Multi-stage venture capital firm SOSV announces the launch of Orbit Startups, a new program brand for emerging and frontier markets

PRINCETON, N.J., July 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The multi-stage venture capital firm SOSV announced today the launch of Orbit Startups, a new brand unifying the established SOSV programs dedicated to startups with vast growth potential in emerging and frontier markets. Orbit encompasses SOSV's MOX and Chinaccelerator programs, and reflects SOSV's shift in recent years to the geographies of Southeast and South Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.

"Many of our recent successes," said William Bao Bean, SOSV general partner and managing director of Orbit, "have resulted from applying the aggressive growth strategies we learned in more mature - markets, notably China, to emerging markets elsewhere around the world. Orbit Startups expresses this new, exciting phase of growth for SOSV."

At the same time, SOSV announced the promotion of Chinaccelerator program director Oscar Ramos to SOSV general partner and managing director of Orbit.  A native of Spain, Ramos is a telecommunications engineer by training and has worked in China for 14 years as both an entrepreneur and venture capitalist.

In 2021, the Orbit team invested in more than 40 new startups operating in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas and helped portfolio companies raise US$286 million in follow-on funding.  In the past year, a string of Orbit Startup portfolio companies have closed major series of rounds, including $25 million at Phable (remote healthcare in India), $46 million at VideoVerse (AI-based real-time video editing), $40 million at Marketforce (ecommerce in Africa), and $37 million at Dastgyr (ecommerce in Pakistan). 

Orbit Startups' development program is open for applications. The program welcomes early stage (up to series A) applicants to work virtually or in-person with Orbit's growth experts and to participate in an investor-focused demo day. SOSV provides $150,000 in capital and introductions to raise follow-on rounds. 

"SOSV started our startup development programs in China 12 years ago by launching Chinaccelerator," said Sean O'Sullivan, founding general partner at SOSV, "and that was China's first accelerator. It's gratifying that in 2022, we're continuing in areas like healthcare and commerce. The rise of disruptive startups will make life better for billions of people."

The Chinaccelerator Shanghai office will also continue the robust legacy program to connect program's founders with multinational corporations, such as AB InBev, Siemens, Visa and Pfizer. The Taipei MOX office will continue as the center for the development of Orbit's free mobile promotion network, which helps SOSV founders scale audiences quickly in emerging and frontier markets.

SOSV is a global, multi-stage venture capital firm with $1.3 billion in assets under management. Headquartered in Princeton, NJ, SOSV operates early stage startup development programs including HAX (hard tech) and IndieBio (human and planetary health) and Orbit Startups (emerging markets) programs.

SOURCE SOSV