About

I'm James Chan — 宏仔 to those who've known me long enough.

I've spent two decades sitting across all three sides of the table in Southeast Asia's tech ecosystem. I started as a public servant with the Singapore Government, where I cut my teeth on infocomm policy and industry development. I then crossed over to become a venture capitalist and angel investor, backing companies like Viki (acquired by Rakuten), HelloSign (acquired by Dropbox), Formlabs, Animoca Brands, PlayCo, Carro and Parcel Perform across Southeast and East Asia. Most recently, I was in the arena as a founder and CEO, building ION Mobility since Oct 2019 — a hard-tech electric motorcycle and energy storage company with teams in Singapore, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh and Shenzhen. Since 1 Apr 2025, we've been acquired by TVS Motor - India's largest and world's 3rd biggest 2W titan - which I work at these days as their Senior Vice President with two hats; firstly as their Head of International Business (ASEAN division), and secondly as Head of M1-S (platform).

Along the way, I've been a venture builder for warehouse robotics (GreyOrange Asia Pacific) and fintech lending businesses (Wecash SE Asia, Tunaikita) across the region. I also serve on the board of TiE Singapore, and generally find myself drawn to wherever ideas, talent and capital converge, especially in this part of the world which I call home.

I hold a B.S. (Double Major) in Electrical & Computer Engineering and Engineering & Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, and a M.Sc. in Management of Technology from the National University of Singapore. I'm an EDB Singapore Inc. scholarship recipient (Class of 2002), a married father of three, semi-pro photographer, mid-core gamer, bonsai collector and a collector of vintage Apple devices.

Why do I write?

I started writing online in 2009 and have gone through long stretches of silence — years where building companies consumed every waking hour. This site is my attempt to pick up the pen again, as I work to improve my personal brand online amidst this age of AI.

元宏 means "fundamentally grand" — 元 (origin, foundational) paired with 宏 (vast, great in scope), which also happens to be the last character of my Chinese name, 陈亮宏. It felt like the right name for a place where I try to cut through noise and get to what's fundamental.

I write about the things I know from in-trench first-hand experiences - building operations, businesses and investing in technology startups across Southeast Asia, as I navigate the intersection of East-meets-West in my region, traverse harsh truths of serial entrepreneurship, and occasionally reflect about life as a Singaporean who has cracked eggs and broken more than a few moulds along the way.

I have a guiding quote that has stuck with me — "不问前程凶吉，但愿落幕无悔" — don't ask whether the road ahead brings fortune or misfortune; just (live life to) have no regrets when the curtain falls. It comes from the Chinese drama "The Empress of China" and it has come to best describe how I approach the ups and downs of building things.

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I'd love to hear from like-minded folks. You can find me on X (Twitter), LinkedIn, or subscribe below to get my posts by email.