A decade after he got shunted aside at Facebook Inc, Eduardo Saverin's found another scrappy internet startup he's proud to put his name behind.
The billionaire is reinventing himself as an Asian venture capitalist and thinks he's found a winner in little-known 99.co, a Singaporean house-hunting service founded by local wunderkind Darius Cheung. So much so that Saverin, who's flown under the radar since making the city-state his home in 2009, has gone to unusual lengths to grant the startup his imprimatur.
The Brazilian-born entrepreneur, who rarely graces media events, put in a public appearance in late May to plug 99.co to 300 property agents at its second-anniversary bash. There, he presided over a panel with local experts, drumming into his audience the need to embrace new technology - such as 99.co. Saverin even sat alongside Cheung for a casual interview - a rarity for a man who hardly grants any media face-time.
The Facebook co-founder has drawn his fair share of headlines since The Social Network immortalised his disputes with Mark Zuckerberg, from accounts of night-clubbing, women in tow, to accusations he was dodging taxes by renouncing his US citizenship. But he mainly responds via intermediaries or statements. While local entrepreneurs including Cheung say he's very hands-on as a mentor and board member, much of his work stays behind the scenes.
So the extent of his support for 99.co's 35-year-old helmsman is unusual. Cheung became one of the island nation's better-known entrepreneurs when he sold mobile security startup tenCube to McAfee in 2010, in one of the largest exits by a local entrepreneur at the time.
He's now trying to take on established competitors such as PropertyGuru with a Google-like approach to real-estate listings. That's a tactic Cheung thinks will turn traditional industry models on their head.
The billionaire is reinventing himself as an Asian venture capitalist and thinks he's found a winner in little-known 99.co, a Singaporean house-hunting service founded by local wunderkind Darius Cheung. So much so that Saverin, who's flown under the radar since making the city-state his home in 2009, has gone to unusual lengths to grant the startup his imprimatur.
The Brazilian-born entrepreneur, who rarely graces media events, put in a public appearance in late May to plug 99.co to 300 property agents at its second-anniversary bash. There, he presided over a panel with local experts, drumming into his audience the need to embrace new technology - such as 99.co. Saverin even sat alongside Cheung for a casual interview - a rarity for a man who hardly grants any media face-time.
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"He's evolved a business that is highly qualified and really has two very admirable traits in the startup world," Saverin said as Cheung looked on. "First is relentless focus. You have so much resources, you have a grand vision, you need to focus. Second is ruthless execution."
The Facebook co-founder has drawn his fair share of headlines since The Social Network immortalised his disputes with Mark Zuckerberg, from accounts of night-clubbing, women in tow, to accusations he was dodging taxes by renouncing his US citizenship. But he mainly responds via intermediaries or statements. While local entrepreneurs including Cheung say he's very hands-on as a mentor and board member, much of his work stays behind the scenes.
So the extent of his support for 99.co's 35-year-old helmsman is unusual. Cheung became one of the island nation's better-known entrepreneurs when he sold mobile security startup tenCube to McAfee in 2010, in one of the largest exits by a local entrepreneur at the time.
He's now trying to take on established competitors such as PropertyGuru with a Google-like approach to real-estate listings. That's a tactic Cheung thinks will turn traditional industry models on their head.