PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 26, 2025--
Scale Asia Ventures (SAV), a Silicon Valley-based early-stage fund focused on AI-native enterprise software, proudly announces that Founding Managing Partner Wally Wang has been named to Business Insider’s Seed 100 list of the world’s top early-stage investors.
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Business Insider ranked Wang at No. 95 on the 2025 Seed 100, citing his conviction-driven investments in Weaviate, Argilla, Array, CAST AI, Fiddler AI, and AppZen. The recognition reflects SAV’s differentiated thesis—backing the critical layer where advanced AI infrastructure meets vertical applications—and its role in linking Silicon-Valley innovation with Asia’s largest enterprises.
“Seed is where product intuition, market timing, and founder grit intersect. At SAV, we partner early with builders reshaping enterprise software with AI—and we help them land their first strategic customers across the U.S. and Asia.”
— Wally Wang, Founding Managing Partner, Scale Asia Ventures
SAV has introduced leading AI infrastructure and application companies to enterprise customers across the region and has built partnerships with major corporates and LPs in Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia. The firm supports founders with go-to-market introductions, hiring, and later-stage capital access.
Recent SAV investments in vertical AI applications include Solve Intelligence (Legal Agentic AI), HiggsField AI (Generative Video AI), Arva AI (AI for AML/KYC), Throxy (Sales Agentic AI) and Cresta (Contact Center AI), each leading the transformation in their respective industries. On the infrastructure side, SAV has backed companies that provide the foundational technology for AI agents, such as Mastra (Agent Framework), Tiny Fish (Enterprise Web Agent), Weaviate (Vector Database), Superlinked (Personalization & Search), CAST AI (Cloud Cost Optimization), and Fiddler AI (AI Observability), reflecting a deep commitment to the broader AI ecosystem. This dual focus on both the application and infrastructure layers of AI is central to SAV's thesis: we are backing founders who are not simply incorporating AI, but are fundamentally rethinking how the entire enterprise software landscape will evolve with AI at its core.
What Founders Are Saying
“SAV's introductions to key talent and their insights on the open-core model have been crucial to our journey.” — Bob van Luijt, CEO and Co-founder of Weaviate
“SAV's strategic introductions have accelerated our growth in the APAC and global markets.” — Laurent Gil, Co-founder and President of CAST AI
“SAV’s early conviction in our vision and their ability to connect us with the right AI infrastructure partners have accelerated our product roadmap.” — Sudheesh Nair, CEO and Co-founder of TinyFish
“SAV's team has a rare combination of deep technical AI knowledge and a forward-looking vision for the future of professional services. Their conviction in our AI agent technology validated our approach and has been a crucial endorsement as we engage with leading IP firms.” — Chris Parsonson, CEO and Co-founder of Solve Intelligence
“SAV understood from day one that Higgsfield’s technology could empower not just individual creators, but entire industries. Their guidance has been key as we expand into enterprise.” — Alex Mashrabov, CEO and Co-founder of HiggsField AI
About Wally Wang
Wally Wang is Founding Managing Partner of Scale Asia Ventures, a Silicon Valley early 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.
Business Insider’s Top 100 Venture Capitalists: Wally Wang, Founding Managing Partner of Scale Asia Ventures, recognized for notable AI and enterprise software investments including Weaviate, CAST AI, Fiddler AI, and more.
PHOENIX (AP) — Gabriela Jaquez scored 21 points, Lauren Betts added 16 and UCLA routed South Carolina 79-51 Sunday to win its first NCAA championship in women’s basketball.
The near-record lopsided victory completed the Bruins’ journey through this year’s March Madness that started following a loss to UConn in last season’s Final Four. The Bruins ran through their opponents this season with their only loss coming in November, to Texas in a Thanksgiving tournament.
UCLA (37-1) was led by Betts and her fellow seniors and graduate students, like Jaquez — who played all four years with the Bruins. She also had 10 rebounds and five assists in front of her brother Jaime, who plays for the Miami Heat and flew in to attend the game to watch his alma mater win.
The group that coach Cori Close put together through a combination of high school commitments and transfer portal players capped off their stellar careers with a championship. The title is UCLA’s first since winning the 1978 AIAW championship, which was the postseason tournament for women’s basketball before the NCAA took over in 1982.
The championship game loss was the second straight for the Gamecocks, who won the title in 2024. Dawn Staley and her Gamecocks (36-4) will be favored to return to the game’s biggest stage with a talented group of returnees, led by Joyce Edwards and Agot Makeer.
Like their 51-44 semifinal win over Texas, the Bruins were locked in defensively, anchored by Betts. She finished with 11 rebounds and exited the game with 3:45 left, giving Close a huge hug.
Offensively, the Bruins had a much easier time than in the semifinal game that saw the team score only 20 points in the first half. The Bruins surpassed that total in the opening 10 minutes against South Carolina. Kiki’s Rice 3-pointer just before the first-quarter buzzer made it 21-10 as the Bruins got off to a strong start and South Carolina struggled with 17% shooting, it’s poorest quarter of the season.
The Bruins extended the lead to 15 points in the second quarter by clogging up the paint on defense and working the ball inside on offense for a 36-23 lead at the half.
UCLA put the game away in the third quarter, opening the period with a 12-3 run. Jaquez had five points during the spurt. South Carolina never threatened again as the Bruins outscored them 25-9 in the period.
South Carolina avoided the most lopsided loss in championship history of 33 points, set in 2013 when UConn defeated Louisville. The Gamecocks also surpassed the title game record low of 44 points by Louisiana Tech in 1987 against Tennessee.
The Gamecocks were trying to cement their name as the premiere program in the sport with a fourth championship and third in the past five seasons. It just wasn’t meant to be Sunday as they had their worst shooting game of the season against a talented UCLA team.
Close has been at UCLA for 15 seasons, but her connections go deeper with the school as she was mentored by the legendary Bruins men’s coach John Wooden, who won 10 national championships at the school.
Their bond began when she was 22 years old and he was 83. She shares the same first name with one of his great-granddaughters. Close visited Wooden bi-weekly, adopting his “Pyramid of Success” and focus on character and its paid off with her team.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-womens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
UCLA guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) grabs a rebound over South Carolina guard Tessa Johnson (5) during the second half of the women's National Championship Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament game, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley motions towards the court against UCLA during the second half of the women's National Championship Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament game, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
UCLA forward Angela Dugalic (32) drives against South Carolina guard Ta'Niya Latson, left, and South Carolina guard Tessa Johnson (5) during the second half of the women's National Championship Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament game, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
UCLA guard Kiki Rice (1) celebrates after a play against South Carolina during the second half of the women's National Championship Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament game, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
UCLA guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) grabs a rebound over South Carolina guard Tessa Johnson (5) during the second half of the women's National Championship Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament game, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
UCLA guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) grabs a rebound over South Carolina guard Tessa Johnson (5) during the second half of the women's National Championship Final Four NCAA college basketball tournament game, Sunday, April 5, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
South Carolina guard Tessa Johnson (5) shoots over UConn forward Sarah Strong (21) during the second half of a woman's NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
UCLA forward Angela Dugalic, second from left, embraces UCLA guard Lena Bilic (9) after defeating Texas in a women's NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
South Carolina guard Ta'Niya Latson (00) and South Carolina guard Agot Makeer (44) go for a rebound against UConn during the first half of a woman's NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
UCLA guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) celebrates after UCLA defeated Texas in a women's NCAA college basketball tournament semifinal game at the Final Four, Friday, April 3, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
