NEW YORK, July 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Scorpion Investments General Partner and co-founder Gautam Ahuja, along with Lin Dai, the CEO and co-founder of popular subscription drinks app, HOOCH, led a panel discussion on the "state of startup funding" at Silicon Dragon New York 2017. Dorinda Elliott, Paulson Institute Editorial Director moderated the panel between Dai and Ahuja, the only founder and investor pair at Silicon Dragon, touching on Sino-American investment flows, relationships and access to capital.
Dai, CEO and co-founder of HOOCH, leads the world's first ever subscription-drinks app, known as the "ClassPass for Drinks" or "Netflix for Drinks". HOOCH provides subscribers "one free drink every day" for a recurring subscription of $9.99/month, as well as building an enterprise business servicing the top companies in the alcohol and hospitality industries, utilizing its proprietary data set on consumer behavior at bars. The app is available in nine major U.S. metropolitan markets plus Hong Kong, Hooch's first international city. Dai, a former public-company CMO who was born in Shanghai and raised in the U.S., is among the most sought after Chinese-American CEO speakers. HOOCH has recently accepted term sheet for its first priced round and is currently working with multiple VCs and angels to finalize the round.
Gautam Ahuja, General Partner and co-founder of Blue Scorpion Investments, built the firm together with Jamison Ernest to fund and bring 360 degree creative and marketing expertise, which is normally unaffordable to early stage, consumer-facing companies that are socially conscious, disrupt consumer behavior and improve everyday life. In his talk at Silicon Dragon Ahuja noted HOOCH's access to "smart data" on subscribers and HOOCH's price advantages at scale as reasons for Blue Scorpion's investment in the company.
The panel host, Silicon Dragon, is a leading Asia-Pacific focused investment research network backed by China Institute, InvestHK, Digital NYC, Hong Kong Association of New York, and the Asia Society, among others. The group publishes Silicon Dragon News, produces Silicon Dragon Talk, and hosts tech innovation and investment forums in Asia, the U.S. and Europe. Other speakers at Silicon Dragon New York 2017 include Bob McCooey, Nasdaq Global Head of Capital Markets, Jim Robinson, Managing Partner of RRE Ventures, Brian Cohen, Chairman of NY Angels, and many more.
ABOUT HOOCH
HOOCH is the first ever subscription-drinks app where members get one free drink every day at over 500 of the world's top cocktail bars, elite lounges and premiere restaurants, in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas, Austin, San Diego, Phoenix, San Francisco, and Hong Kong, with plans to expand to additional cities both in the U.S. and internationally.
HOOCH
Website: http://hooch.co/
Instagram: @HOOCHApp
Facebook: facebook.com/hoochapp
About Blue Scorpion Investments
BSI invests primarily in consumer-facing businesses, specifically consumer electronics; disruptive technologies; shared economy; single and multi-platform applications; beauty, cosmetics and accessories; retail, fashion/lifestyle brands; and beverages and packaged foods. The firm's primary objective is to create significant shareholder value by bringing a combination of creative, marketing and financial resources into active partnerships with owners and management teams of early stage high-growth companies.
Website: www.bluescorpioninv.com
SOURCE Blue Scorpion Investments
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