Paul Asel

Paul Asel

Partner

Paul is co-founder and Partner at NGP Capital, a global venture firm with $1.6 billion in assets under management and offices in Europe, China, and the United States. NGP Capital has consistently delivered superior investment returns and has been an early investor in twelve companies that were subsequently valued at exceeding $1 billion. NGP Capital is a recognized industry leader and was named the Fund of the Year among over 2000 firms by Global Corporate Venturing in 2016.

Paul has a successful investment track record of over 25 years. He has realized over 20 successful exits, including 5 IPOs and four exits exceeding $1 billion of which UCWeb and Ganji are two of the largest technology acquisitions in China. His investment in Ganji and subsequent sale for $3.6 billion received recognition as Deal of the Year in 2016. Other notable exits include KongZhong (KZ: NASDAQ), Gridsum (GSUM: NASDAQ), KPIT Technologies (KPITTECH.NS), DQ Entertainment (DQEN.BO), Morpho (IPO Japan), Madhouse (Blue Focus Group), Whistle (Mars Petcare), CityMaps (TripAdvisor), Intermedia (Madison Dearborn Partners) and Xnor (Apple). Current investments include Workfusion, Lime, Fetchr, Juvo, Next Trucking, Scoop, Zoomcar and Zum. Paul has completed acquisitions and IPOs valued cumulatively at over $25 billion.

Prior to NGP Capital, Paul led technology investments in Southeast Asia at the International Finance Corporation. Previously, he was a Partner at Telos Venture Partners, oversaw M&A and investments at Cadence Design Systems and worked at Merrill Lynch in investment banking. Paul is a current member of the Global Corporate Venturing Leadership Society and an advisor to Garage Capital in Canada.

He received an MBA from Stanford University and a BA from Dartmouth College. He has taught International Entrepreneurship at the George Mason School of Public Policy and at the China Europe International Business School in Shanghai and was a guest lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania.

Paul is co-author of Upward Bound: Lessons of How Nine Leaders Achieved their Summits. His articles have appeared in Barron’s, CB Insights, Forbes, Global Corporate Venturing, The Journal of Private Equity, Knowledge@Wharton, Stanford Business Magazine, TechCrunch and Venture Capital Journal. His commentary has also appeared in Business Standard, Forbes, Fortune, Reuters and The Wall Street Journal among many others. You can follow Paul on Twitter and Medium at @PaulAsel.

    Portfolio

    Active

    Company
    Theme
    Description
    Investment year
      • SVT Robotics
      • Company: SVT Robotics
      • Description: Automation at the Speed of Need
      • Theme: Digital Industry
      • Investment year: 2021
      Digital Industry
      Automation at the Speed of Need
      2021
      SVT Robotics is an enterprise software company that’s revolutionizing robot deployments in the warehousing and manufacturing industries. SVT's SOFTBOT Platform enables companies to integrate any robot, automation, IoT device, or human productivity tool for any task in a week, not months. Learn more and join the revolution at svtrobotics.com. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. 

      Articles

      • ​Zūm
      • Company: ​Zūm
      • Description: Ridesharing service for kids
      • Theme: Smart Mobility
      • Investment year: 2019
      Smart Mobility
      Ridesharing service for kids
      2019
      Zūm is the leading provider of safe, efficient and reliable child transportation for school districts and busy families. Zūm saves schools money and parents time by providing flexible transportation options through its network of highly vetted drivers and advanced scheduling, routing and tracking technology. Founded in 2015 by Stanford and eBay alums, Zūm is backed by leading venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital, Spark Capital and BMW i Ventures. The company is headquartered in Redwood City, California.

      Articles

      • Scoop
      • Company: Scoop
      • Description: Corporate carpooling service
      • Theme: Smart Mobility
      • Investment year: 2019
      Smart Mobility
      Corporate carpooling service
      2019
      Scoop is the largest carpooling solution in the United States, partnering with some of the world's most forward-thinking organizations like LinkedIn, T-Mobile, and Workday to offer convenient and reliable carpooling to their workforces. Scoop addresses a key pain point for businesses and employees alike, solving for the third largest driver of voluntary attrition: the commute. By helping to make employees happier, healthier, and more productive in their day-to-day lives, Scoop supports organizations delivering exceptional employee experience, giving them an advantage in an ever-evolving, competitive landscape.

      Articles

      • Lime
      • Company: Lime
      • Description: Micro mobility platform
      • Theme: Smart Mobility
      • Investment year: 2017
      Smart Mobility
      Micro mobility platform
      2017
      Lime is revolutionizing mobility in cities and campuses by empowering residents with a greener, more efficient, and affordable transportation option that also improves urban sustainability. By partnering with local key stakeholders and systematically deploying a fleet of smart-bikes and scooters that are enabled with GPS, wireless technology, and self-activating locks, Lime is improving urban mobility by making the first and last mile faster, cheaper, and healthier for riders. Funded by Silicon Valley’s leading VC firms, Lime is based in San Mateo, CA.

