Arjun Thomas —
Founder & Venture
Strategist.
Based in Singapore, helping early-stage founders and innovation teams across APAC cross the valley of death — from a product that works to customers who actually pay and renew. Founder of Arc Shift Ventures and host of the Building Real podcast.
Founder & Venture Strategist
Arjun Thomas is a Founder & Venture Strategist based in Singapore, helping founders and corporate innovation teams across APAC cross the hardest stretch of company-building: the gap between a pilot or product that works and customers who actually pay and renew. He is the founder of Arc Shift Ventures (Arc Shift) and the host of the Building Real podcast.
Across 11 markets, Arjun has built ventures on both sides of the corporate–startup table — the side that invents something that works, and the side that has to turn it into a business someone will pay for. He has co-founded three ventures (Funzi, ComeBy, and Alara Studio) and led three corporate spin-outs in parallel out of a bank, an agri major, and a telco, alongside supporting more than 100 founders.
What Arjun does at Arc Shift
Through Arc Shift Ventures, Arjun helps founders and corporate innovation teams move from idea, pilot, or early traction to real commercial momentum in APAC — his sharpest edge is APAC go-to-market across 11 markets.
Validate
Customer discovery, problem validation, and PMF signals — confirming who truly needs this before scaling spend.
Commercialize
GTM, partnerships, pricing, market entry, and repeatable revenue — turning interest into a system that pays.
Scale readiness
Story, metrics, and structure to raise and expand — positioning traction clearly for the next round and new markets.
Where Arjun is embedded
Arjun works directly with founders across Singapore and the wider APAC startup ecosystem. He mentors startups through Plug and Play, advises Start2 Group — an EDB Corporate Venture Launchpad Open Innovation Partner — on its global startup and innovation programs, and mentors through BLOCK71 and Founder Institute. He is also Commercial Champion at National GRIP, helping research- and deep-tech teams turn early ideas into commercially viable businesses; mentors through ACE; and serves as Entrepreneur in Residence at ATUM Ventures, working with founders on strategy and growth — supporting teams across validation, go-to-market, and fundraising, and staying close to the realities founders face day to day.
The Building Real podcast
Arjun hosts Building Real, an unscripted podcast about how things actually get built — companies, restaurants, labs, careers — without the highlight-reel gloss. New episodes drop regularly; listen wherever you get your podcasts.
Work with Arjun
If you’re working on validation, partnerships, APAC GTM, or fundraising readiness, book a short fit call and Arjun will tell you quickly whether he can help.
