GB Capital is the Single Family Office of Douglas Gan, formerly GBCI Ventures (US$100M Smart City Fund). We partner with families and conglomerates to build profitable, exitable companies across APAC. With three decades of experience, Douglas has cultivated deep relationships enabling access to opportunities out of reach for most.
A Visionary Ahead of His Time
Douglas Gan's journey is defined by a lifelong mission to create products that impact the world. A true visionary, he built social networking platforms before Facebook, cloud computing before Amazon Web Services, and location-based services before Foursquare. He bought his first Bitcoin in 2013 before most people had even heard of it, and today is pioneering on-chain currency exchange with Sera, the second such protocol in the world after Terra Money. From the dot-com boom to the mobile revolution, blockchain tech, and web3, he has consistently identified future trends years before they became mainstream.
The Hardware Hustle
During the dot-com bubble (1997-2002), Douglas saw opportunity in chaos. He bought liquidated hardware (HP/Compaq servers and Cisco networking equipment worth hundreds of thousands) and sold them to buyers across Asia, bridging a logistics gap before global supply chains matured.
Pioneering Cloud Computing
3 years before Amazon Web Services (AWS). Facing high hosting costs, Douglas built his own virtualization technology to maximize server efficiency. This innovation, what we now call "cloud computing", allowed him to scale infrastructure at a fraction of the cost.
Social Networking Before It Was Cool
2 years before Friendster. Leveraging his virtualization tech and excess server capacity, he launched a social networking platform. He saw the need for digital connection long before the world was ready to embrace it fully.
Connecting Gamers During SARS
When the SARS outbreak kept people indoors, Douglas noticed a surge in online gaming (Counter-Strike, Ragnarok Online). He pivoted quickly, providing dedicated servers to gamers, proving that technology could bring people together even in isolation.
Location-Based Services
2 years before Foursquare. He launched the precursor to ShowNearby as a website to help people find amenities around them. Through strategic execution in a highly competitive space, it evolved into a mobile app that became one of the top 3 apps globally in 2010.
The Decade of Mastery
Douglas spent the next 10 years honing his sense of timing and financial acumen. He advised PropertyGuru on strategy, engaged in pre-IPO deals, and gained deep experience across diverse industries: Education, Real Estate, Telco, Logistics, Fintech, Beauty, Fashion, Retail, E-commerce, F&B, Point of Sales, Luxury Goods, and SaaS. His goal was singular: to master the art of knowing when and where to launch innovations so they are appreciated and can scale massively.
Entering the Crypto World
Douglas bought his first Bitcoin in 2013 from FirstMeta. He was introduced to the technology by FirstMeta's Founder & CEO, Autumn Radtke, who explained the fundamentals of Bitcoin and its future prospects, sparking his long-term interest in blockchain.
The Smart City Fund
Douglas launched a US$100M fund, which was quickly filled by 2018 with Chinese LPs fueled by the property boom. This was the era where giants like Amazon and Alibaba were fiercely competing to dominate "manless businesses" (from supermarkets and cafes to hotels). Capitalizing on this trend, the fund focused on investing in smart city projects, robotics, AI, biometrics systems, gantry systems, and distributed ledger technologies.
Bringing Financial Literacy to the unbanked
Witnessing the crypto exchange and ICO boom, Douglas identified the difficulty in on/off ramps. With a resourceful approach to serving the unbanked, he venture-built Fincy, securing an US$11M investment to build a platform allowing anyone to conduct cross-border payments, e-wallet transactions, domestic transfers, and money exchange. In 2020, Fincy was successfully exited to a mega fintech IPO.
Programmable Money
Douglas fell in love with the concept of programmable money and stablecoins, recognizing their potential to revolutionize global finance by making transactions instant, transparent, and borderless. This pivotal moment shifted his focus deeper into the mechanics of decentralized finance (DeFi) and algorithmic stability.
Resilience in Crisis
The fund suffered a massive US$70M loss due to the sudden halt of manufacturing in China, leaving many invested startups with unfulfillable orders. However, on the distributed ledger technologies front, the invested projects and tokens yielded significant returns, covering all the losses incurred by the smart city investments.
The Terra Era
Diving deep into algorithmic stablecoins, Douglas read extensively into Terra Money and invested millions into LUNA and UST, believing in the vision of a decentralized stablecoin economy.
-2023
Fintech & Spirituality
Douglas continued to innovate, building ASEAN Fintech Group to consolidate fintech services across the region. Concurrently, he deepened his spiritual practice, studying metaphysics and ancient wisdom, which began to influence his approach to technology and leadership.
Leading the Fight for Justice
Following the collapse of Terra, Douglas took a stand for investors. He led a class-action lawsuit against Do Kwon costing millions, demonstrating his commitment to accountability and integrity within the crypto space.
AI-Powered Connections
Douglas launched YouApp, an innovative AI dating compatibility app that used celestial predictions to help users find their perfect match. In the same year, he invested in TIAN, the native token of the AskTian Oracleverse, bridging the gap between AI, metaphysics, and blockchain.
2025
The Next Evolution
YouApp pivoted to focus on helping hosts offer experiences for travelers, similar to Airbnb Experiences. The company achieved profitability for two straight quarters and the full year of 2025. Douglas then passed management to a capable team of over 50 people, with Malaysia and Vietnam as key markets.
2025
Sera Currency Exchange
Drawing from past lessons, Douglas founded Sera.cx with the vision of building programmable money "how it should have been." Sera is a settlement protocol designed for programmable money to be instant, borderless, and compliant. By partnering with leading industry partners, it aims to revolutionize global finance with non-USD stablecoins and on-chain FX, making transactions seamless and efficient.
"I learned that success isn't just about the vision or the execution. It's about timing. I started cloud computing 7 years before it became popular. I built social networks before the world was ready. True impact comes when Vision, Execution, and Timing align."
"For the first 18 months of every startup, I convince my team to live, eat, and work together in the same space. We share rooms, beds, and every waking moment. This intense communal living builds unbreakable bonds and a singular focus that is impossible to replicate in a 9-to-5 environment."
Guided by Wisdom & Science
Beyond the boardroom, Douglas is a deeply spiritual individual who embraces a tapestry of philosophies. However, his belief in metaphysics is not rooted in superstition, but in the scientific understanding of energy, frequency, wavelengths, and history. He views ancient wisdom through the lens of mathematics and physics, seeking the underlying patterns that govern our universe.
Disciplines & Studies
A pivotal moment in his life occurred in 2013, when he met a Taiwanese master who was then just a student. This encounter, originally scheduled for a mere 30 minutes, turned into a profound 3-hour dialogue. The master gave him a series of life-changing advice that resonated deeply with Douglas's own experiences and intuition.
This journey has taught him that leadership is not just about strategy and execution, but about energy management, empathy, and alignment. By understanding the unseen forces that shape our world, he makes decisions that are not only profitable but also harmonious and sustainable.
