Press Release for AVPN Road Show 2012 th 24 October 2012

A GREAT PLATFORM FOR EXCHANGING EFFECTIVE PHILANTHROPIC PRACTICES AND STANDARDS

The Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) just finished the AVPN Road Show 2012, which travelled to Mumbai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo. AVPN, a regional network based in Singapore, seeks to provide a platform for practitioners and supporters in the venture philanthropy industry to share best practices and success cases with their peers and develop a more informed and nuanced view of venture philanthropy. International venture philanthropy leaders accompanied AVPN in its journey across Asia to disseminate information and share their experiences on venture philanthropy practices and to engage with local and regional leaders active in this space. Traveling with AVPN for this road show are international venture philanthropists Shaks Ghosh, chief executive officer of UK-based Private Equity Foundation, and Ruth Jones, chief executive officer of Social Venture Partners International. At the Singapore event, they were joined by regional practitioners Chris Cusano, executive director of Ashoka Singapore, a branch of Ashoka: Innovators for Public, which is the worlds leading association of social entrepreneurs; Muhammad Maulana, chief executive officer of Uno Kapital, an impact investing firm focused on for-profit social-oriented companies in Indonesia; and Joan Yao, Southeast Asia investment manager at LGT Venture Philanthropy. I found it tremendously stimulating, hearing about different approaches. There is a lot going on in Asia, said Ruth Jones. I loved the fact that the event provided an opportunity for participants in the field to come together to share information, and the follow-on effects from that are huge. I think that is as valuable as anything that Shaks Ghosh and I could contribute to the discussion, Ruth said, following the event. Ms. Ghosh felt that the speakers themselves were learning along the way and got to understand the different audiences in Asia throughout the trip. I think the roadshow is a great idea and Im amazed at how many people are turning out at these sessions. The energy is incredible, she said. Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (Charity Registration UEN 201016116M) Page 1 of 2
General contact: info@avpn.asia Office: 3 Church Street, Samsung Hub level 8, Singapore 049483 (Registered office: 80 Robinson Road, #02-00, Singapore 068898)

In her view, one of the key challenges in venture philanthropy is language, whether it is in Europe or Asia. Were all speaking in English, but theres the investment language, the philanthropy language, the charity language, the impact language. There is an assumption that everyone knows what you are talking about, she said, adding that it is AVPNs additional responsibility to keep interpreting, clarifying and helping people understand what is being said. Venture philanthropy is a relatively new concept in Asia and following the event, Joan Yao felt that events such as this roadshow help demonstrate the progress that is being made in this sphere regionally. What I liked about this roadshow in Singapore is that we have progressed a little bit beyond first of all defining venture philanthropy something we talked about a lot last year, she said. In her view, there has been some movement forward and people are savvier about venture philanthropy today and this is evident from the fact that the market has grown to a point where discussions around leveraging, collaboration and things other than merely financial capital are beginning to take flight. She added that the international speakers brought a lot of substantial, practical experience. One of the key themes discussed at the event related to the various sectors in which venture philanthropy can play an effective role and make effective returns in order to scale businesses. Southeast Asia is a diverse region, and the challenges of investing in each of the regions countries are often unique. However, underlying all of the investments across whichever sectors are the same best practices. Maulana said: This is an excellent event, because at such an event we can hear of best practices from people from all over the world and try to implement them to our specific countries, Indonesia in my case. He believed that the event provided a good forum for a variety of people to provide different perspectives on varied sectors. The roadshow saw attendees from a diverse array of organisations in the business, government, financial, family office, non-government and academic sectors. It is very encouraging to see so many players from the venture philanthropy space coming together, sharing about their work and identifying common challenges and common opportunities, said Chris Cusano. The success of the road shows is an important step forward for AVPN as it seeks to enhance the understanding of venture philanthropy in in the broader philanthropic and social investment communities in Asia. AVPN has more than 110 members from across 18 Asian countries. The members include venture philanthropy organisations, impact investors, wealth management firms, private equity firms, professional services firms and academic and grant-making institutions. It will be hosting its inaugural Asian Venture Philanthropy Network Annual Conference in Singapore on 9-10 May 2013. The conference is expected to be Asias largest gathering of leaders, experts, practitioners and newcomers in the venture philanthropy and social investment sector.

For more information, please check www.avpn.asia. For any media enquiries, please contact AVPNs membership services manager at Stacey@avpn.asia/ +65 91139479.

Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (Charity Registration UEN 201016116M) General contact: info@avpn.asia Office: 3 Church Street, Samsung Hub level 8, Singapore 049483 (Registered office: 80 Robinson Road, #02-00, Singapore 068898)

Page 2 of 2