Vishal Harnal

Vishal is a General Partner at 500 Startups, the most active venture capital firm in the world. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, 500 has invested in over 2200 companies across 70 countries from a family of 16 funds (AUM ~$500M). Vishal is based in Singapore from where he leads 500's investments across Southeast Asia. He has led over 100 investments in the region’s most talented, passionate founders and promising, high-growth startups. Over the past 3 years, the 500 Durians Funds that he manages have invested in over 160 companies across multiple verticals in the region including flagships Grab, Carousell, Bukalapak, Kudo (acq. Grab), Nugit, Fave, Revolution Precrafted and Gilmour Space. Prior to joining 500, Vishal was a lawyer at Asia-Pacific’s top law firm Drew & Napier where he specialised in resolving complex and high-stakes international investment, shareholder and political disputes for conglomerates and governments. Vishal is also no stranger to entrepreneurship, having built a communications training consultancy while in law school that empowered students and professionals with skills of persuasive speech, analytical thinking and negotiation. Vishal dedicates much of his free time to learning and teaching. He is a Kauffman Fellow and has also taught a programme on venture capital at INSEAD and entrepreneurship at the Singapore-MIT Alliance. He frequently speaks and advises on venture capital investing, board and management related issues, government policy on ecosystem building, and the large sweeping trends in technology and humanity. His opinions are aired on premier news networks such as Bloomberg and CNBC. Outside of venture capital, Vishal is passionate about the arts, education, aging and longevity, and both the spiritual and scientific exploration of the human mind.