Yat Siu

Yat Siu, born in 1973 in Vienna, Austria, is an Austrian entrepreneur and angel investor based in Hong Kong. He comes from a musical background, with his mother conducting an orchestra and his father being an instrumentalist turned businessman. Siu himself trained in cello, flute, and piano at the Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna. His professional career began at Atari Germany. He later served as a director and head of East Coast Operations for Lexicor and AT&T Solutions System Integration practice.

After relocating to Hong Kong, Siu established Cybercity in 1996, an internet and email provider. This company was later known as Freenation, recognized as Asia’s first free web page and email service. In 1998, he founded Outblaze, a pioneer in multilingual white-label web services. In 2009, he sold a portion of Outblaze’s business to IBM’s Lotus Software Division. This transaction led to IBM establishing its first cloud computing laboratory in Hong Kong. Following this, Siu transitioned Outblaze to focus on incubating digital entertainment projects.

One of the projects to emerge from Outblaze was Animoca Brands, which Siu co-founded. Animoca Brands has since become a global leader in blockchain and gaming, with a valuation of $2.2 billion in its last funding round. Siu’s career progression includes numerous accolades, such as being named a Global Leader of Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum and Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the DHL/SCMP Awards. He is a member of the advisory board of BAFTA and a director of the Asian Youth Orchestra. In 2023, Siu was appointed to the Task Force on Promoting Web3 Development by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. He also serves as a director at the Dalton Foundation, which oversees Dalton School Hong Kong.