Albert van Pabst entered the Tsinghua-INSEAD EMBA programme (TIEMBA) in 2008 as a diplomat for the Dutch government and graduated as an entrepreneur and venture capitalist in China. He founded the technology investment firm SDS Ventures in 2011, where one of his first achievements was the co-development of a RMB 500 million fund focused on clean energy.

“It would be much more difficult to collect such a large amount of funding in the States or Europe because of the gloomy outlook on the world economy,” says van Pabst. “In China, people are more willing to invest.”

A land of opportunity

“Here everything is possible, but nothing is easy,” he continues, quoting a saying that he learnt from enthusiastic Chinese business colleagues. So what are the possibilities that van Pabst sees?

He identifies two trends that he has observed in China in the past four years. The first is that venture capital is not yet global, which is why few international venture capital funds have a presence in China. The second is that Chinese sustainable technologies have developed significantly since he started work in the same sector for the Dutch embassy in 2007. Indeed, from lagging behind just a few years ago, China is now among the world leaders. With an exciting economic and technological boom underway in areas like solar and wind energy, many companies from the United States and Europe are trying to enter the market. However, as foreign companies are different in nature from their Chinese counterparts, they encounter many obstacles, such as shortage of funding or lack of networks.

Van Pabst’s business opportunity in China lies where these two trends intersect. With offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Amsterdam, and alliances with Hong Kong and Amsterdam banks, SDS Ventures serves two main groups of clients. Firstly, there are venture capitalists from outside China who want to be active in China. “Basically, we are their extended fund management team,” says van Pabst, “saving them time and money by having a highly specialised team, offices and networks.” SDS also helps to find investment opportunities as well as co-investors who know how to find the right targets and solve all kinds of problems on the way.

The other type of client consists of technology companies that want to grow in China but do not have the finance expertise despite having an abundance of engineers. SDS helps them to structure the company as well as raise new investments – often by taking the interim CFO role in the company, in addition to a substantial equity stake. Recently, for example, the firm was mandated to raise and structure the funding for the China subsidiary of a leading European sustainable food company.

Van Pabst embraces innovation and challenge. But he grew up in the Dutch countryside, where he was “exposed from a young age to balanced interaction between human networks and nature,” as he puts it. He also holds a qualification in wildlife management. Living and working in London and Beijing as an investment banker and diplomat has further convinced him that “sustainable use of resources and economic viability need to be part of the same equation.”

Aiming at balancing this equation, van Pabst and SDS Ventures are dedicated to the new clean energy industries. At the moment, for example, he is looking for financial investment in a high-tech company that has invented an effective and sustainable way of reducing carbon-dust pollution by spraying a low-cost chemical on coal to form a crust.

A career of bridges

Van Pabst has made several career changes across finance, government and business. Prior to founding SDS Ventures, he headed the Energy & Financial Sector team at the Dutch Embassy in Beijing for over four years. From 2004 to 2007 he advised the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs on security policy matters regarding the Middle East and the Balkans. And before joining the Ministry, he worked for four years in Investment Banking for UBS Warburg in London and Amsterdam.

He views this experience more as a natural “bridging” progression than as a systematic process. Indeed, he gradually set up his own company bridging financial investment and sustainable entrepreneurship – and bridging East and West at the same time. He explains, “I think a basis in finance (in my case my first job), engineering or law is a really good way to get started. Along the way I filled my toolbox and have been inspired by others. In some ways I still operate as a diplomat building bridges but in a more entrepreneurial setting, with other stakes involved. I think my diverse background is my strength but obviously I would seek different qualities in my partners.”

“The China factor makes it all the more exciting,” he continues. “And I am a believer that entrepreneurs in China – both native and foreigners – are of a slightly different breed than entrepreneurs elsewhere.”

While enjoying China’s many opportunities, van Pabst also remembers the “happiness yet bitterness” of carving out his niche. “Language is still the ongoing daily struggle,” he adds. “Besides, as a foreigner, you don’t have as much access to preferential policies.” But he has developed his own areas of expertise: “So far, I have done marketing through doing several projects extremely well. You can be fairly aggressive promoting your results when you have done well. ”

One particular tip van Pabst would like to share is “to learn from seasoned Chinese entrepreneurs, people who have navigated endless hurdles and obstacles with creativity and perseverance.”

In his free time, Albert studies Mandarin, participates in wildlife conservation, reads literature, travels and spends time with his family, who live in Beijing. He is married and has two children. His wife is a well-known hat designer. As well as his TIEMBA, Albert holds a law degree from Utrecht University and graduated from University of Pennsylvania Law School (2000) on a John Boyer Memorial Scholarship and a Fulbright Scholarship. He also co-founded the Holland-Estonia Foundation, which organises natural ice-skating marathons on Lake Peipsi in Estonia. For more information about SDS Ventures, see www.sds-ventures.com.

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