      Articles

      • Juvo
      • Company: Juvo
      • Description: Financial Identity as a Service
      • Theme: Other
      • Investment year: 2017
      Other
      Financial Identity as a Service
      2017
      Juvo is establishing financial identities for the billions of people worldwide who are creditworthy, yet financially excluded. In partnership with mobile network operators, Juvo's proprietary Identity Scoring technology uses data science, machine learning, and game mechanics to create an identity-based relationship with anonymous prepaid users.

      Articles

      • WorkFusion
      • Company: WorkFusion
      • Description: Intelligent automation and RPA for enterprise
      • Theme: Digital Transformation
      • Investment year: 2015
      Digital Transformation
      Intelligent automation and RPA for enterprise
      2015
      WorkFusion is the leading smart process automation solution for the enterprise. WorkFusion is used by 18 of the top 20 information services businesses, the leading financial institutions, global Commerce businesses, and the largest business process outsourcing providers to automate high-volume, labor-intensive knowledge processing work. WorkFusion won SIIA’s CODiE Award for Best Big Data Solution, Data Management Review’s award for Best Data Management Solution and has been recognized by the leading analysts as a transformative solution for customers. The company is headquartered in New York City with offices in London and Eastern Europe.

      Articles

    Exited

    M&A

    Company
    Theme
    Description
    Region
    Exit year
      • Xnor.ai
      • Company: Xnor.ai
      • Theme: Edge Cloud
      • Description: Embedded AI models for edge devices
      • Region: USA
      • Exit year: 2020
      Edge Cloud
      Embedded AI models for edge devices
      USA
      2020
      Xnor has turned traditional cloud-based AI on its head by inventing a way to deploy deep learning models on everyday electronic devices rather than in the cloud. This is unleashing the next wave of AI adoption in cell phones, drones, cameras and IoT devices. We call this AI everywhere, for everyone. Customers include global corporations in aerospace, automotive, retail, photography, and consumer electronics. Xnor is based in Seattle, WA. The company was acquired by Apple 2020.

      Articles

      • Citymaps
      • Company: Citymaps
      • Theme: Smart Mobility
      • Description: Social mapping application
      • Region: USA
      • Exit year: 2016
      Smart Mobility
      Social mapping application
      USA
      2016
      Citymaps was built by a small team with a big idea: to create a mapping platform that is social, personalized, customizable and designed for a mobile-first world. Based in New York City, Citymaps was founded on the belief that maps should be more than just a tool for navigation. More fun. More personal. More inspiring. Citymaps offers a visually rich map, built from the ground-up, with over 80 million places worldwide. Citymaps enables users to create collections of places, or personal maps, with easily searchable themes so that users never forget a place again, and always have their favorite spots with them on-the-go. Citymaps was acquired by TripAdvisor 2016.

      Articles

      • Whistle
      • Company: Whistle
      • Theme: Other
      • Description: Connected pet tracker
      • Region: USA
      • Exit year: 2016
      Other
      Connected pet tracker
      USA
      2016
      Whistle is creating a new standard for pet health and wellness by providing pet owners with a window into their dog’s life. Through intuitive devices and a large comparative database of pet health information, Whistle is fueling new groundbreaking insights to transform veterinary research and preventative care. The company has established relationships with leading academic institutions, including University of Pennsylvania’s renowned Veterinary Clinical Investigations Center, to conduct studies employing Whistle’s devices and data. Additionally, Whistle has also created an advisory council of vets across the country from private practitioners to cardiology professors, who collaborate and communicate with the broader medical and research community. All Whistle devices connect to a first-of-its-kind database that will establish the definitive set of standards on dog health. Whistle was acquired by Mars Petcare 2016.

      Articles

      • Madhouse
      • Company: Madhouse
      • Theme: Other
      • Description: Mobile advertising network
      • Region: China
      • Exit year: 2015
      Other
      Mobile advertising network
      China
      2015
      Madhouse is China’s largest and most intelligent mobile advertising network. The company offers a highly intelligent, fully-automated mobile advertising platform serving over 1,100 major publisher sites representing over 75% of total mobile internet traffic in China. Madhouse is headquartered in Shanghai and has offices in Beijing and Guangzhou. Madhouse was acquired by the Blue Focus PR Consulting Group 2015.

