Hunting Unicorns: The AI opportunity in Asia-Pacific | Eric Chan
Eric shares Aura's pursuit of backing Asia-Pacific’s next AI unicorn through a blend of high-conviction venture capital and private credit.
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In today’s ROCast, Murdoch Gatti is joined by Eric Chan, co-founder and Group MD of Aura Ventures & Aura Group. Eric shares what it takes to build a funds management business and their pursuit of backing Asia-Pacific’s next AI unicorn — through a disciplined process that blends private credit stability with high-conviction venture capital.
We break down Aura’s two flagship strategies:
- Aura Venture Fund — a seed-stage vehicle conditionally registered as an ESVCLP (Early Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership), where investors commit capital via staged calls, gain tax benefits once fully registered, and back founders across Australia and Southeast Asia. A standout holding is Haast, an AI compliance platform already used by Telstra and Zurich. As Eric points out, the best measure of AI success is cost savings — and Haast has reduced compliance costs by ~60%, cut review times by 80%, and scaled rapidly from a $1.2m pre-seed in 2023 to a $6m raise in 2025 to drive international growth.
- Aura Private Credit Income Fund — an evergreen wholesale fund that has delivered ~9% p.a. since 2017 by financing SME-focused non-bank lenders. With short-duration loans, first-loss protection, and monthly liquidity, it offers stable income and strong risk controls.
Eric also explains why venture capital must be run as a portfolio, how to balance write-offs against fund-returners, the cyclical nature of venture markets, and where AI is already creating measurable business value — and where Aura is looking to invest next.
So, before we get into the conversation, please remember this ROCast is made for entertainment purposes only. I encourage you to listen to the disclaimer at the end of this ROCast and to keep your feedback coming. You can reach me at [email protected].
With that being said, I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did, so sit back, relax, and enjoy.
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Murdoch Gatti is the founder of York Wealth Management and a private wealth adviser to families, business owners and professionals.
York helps clients make better long-term decisions about how their capital is invested, structured and passed on. That covers portfolio construction, retirement and superannuation strategy, and planning for the transfer of wealth between generations.
Murdoch also hosts The Rate of Change, a podcast where he interviews fund managers, investors and business leaders, then tests what he hears against the data.
Outside work, Murdoch and his wife Yasmin have two young children.
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York Wealth Management Pty Ltd ABN 46 605 610 679 is a Corporate Authorised Representative (No. 001007972) of AD Advisory Services Pty Ltd ABN 68 005 830 802, AFSL No. 237058. Murdoch Gatti is an Authorised Representative (No. 001007979) of AD Advisory Services Pty Ltd.
This article contains general advice only. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on it, you should consider whether it is appropriate to you in light of your objectives, financial situation and needs, and seek professional advice where appropriate. If a financial product is referred to, you should obtain and consider the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination before making any decision about it.
Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure the information is accurate at the time of publication, but no representation or warranty is given as to its accuracy, completeness or currency. Views of podcast guests and other third parties are their own. Links to third-party websites are provided for convenience only; we do not endorse and are not responsible for their content. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
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Murdoch Gatti is the founder of York Wealth Management and a private wealth adviser to families, business owners and professionals. York helps clients make better long-term decisions about how their capital is invested, structured and passed on....
Murdoch Gatti is the founder of York Wealth Management and a private wealth adviser to families, business owners and professionals. York helps clients make better long-term decisions about how their capital is invested, structured and passed on....
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