William Klippgen

William Klippgen (born 1969 in Trondheim, Norway) is a Singapore-based Norwegian entrepreneur and technology venture capitalist who co-founded the price comparison portal Zoomit.com (later merged with Kelkoo, which was sold to Yahoo! in 2004). He served as one of the judges on the television series Angel's Gate, which was broadcast on Channel NewsAsia in 2012. Klippgen is a co-founder and serves as Partner Emeritus at Cocoon Capital. He holds an MBA from INSEAD where he is an Entrepreneur in Residence.

He has invested in over 50 startups in Singapore and across the world since 2004.

Early life and education Klippgen holds an MSc degree in Engineering Cybernetics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, an MSc in Computer Engineering from Boston University (which he attended on a Fulbright Scholarship), and an MBA from INSEAD Business School.

Business career Klippgen has been a company founder and investor since the early days of the Internet. Before starting his own company, he worked as a core tech engineer with U.S. search company Excite.com.

In 2016, he teamed up with UK angel investor Michael Robert Blakey to launch Cocoon Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm targeting Southeast Asian enterprise tech startups within the e-commerce, SaaS, fintech and deep tech verticals. The firm has so far raised three main funds managing an AUM of more than USD 90m.

In March 2019, Klippgen joined the Advisory Board of VNX Exchange, a Luxembourg-based secondary share platform. He serves or has served on the boards of Tickled Media (theAsianparent.com), Anafore (ReferralCandy.com), Mozat, Progeniq, Luxe Nomad (theLuxeNomad.com), Poundit Global, Lendela and Augmentus.

He has been a columnist with Singapore Business Review and has also been a director of Business Angel Network of Southeast Asia (BANSEA). He holds a US patent on user identification and authentication.

Public speaking & community work Klippgen is a frequent speaker and judge at institutions like the National University of Singapore and the INSEAD Business School. Norwegian Business Association Singapore talks and Tech Fest Vietnam. He is an Entrepreneur in Residence at INSEAD.

TV shows Year Show (s) Channel Comment Ref. 2012 Angel's Gate Channel NewsAsia Season 1