Douglas Abrams: Why Founder Pipelines Matter More Than Capital

A Region Developing Before the Spotlight

Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem didn’t emerge with the fanfare it enjoys today. Before global venture capital arrived and before the region became a headline market, its earliest foundations were being built inside university classrooms, government programs, and small founder networks emerging across Singapore.

Among the institutions shaping that first chapter, Expara played one of the defining roles.

Singapore: Where Founder Education Became Infrastructure

When Expara was founded in 2003, Singapore was still in the early stages of building its innovation ecosystem. Incubators were scarce, angel networks were fragmented, and structured entrepreneurship education barely existed.

Expara addressed all three gaps at once. It began by investing in founders at the pre-seed and seed stages, while simultaneously training them through structured entrepreneurship programs and working with academic and government institutions to build a systematic approach to founder development.

This model was shaped by Douglas Abrams, Expara’s Founder & CEO.

As an Adjunct Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore (NUS), he taught entrepreneurship across undergraduate and MBA programs—reaching thousands of students entering the region’s first meaningful startup pipeline. Many of these students would later become founders, operators, and investors in Singapore’s technology and innovation ecosystem.

As Douglas reflects: “If you want strong ecosystems, you start by investing in people — not just with capital, but with knowledge, structure, and accountability. That’s how Southeast Asia’s innovators were built, and we’re proud to have been part of that journey since the very beginning.”

Early Expansion Into Emerging Ecosystems

Nearly a decade later, Expara expanded to Thailand and Vietnam, again as one of the earliest institutional players on the ground, introducing both investment and training through partnerships with universities, government agencies, and innovation centers to help shape the early trajectory of these ecosystems.

In Bangkok, Douglas Abrams became an Adjunct Associate Professor at Chulalongkorn University, teaching entrepreneurship to MBA and EMBA students—many of whom are now active founders and operators in Thailand’s expanding startup scene.

This cross-border academic influence created something rare in the region: a long-term, multi-country founder development network. Over the past twenty years, Expara has designed and run accelerators across fintech, biotech, foodtech, life sciences, and digital innovation — influencing how multiple ecosystems developed from the inside.

Backing Companies Before Anyone Else Saw Them

With 101 start-ups backed and 23 exits to date, Expara’s early-stage investment strategy has produced a track record that shaped multiple industries across Southeast Asia.

One of its best-known success stories is 2C2P — now a major payments platform. Expara was its first investor and advisor, supporting the company when it was still an under-the-radar fintech experiment. Years later, 2C2P grew into a regional leader and reached a milestone acquisition by Ant Group, marking one of the most important exits in Southeast Asian fintech.

Another example is MiRXES, a biotech company that transitioned from research lab to global diagnostics innovator. Expara supported the founders in their earliest phase; today, MiRXES has achieved unicorn status and operates on an international scale.

These stories reflect a consistent pattern: Expara has repeatedly identified strong founders at the very beginning of their journey — often before the wider ecosystem recognized their potential.

The Next Chapter: Scaling the Region’s Talent Engine

As Southeast Asia transitions into its next decade of growth, the region’s success will depend on the quality of founders, not just capital availability.

Expara’s upcoming fund, Expara Asia Ventures VI, extends the firm’s accelerator-led investment model, deepening its presence across Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and beyond.

Its mission remains clear: to train and back the next generation of Southeast Asian entrepreneurs, to strengthen the foundations of emerging ecosystems, and to support the companies defining the region’s future.