Singaporean entrepreneur
Joseph Phua
Born Singapore
Education Occupations Known for Chairman of Turn Capital
Joseph Phua is a Singaporean-Taiwanese entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of the
dating app
Paktor
[1] and co-founder and chairman of the
live streaming platform
17LIVE Group . He is also the founder of
Next Apple News [
zh ]
[2] and chairman of the single
family office Turn Capital.
[3]
[4]
Education
Phua attended
Stern School of Business, New York University , majoring in Finance for his undergraduate degree.
[5] He obtained a master's degree in Business Administration from
Booth School of Business, University of Chicago .
[5] After graduation, he worked at
McKinsey & Company and
Citibank .
[6]
Career
Phua is the founder of
Paktor , a mobile dating app targeting Asia markets he launched in 2014.
[7]
[8] He was inspired by the dating app
Tinder that he used while attending the
University of Chicago in 2012.
[7]
[9]
In 2017, Phua merged
Paktor with 17 Media, a live streaming platform founded by Jeffrey Huang, to form
M17 Entertainment .
[10] After the merger, Phua became the CEO of
M17 Entertainment .
[11] In 2020, he resigned as the CEO
[12] and assumed the role of chairman and the group was renamed
17LIVE Group .
[13]
[14]
[15] Phua is said to be 17LIVE's largest individual shareholder
[16] after the company went public on the Singapore Stock Exchange in 2023.
[17] In 2019, Phua was selected by Asian fashion media
Tatler as a Generation T (Gen.T) award recipient.
[18]
In 2021, Phua's
family investment office , Turn Capital, acquired the podcast platform SoundOn and merged it with the voice social service Goodnight.
[19] The same year, he also acquired Dapp Pocket and Cappuu of a Taiwanese
blockchain company.
[20]
[21] The two companies, Dapp Pocket and Cappuu, were later merged into a retail
blockchain finance platform Coinomo.
[22]
[3]
In September 2022, Phua founded
Next Apple News [
zh ] ,
[23] an
independent news platform in Taiwan.
[24]
Philanthropy
In 2021, Phua announced the establishment of the Phua and Chang Family Scholarship, a
University of Chicago Booth School of Business endowment. The
scholarship was first awarded to a student from Taiwan.
[25]
Personal life
Phua has one child with his wife, whom he met through the Paktor app.
[26]
References
^ Singh, Pooja (2018-12-11).
"The App That is Helping People in Asia Find Love, One Swipe At A Time" . Entrepreneur . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
"17LIVE founder launches news site following failed Apple Online bid - Focus Taiwan" . Focus Taiwan - CNA English News . 30 August 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
a
b Abudheen K, Sainul.
"Joseph Phua's Turn Capital acquires Dapp Pocket to create SEA-focused retail crypto exchange" . e27 . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
"We discuss podcasts and audio-entertainment with Joseph Phua from Turn Capital" . Tech Collective . 2021-03-16. Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
a
b Sabina (2021-08-19).
"首次創業遇上危機,卻沒想過放棄 Chicago Booth Joseph:不留後路,才能持續思考及成長" . Sabina Huang (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^ Edmund, Simons (2014-12-22).
"Interview With Paktor Founder Joseph Phua, Looking To Build Asia's IAC - Global Dating Insights" . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
a
b Holliday, Katie (2014-08-29).
"Singapore entrepreneur turns heartache into cash" . CNBC . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
"Ministry urged to foil Apple Online deal - Taipei Times" . www.taipeitimes.com . 2022-06-29. Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^ Wei, Chong Seow (March 10, 2020).
"M17 Entertainment Group's Joseph Phua On The Lessons That Shaped His Leadership Approach" .
Tatler Asia . Retrieved 2024-04-02 .
^ Ellis, Jack (18 June 2019).
"M17's ill-fated IPO: CEO reveals all" .
Tech in Asia . Retrieved 2024-04-02 .
^ Russell, Jon (2017-04-26).
"Paktor, a major rival to Tinder in Asia, moves into live-streaming via merger deal" . TechCrunch . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^ Cordon, Miguel (17 August 2020).
"M17 co-founder Joseph Phua steps down as group CEO" .
Tech in Asia . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^ Chew, Ryan (2022-04-19).
"Evie Zhang wants to demystify crypto with OMO" . The Peak Magazine . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
"17LIVE GROUP REAPPOINTS CO-FOUNDER JOSEPH PHUA AS CEO AND EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN" . 17LIVE . 2024-01-26. Retrieved 2024-04-02 .
^
"M17 Entertainment Limited changes its name to 17LIVE Inc. with new logo" . 17LIVE . 2020-10-28. Retrieved 2024-04-02 .
^ 壹蘋新聞網 (2023-10-02).
"17LIVE將在新加坡上市!交易市值273億 龍丞宣布投資亞洲新創15億|壹蘋新聞網" . Nextapple (in Chinese). Retrieved 2023-10-31 .
^
"VTAC to combine with livestreaming operator 17Live at S$1.2 billion valuation" . www.businesstimes.com.sg . 2 October 2023. Retrieved 2023-11-01 .
^
"Joseph Phua | Generation T" . 2022-09-09. Archived from
the original on 2022-09-09. Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
"Kollective Ventures and Joseph Phua's family office acquire SoundOn, a Taiwanese startup with 35M monthly podcast downloads|Meet Global" . meet-global.bnext.com.tw . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
"Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem" . www.techinasia.com . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
"Turn Capital Acquires Blockchain Startup Dapp Pocket" . Enterprise IT News . 2021-05-19. Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
"Joseph Phua's Turn Capital acquires Dapp Pocket to create SEA-focused retail crypto exchange" . news.nestia.com . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^ Strong, Matthew (2022-08-30).
"Singapore businessman launches new Next Apple news network in Taiwan | Taiwan News | 2022-08-30 14:50:00" . Taiwan News . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^ Xiung, Chong Jinn.
"M17 Founder Joseph Phua Launches Next Apple News in Taiwan" . Tatler Asia . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
"Taiwan student awarded first 'Phua and Chang Family Scholarship' " . Asia Post . 2021-11-12. Retrieved 2023-05-20 .
^
"How An App From Southeast Asia Is Helping People Find Love Online" . Forbes . Retrieved 2023-05-20 .