Jaclyn Seow is vice-president of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) and Impact at Openspace Ventures, a Singapore-based venture capital firm that invests in early-stage technology companies in Southeast Asia. Its clients include Indonesian technology group GoTo, healthcare firm Biofourmis, fintech company FinAccel, Thai digital wealth management platform Finnomena and womenswear brand Love, Bonito.

Backed by Temasek Holdings, Openspace Ventures was launched as NSI Ventures in 2014 by co-founders Hian Goh and Shane Chesson. The firm closed its third Southeast Asia fund at US$200 million in March 2021, with investors including Japan’s Mizuho Financial Group, Norfund AS from Norway and Germany’s DEG. The latest amount secured took Openspace’s total committed capital to US$425 million across three funds.

Seow helps to oversee the firm’s norms-based screening of potential investments to identify potential sticking points, which could include issues such as poor employee management, or child or forced labour in the supply chain. The Cornell University graduate, who previously worked at Raffles Medical Group as well as Singapore’s Ministries of Health, Law and Foreign Affairs, has a keen interest in skiing as well as circularity, which centres on sustainable consumption and production patterns.