the critical early-stage support gap in Southeast Asia.

“Having embarked on my own entrepreneurial journey, I am humbled by the support I have received from the startup ecosystem,” he said.

First Move embraces a collaborative approach by actively collaborating with other venture capital firms in the area in addition to providing direct funding to startups.

500 Global is one of its first partners and backers, highlighting First Move’s focus on collaboration as a means of fostering the expansion and success of startups in the area.

“Southeast Asia is seeing the compounding effect of having multiple generations of successful founders backing future founders,

“Angel syndicates and founder-led funds like these are crucial allies as 500 Global continues to invest across seed and growth stages of our region’s best companies,” said Khailee Ng, Managing Partner at 500 Global.

“Collaborating with First Move propels the very best builders I know, Joel and Audra – to launch the next generation of founders,” he said.

First Move also founded the Consumer Tech Angel Syndicate, a close-knit group of seasoned founders and executives in the consumer space, in the same collaborative spirit.

First Move deals will have been co-invested in by members of the Angel Syndicate, which consists of founders and senior executives from direct to consumer (D2C), e-commerce, mobility, and fintech scale-ups throughout Southeast Asia.

Additionally, these seasoned leaders will offer the startups practical support and advice.

Joel joined Prenetics as the Managing Director of CircleDNA after leaving Fave earlier this year.

As an angel investor, he cut the first check for Prenetics in 2014.

Joel’s co-founding partner Audra Pakalnyte brings invaluable experience to the table in assisting startups as they make their first step from zero to one.

Their combined expertise and enthusiasm for promoting entrepreneurial growth strengthen First Move’s dedication to assisting start-ups.

The fund has already made investments in seven startups from Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia that operate in the e-commerce and direct-to-consumer sectors.

First Move actively invests and encourages entrepreneurs building disruptive and innovative consumer startups to submit their applications.