Tien Nguyen
About Tien Nguyen
Tien Nguyen holds a Master's degree in Business Strategy from University College Dublin, earned under a full fellowship from the Irish Government. He started in venture capital in Ireland, working with Halo Business Angel Network and Delta Partners. His Earth VC bio says he has served as a General Partner at an Irish VC firm, a German family office and an ESG fund. It also says he lectures at European universities and has worked as an organic farmer in Europe, China and Southeast Asia.
Since October 2021 he has been Founding Partner of Earth Venture Capital (Earth VC), a climate tech and deep tech firm. Event bios give its focus as energy transition, green manufacturing and agriculture, and the number of countries it has invested in varies by bio from 6 to 10. A 2025 Connect Group interview calls him General Partner there. NFX Signal also lists him as Founder and CEO of Wiziin Inc. since 2020. A LinkedIn post describes Wiziin as a platform that uses AI to help startups manage investor relationships and find investors.
He is an expert at Rockefeller Foundation Asia on AI and climate action. He sits on the steering committee of Impact Investing Readiness Vietnam, run by IIX and Global Affairs Canada, and advises CarbonX Capital. He has mentored for Google for Startups, She Loves Tech and MoveSG Accelerator. He has also written a Vietnamese-language book on venture capital fundraising strategy. Crunchbase places him in London, while Earth VC and other directories place him in Ho Chi Minh City.
Crunchbase counts 4 investments in 4 portfolio companies, 1 as lead investor and no exits, and lists 4 companies he founded. NFX Signal shows a broader record of 8 investments, an angel investing position, and a range of $5K to $50K per deal. It also lists him as a Director on the board of Ampotech since 2022. The Evalyze directory lists earlier investments in MetalThinks (2018), KotoTech (2018) and Tipocket Holdings (2013). These counts come from different data providers and do not match, so treat them as approximate.
AI is central to his public work. In 2023 he wrote the brief "AI Investment for Climate Sustainability in Emerging Asia" for the Digital Futures Lab, under the Rockefeller Foundation-supported AI + Climate Futures in Asia project. It draws on Earth VC's experience and covers AI uses in energy management, mobility, precision agriculture and waste collection. It also covers limits such as data privacy. The brief shows an AI dashboard from Clearbot as an example.
NFX Signal ranks him in its AI Seed and AI Pre-seed lists. Earth VC's own job posting mentions AI for sustainability among its investment areas. No source I found gives dated AI-specific angel deals beyond the companies listed below.
A HackSummit climate deep tech investor list describes his Earth VC focus as Seed to Series A startups in AI, machine learning, robotics, IoT, new materials and new energy, with an emphasis on Southeast Asia. The Evalyze directory instead lists pre-seed to Series C and adds fintech, education and manufacturing as focus areas. Earth VC's stated approach is to bring global deep tech into Asia. In the Connect Group interview he says about 80% of its companies come from advanced research environments.
A post by Earth VC describes the signals it looks for in a company ready to scale. These are a technology readiness level of 8 or above, positive gross margins, and a demand pipeline already at twice capacity. In an e27 interview he argued that Southeast Asian startups can test products against real climate problems.
NFX Signal and Evalyze list a check range of $5K to $50K. He has not published a check size himself, as far as I found.
- Clearbot: AI-based marine cleanup robotics, listed by Evalyze as a portfolio company and shown in his 2023 Rockefeller-supported AI brief. Investment date not public.
- AlterPacks: listed by Evalyze as a portfolio company. Investment date not public.
- Ampotech: listed by Evalyze as a portfolio company. NFX Signal shows him as a board director since 2022.
- MetalThinks: listed by Evalyze as a 2018 investment.
- KotoTech: listed by Evalyze as a 2018 investment.
- Tipocket Holdings: listed by Evalyze as a 2013 investment.
- crunchbase.com/person/tien-nguyen-ad4b
- earth.vc/team/tien-nguyen
- signal.nfx.com/investors/tien-nguyen
- evalyze.ai/investors/tien-nguyen
- hacksummit.beehiiv.com/p/70-investors-climate-climate-deeptech-know
- connectgroup.global/blog/from-lab-to-market---earth-vc's-playbook-for-
- climateai.asia/reports/DFL_AI_Issue_Brief2_AIInvestment_vF.pdf
- linkedin.com/in/tien-nguyen-94297355
Investing activity
Tien Nguyen has made 4 investments according to Crunchbase across 4 portfolio companies, and has led 1 round and founded 4 companies.
Deals
Frequently asked questions about Tien Nguyen
What stage does Tien Nguyen invest in?
Sources differ. HackSummit describes Earth VC's focus as Seed to Series A. Evalyze lists pre-seed to Series C for his angel investing.
What is Tien Nguyen's angel check size?
NFX Signal and Evalyze list a range of $5K to $50K. He has not published a check size himself.
What sectors does Tien Nguyen back?
He backs AI, machine learning, robotics, IoT, new materials, new energy, green manufacturing and agriculture. Climate tech is the common thread, and Southeast Asia is the main region.
What does Tien Nguyen look for in a startup?
In the Earth VC framework he cites, he looks for what he calls systemic breakthrough potential. He also looks for technology readiness level 8 or above, positive gross margins and a demand pipeline at twice capacity.
Where is Tien Nguyen based?
Crunchbase lists London, England. Earth VC, NFX Signal and LinkedIn point to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
What is Tien Nguyen's connection to Earth Venture Capital?
He is Founding Partner of Earth VC, a role he has held since October 2021 according to Crunchbase. Some sources call him General Partner or Managing Partner.
Is Tien Nguyen an angel investor?
Yes. Tien Nguyen invests personally as an angel. Crunchbase counts 4 investments.
How can founders reach Tien Nguyen?
Founders on Lounge can see Tien Nguyen's contact details in AI Investor Contacts (paid plans), check for a warm introduction through members who worked with them under Warm Paths, and add Tien Nguyen to their Investor Pipeline to track the conversation.