Moving on From Facebook, Co-Founder Saverin Sets Up Shop in Asia
Eduardo Saverin says he doesn't want to be remembered by the movie "The Social Network" and he never thought that his life would become a Hollywood film.
Looking to put that behind him, the Facebook co-founder relocated to Singapore in 2009 shortly after settling his legal battles with co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Armed with a rumored Facebook equity of 5 percent worth an estimated $3 billion, Saverin is looking to invest in new start-ups in social media in Asia. He co-founded Anideo, a Singapore-based web design and app developer, with room-mate and fellow Harvard graduate Andrew J Solimine. According to Solimine the firm “develops mobile applications” for platforms such as Apple’s iPhone.
“Anideo’s focus now is on mobile development. We are initially using iPhone as our platform because we appreciate the hardware and marriage between software development and the iPhone. But eventually we want to move into more affordable operating systems,” Solimine told CNBC.
Saverin, who spoke this week to budding entrepreneurs at the National University of Singapore (NUS) said he believes the future of social networking will center on the mobile platform.
Among the targets for the company is Indonesia, which has mobile phone penetration of over 80 percent, or 180 million users. Coincidentally, Indonesia is also the world’s second largest Facebook market with almost 30 million users.
Asia is currently the world’s largest mobile phone market, so it’s no surprise that Saverin set up shop in Singapore, a country he believes offers a conducive environment for launching a new business.
Aside from Anideo, Saverin is also reported to be the main investor in start-up Qwiki, a web query software, much like a rich media version of Wikipedia with audio and visual features. The founders of Groupon recently invested $1 million in Qwiki.
Saverin is not done investing; while speaking at NUS, he confirmed that he’s on the lookout for companies pioneering the development of social media in Asia.
