Partner at AppWorks
Check size: Firm-level: AppWorks publishes a US$200K to US$15M per-deal range across Seed through Series C, with capacity to lead or follow and reserve capital for follow-ons. This is not Jessica's personal allocation range.
Jessica invests across Southeast Asian consumer internet and blockchain, especially where deep technology improves a familiar consumer behavior or unlocks a regional distribution advantage. Her portfolio and writing emphasize strong user experience, scalable community or network effects, methodical technical execution, and go-to-market models that can start bottom-up before expanding into larger enterprise or regional relationships.
Start with the user behavior and pain point, then show why the product is dramatically easier or more useful than the status quo. Explain the initial distribution wedge, retention and referral loop, path from individual adoption to paid or enterprise use, and why Taiwan or Southeast Asia strengthens regional scale. For blockchain, show how the architecture improves the experience rather than asking users to adopt technology for its own sake.
Visionary founders who can realize their full potential, methodical teams that pair deep technology with products people use every day, and companies able to leverage Asian developer, consumer, and partner networks for regional or global scale. She especially values discussing and sharpening business models with founders.
No explicit pass list is public. Her fundraising and sales writing implies weaker fit for fundraising without a defined strategic use, products seeking scale before product-market fit, enterprise software with no low-friction adoption path, and deep-technology projects that do not translate into everyday utility or regional distribution advantage.
Require immediate self-serve value for an individual user, a referral or community loop, a clear conversion path for heavy users, and a deliberate point at which enterprise sales amplifies—not substitutes for—product pull.
Before raising equity, identify the exact uncertainty or durable growth asset the money will fund, compare alternative capital sources, verify product-market fit, and preserve enough runway to negotiate from strength.
“Entertainment and gaming has nearly always brought early adopters to new technologies.”
— https://appworks.tw/dapper-labs-paves-the-way-for-the-future-of-consumer-crypto-with-new-blockchain-and-11m-in-additional-funding/
“Fundraising is a means of raising money, not a strategy.”
— https://appworks.tw/startups-fundraising/
B2B startups can win through self-serve value, user communities, content, referrals, and freemium adoption before combining that bottom-up motion with enterprise sales.
Gaming and entertainment can bring early consumers into crypto when scalable infrastructure supports useful experiences without sacrificing decentralization.
Equity is expensive and fundraising is a financing tool rather than a strategy; founders should tie capital to a specific growth investment and begin before runway pressure removes leverage.
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