Ben Chou

Ben Chou is a Managing Director at the Trans-Pacific Technology Fund (TPTF), a Taipei-based, technology-driven venture capital fund founded in 2014 that backs innovation companies across Asia, North America, and Europe. In this role he leads cross-border technology investing, drawing on a career that spans both operating and investing roles across the US, Taiwan, and China.

Earlier in his career, Chou spent more than twelve years at Intel, working in the US, Taipei, and China. His responsibilities there ranged from design and application engineering, processor design, and manufacturing, through to heading the product and technical marketing team for the Asia-Pacific region — giving him a hands-on grounding in semiconductors and hardware before moving into finance.

He then transitioned into venture capital and private equity, serving as an Investment Manager at China Development Industrial Bank (CDIB) & Partners, where he focused on fund management and direct investments. Across roughly two decades in the technology and investing worlds, his work has centered on cross-border opportunities linking Silicon Valley with Greater China and Taiwan, with a recurring emphasis on green technology, cloud computing, hardware, and bio-medical companies.

Chou holds an M.S. in Management Information Systems from Boston University and a B.S. in Computer Science from National Chiao-Tung University (NCTU) in Taiwan.

• Invests primarily at Seed and Series A, with firm check sizes generally in the $1–5 million range and a stated 3–5 year investment horizon.
• Targets "disruptive, platform technologies" — TPTF's core sectors are advanced materials, health/life sciences, ICT, IoT, and robotics/automation.
• Chou's personal thesis leans toward green technology, cloud computing, hardware components, and bio-medical industries.
• Prizes cross-border, trans-Pacific plays: companies that can bridge US innovation (especially Silicon Valley) with manufacturing, scaling, and market access across Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong — an area where his Intel operating background and CDIB investing experience are directly relevant.
• Plans exits via strategic sale to a corporate/strategic acquirer or IPO, consistent with the fund's institutional, returns-driven mandate.