      Articles

      • Intermedia
      • Company: Intermedia
      • Theme: Other
      • Description: Cloud IT and business applications
      • Region: USA
      • Exit year: 2017
      Other
      Cloud IT and business applications
      USA
      2017
      Intermedia is the premier provider of cloud services to Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) and the world’s largest provider of hosted Microsoft Exchange. Intermedia’s cloud offering is business-grade and is built specifically for the SMB. Intermedia also empowers thousands of partners – including managed service providers and select Fortune 500 companies – to sell cloud services under their own brand. Founded in 1995, Intermedia was the first to offer hosted Microsoft Exchange business-class cloud email and now has 450,000 premium hosted Exchange mailboxes under management – more than any other provider. The company was acquired by Madison Dearborn & Management 2017.

      Articles

      • Gridsum
      • Company: Gridsum
      • Theme: Digital Transformation
      • Description: Data analysis software
      • Region: China
      • Exit year: 2016
      Digital Transformation
      Data analysis software
      China
      2016
      Gridsum is a leading provider of Online Business Optimization products and services, through its cloud-based platform Gridsum Dissector, helping businesses measure, analyze and optimize online performance, with 300 clients among 18 industries, including 40 Fortune 500 and China 500 enterprises. Gridsum listed on Nasdaq 2016.

      Articles

      • Network18
      • Company: Network18
      • Theme: Other
      • Description: Media and entertainment network
      • Region: India
      • Exit year: 2012
      Other
      Media and entertainment network
      India
      2012
      Network18 is a leading media conglomerate in India with over $500M managed annual revenues. Network18 is the partner of choice for global media groups such as Viacom, NBC, TimeWarner (CNN) and Forbes. Network18 operates India’s leading brands in television news, entertainment and home shopping network; Internet travel, financial, e-commerce and entertainment portals; films; business print media; and yellow pages. Network18 was acquired by Reliance Industries 2012.
      • Ganji.com
      • Company: Ganji.com
      • Theme: Other
      • Description: Online classifieds platform
      • Region: China
      • Exit year: 2015
      Other
      Online classifieds platform
      China
      2015
      Founded in March 2005, Ganji.com is a leading online classified advertisements platform in China. It delivers practical location-based information to its users, covering almost every aspect of people’s daily life, including sections devoted to housing, jobs, personals, for sale, services, tickets, pets and discussion forums. As China’s most popular practical information portal for local life, Ganji.com was awarded RED HERRING 100 ASIA in 2009 and its mobile phone version Ganji.cn won the award of TOP10 Life-focused Websites for Mobile Phones in March 2010 by China Academy of Telecommunication Research of MIIT. 58.com acquired GanJi 2015 in largest internet acquisition in China of all time.

      Articles

      • UCweb
      • Company: UCweb
      • Theme: Other
      • Description: Chinese mobile Internet company
      • Region: China
      • Exit year: 2014
      Other
      Chinese mobile Internet company
      China
      2014
      UCweb is the leading mobile Internet company in China. Its flagship product, the UC Browser, offers users a fast, rich and easy-to-use mobile Internet experience that enables users to quickly and easily browse the Internet from a mobile phone, download music and games, search, etc. The UC Browser runs on more than 2,000 mobile devices from more than 40 famous brands across a variety of platforms such as Symbian, Windows Mobile, Java, MTK, iPhone, Android and Brew. The UC Browser has been downloaded over 200 million times and 35 billion page views are served every month. Alibaba acquired UCweb 2014.

      Articles

      • Tech Process
      • Company: Tech Process
      • Theme: Other
      • Description: Transaction and payment processing
      • Region: India
      • Exit year: 2017
      Other
      Transaction and payment processing
      India
      2017
      Tech Process is one of India’s leading providers of business solutions.Their comprehensive payments processing platform is designed to optimally address all your collection and disbursement needs – whether online or offline, physical or electronic, regardless of ticket size or a minimum transaction volume. With strong Back Office Management and Technology practices, TechProcess ensure that they are able to offer an unmatched, end-to-end value proposition to our customers. They can build or deploy a platform; manage business processes using the platform; and finally, originate and settle payment transactions along with associated information flows seamlessly. Most importantly, they have people committed to understanding what you need, and ensuring that we deliver exactly that. Ingenico Group acquired Techprocess 2017.

    IPO

    Company
    Theme
    Description
    Region
    IPO year
      • KongZhong
      • Company: KongZhong
      • Theme: Other
      • Description: Digital entertainment services
      • Region: China
      • IPO year: 2004
      Other
      Digital entertainment services
      China
      2004
      KongZhong is one of the leading providers of digital entertainment services for consumers in China. It operates four main business units, namely WVAS, WIS, mobile games and online games. KongZhong is one of the leading providers of WVAS to mobile phone users. Since 2004, KongZhong has been offering news, entertainment, community and mobile advertising services through its wireless Internet sites, including Kong.net, ko.cn and ct.cn. In 2008, it began reporting its mobile games business as a stand-alone operating segment, while it was previously reported as part of its WVAS business. KongZhong began its online games business in 2010, through its acquisition of Dacheng Networks, a developer and operator of online games. The company is listed on Nasdaq.

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