In this episode of View From The Top, Ganesh Nayak sits down with Chris Loh, Managing Partner at Axiom Asia — one of Asia's leading private equity fund-of-funds investors.
The conversation traces how capital actually moves across the region, why each Asian market has evolved on its own track, and what it takes for global LPs to see Asia clearly.
Chris brings a rare vantage point. He started as an electronics engineer in Japan, moved into Silicon Valley venture investing with GIC during the dot-com years, and joined Axiom in 2009 as the venture capital boom was taking off in China. From that seat, he has watched three full cycles play out across China, Japan, Korea, and India — and seen what made each one move.
Together, Ganesh and Chris explore why India today resembles where China stood in the early 2000s, how Japan's buyout-led ecosystem is now growing a venture layer on top, and why exit pathways are the single most important variable LPs underestimate when they enter Asia.
A recurring thread runs through the conversation: home-market biases do not travel well. LPs from the US and Europe often arrive in Asia looking only at buyouts because that is what worked at home. Chris argues that the firms who succeed in Asia are the ones willing to let go of those defaults and read each market on its own terms.
Together, Ganesh and Chris dive into:
- How venture capital travelled from Silicon Valley to China, and then to the rest of Asia
- Why India's IPO ecosystem in 2021 was the moment that finally unlocked exits for early backers
- What separates China, Japan, Korea, and India in their private market cycles today
- How Axiom evaluates GPs across primary, secondary, and co-investment strategies
- Why team dynamics matter more than individual brilliance when picking venture managers
- The home biases that hold global LPs back when they first deploy into Asia
- How secondary markets in Asia moved from second-choice exit to a credible liquidity path
This is a first-hand account of how Asia's private capital markets work and where the real opportunity lies for the next decade of global allocators.
About Axiom Asia:
Axiom Asia is a private equity fund-of-funds investor focused exclusively on Asia. The firm commits primary capital to mid-market, country-focused funds with established track records, while also backing select next-generation managers raising their first or second funds. Alongside its GPs, Axiom invests directly into top-performing companies across the region through a systematic co-investment program. The firm is also an active buyer in the Asian secondary market, working on fund positions, direct secondaries, corporate spin-outs, and fund restructurings.
In the Frame
Ganesh Nayak
Ganesh leads fundraising and global capital markets at Avataar Venture Partners. He brings deep experience across venture capital, fundraising, and startup ecosystems.
Based in Bengaluru, Ganesh is an active angel investor in SaaS, B2B tech, and digital consumer brands, with notable investments in Curefoods, Uni Cards, and Capillary Technologies.
Ganesh combines strategic capital insights with a strong operator mindset spanning marketing, business development, venture investing, and mentoring early-stage founders.
Chris Loh
Chris Loh is a Managing Partner at Axiom Asia - a private equity fund-of-funds investor focused exclusively on Asia. He joined Axiom in 2009 and leads the firm's venture capital fund investments across Asia, with responsibility for all fund investments in India. He is also active in co-investments and secondary transactions.
Before Axiom, Chris spent nine years at GIC Special Investments across the Singapore and San Francisco offices, leading investments in venture, growth, buyout, and secondary funds in the US and Asia. Earlier, he worked for seven years as an engineer at DSO National Laboratories, Singapore's largest defence R&D organisation, leading a team developing secure wireless communication systems.
Chris holds a Bachelor of Electronics Engineering from the University of Tokyo and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering and an MBA, both from the National University of Singapore. He is fluent in English, Chinese, and Japanese.
