Ep215 – Ben Dunphy (Co-founder & Partner – January Capital) on data-driven VC & leveraging both equity & credit for growth

Jul 10, 2025

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My guest for Ep215 of The Startup Playbook Podcast was Ben Dunphy.

Ben is the Co-Founder and Partner of January Capital, a VC fund that invests in early stage high growth startups in the Asia Pacific region. They also run an $85M growth credit fund, offering scale-stage companies access to non-dilutive capital.

I first had Ben on the show back in October 2016 and nearly a decade later, we revisit the journey and dive into:

What’s changed and what hasn’t in early stage investing
How January Capital is bridging the gap between equity and debt-based financing in an innovative model
The opportunities in Southeast Asia
And much more!

Timestamps:

00:01:17 Ben’s background: Australia-born, now leading January Capital in Singapore
00:03:16 What’s remained constant vs. what’s changed in nine years of APAC venture
00:05:26 Proving billion-dollar outcomes outside Silicon Valley and the AI paradigm shift
00:09:03 Founding January Capital: spotting gaps and launching with three partners
00:12:41 Why (and when) startups should diversify into credit alongside equity
00:19:21 Misconceptions about “one big Southeast Asia market” and the B2B focus
00:24:07 January’s data-driven deal-sourcing engine and composite talent scoring
00:27:53 Signals of exceptional founders
00:31:00 Advice on timing investor outreach and the benefits of month-long rapport-building
00:39:04 Case study: William Li’s whiteboard pitch for Akulaku and the power of clarity

Our partners:

Also a big shout out to our long-term partners for the show:

Scendar

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Links mentioned:

The Komo Club: The world’s first human accelerator

Ben’s links:

People mentioned:

Companies mentioned:

Feedback/connect/say hello:

Credits:

Music: Paycheck

Other channels:

Find all of the links for the podcast on Linktree here

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