Scale Asia Ventures (SAV), the trailblazing Silicon Valley venture capital firm revolutionizing AI investments, has earned two finalist honors at the prestigious Private Equity Wire® US Awards 2025: Performance of the Year: Venture Capital (Under $500 million) for its powerhouse SAV Fund I, and Capital Raise of the Year: Co-invest for its innovative SAV Fund II. These recognitions spotlight SAV's differentiated, high-conviction investment strategy in AI, where blockbuster exits and razor-sharp insights have propelled the firm to the forefront of institutional investor attention. Winners will be announced November 6, 2025, in New York City, with finalists selected by a distinguished board of allocators and managers using rigorous proprietary and third-party data.

“These nominations validate our AI-first barbell strategy: early-stage insight fueling blockbuster exits, disciplined liquidity, and exclusive co-investment access for LPs. In a hyper-competitive market, performance speaks loudest."

-Wally Wang, Founding Managing Partner, Scale Asia Ventures

Institutional Acclaim Spotlights Co-Invest Triumph

In the Capital Raise of the Year: Co-invest category, SAV appears alongside major industry players such as Capital Dynamics ($15 billion AUM), Churchill Asset Management ($52 billion AUM), and Neuberger Berman ($538 billion AUM). SAV’s inclusion underscores the strength of its co-investment platform, placing it among the most respected and competitive programs in the industry.

The program offers limited partners (LPs) exclusive access to late-stage, high-conviction AI deals with strong governance and scale potential. Institutional investors, corporate LPs, family offices, and funds-of-funds are flocking to SAV for these opportunities, fueling the firm's rapid ascent.

AI Barbell Strategy: A Masterclass in Success and Exits

SAV's visionary AI "barbell" approach strategically balances early-stage bets across foundational infrastructure and applications with later-stage AI juggernauts primed for explosive growth and strategic acquisitions, delivering outsized returns and rapid liquidity.

• Late-Stage AI Powerhouse (Selected Portfolio Companies): VAST Data (in funding discussions at valuations ~$30 billion and considered IPO-ready); Cresta (named Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Conversation Intelligence Solutions for Contact Centers); and Crusoe Energy (recently raised ~US$1.4 billion and on an IPO path as a major AI infrastructure play).
• Early-stage AI innovators (Selected Portfolio Companies): Pangea Cyber (acquired by CrowdStrike); Weaviate ($50M Series B); Fiddler AI (model observability, $32M Series B); Higgsfield (generative video, $50M Series A); TinyFish ($47M Series A led by ICONIQ); Solve Intelligence (AI patent-drafting platform, $12M Series A).

SAV's early-stage coverage provides transformative insights into AI's foundational shifts, scouting category-defining innovations that evolve into essential technologies. This barbell approach – which diversifies across stages and the AI stack – mitigates risk, accelerates liquidity, and captures asymmetric upside, making it a magnet for savvy LPs.

Elite Performance in the Silicon Valley Arena

SAV’s selection for Performance of the Year places it alongside top-tier Silicon Valley firms like Uncorrelated Ventures, founded by renowned investor Salil Deshpande, reinforcing SAV’s standing as a leading performer in an intensely competitive U.S. venture landscape. LPs consistently highlight SAV’s strong track record, where disciplined investing and meaningful exits drive sustained outperformance.

Exit Velocity: A Track Record of Triumphs

SAV combines strategic timing and execution to convert AI bets into successful exits with strong multiples.

• CloudVector acquired by Imperva in 2021
• Argilla acquired by Hugging Face in 2024
• Golden acquired by ComplyAdvantage in 2024
• Promoted.ai acquired by Dropbox in 2025
• Pangea Cyber acquired by CrowdStrike in 2025

These exits deliver impressive multiples and validate SAV's profound AI insights, spotting trends that reshape industries and generate swift, substantial returns.

Why Elite LPs Are Betting Big on Scale Asia Ventures

Sophisticated institutional allocators pinpoint three core drivers:

1. Unrivaled Innovation Scouting: With deep roots in Silicon Valley and a focus on early-stage AI, SAV provides timely insight into emerging technologies and category-defining trends.
2. Superior Performance Through Exits: LPs prioritize SAV's proven exit machine, with disciplined pacing and liquidity focus for top-tier returns.
3. Premier Co-Investment Access: SAV’s recognition in the co-investment category reflects its ability to structure and syndicate high-quality, late-stage AI opportunities at scale, offering LPs front-row seats to high-conviction deals.

Awards Methodology

The Private Equity Wire® US Awards 2025 celebrate excellence, leveraging net IRR and money multiples through March 31, 2024, with winners chosen by an independent board.

SAV Essentials for LPs

• AI-First Mandate: Silicon Valley roots with cross-border networks, fueling investments in infrastructure and applied AI.
• Barbell Mastery: Early-stage innovation meets late-stage liquidity, with strict sizing and exit rigor.
• Co-Invest Edge: Routine LP invitations to blockbuster deals, award-validated for scale and governance.
• LP Appeal: Elite performance via exits, diversified AI exposure, and insider insights into innovation frontiers.

About Private Equity Wire®

Private Equity Wire, launched in 2002, is a premier online platform delivering news, insights, and analysis on private capital markets. With a 23-year legacy, it serves institutional investors and advisors through Global Fund Media Ltd, with its decade-plus awards program recognizing excellence in private equity and venture capital.

About Wally Wang

Wally Wang is Founding Managing Partner of Scale Asia Ventures, a Silicon Valley multi-stage fund for AI-driven enterprise software. He was named to Business Insider’s Seed 100 list of top early-stage investors and previously led U.S. tech investments for Fosun International and a multibillion-dollar family office. Earlier, he built products at Microsoft Bing; Pebble (Y Combinator) and Misfit—both folded into Google Wear OS; Lattice Engines (acq. by NYSE: DNB) and DataVisor. Wally earned his B.S. in Computer Science from Tsinghua University, pursued Ph.D. studies at NYU Stern, and was a visiting scholar at Carnegie Mellon’s School of Computer Science.

About Scale Asia Ventures

Scale Asia Ventures is a Silicon Valley–based venture capital firm backing AI-native infrastructure and applications, then scales them globally through a network of institutional investors and corporate LPs across the U.S., Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. The firm supports portfolio companies in gaining cross-border market access, strategic hiring support, and a clear path to later-stage capital.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20251024205282/en/

"These nominations validate our AI-first barbell strategy: early-stage insight fueling blockbuster exits, disciplined liquidity, and exclusive co-investment access for LPs. In a hyper-competitive market, performance speaks loudest."