Angel investor is really getting started on China

Dave McClure of 500 Startups embodies Silicon Valley's famous casualness right down to the frayed hems of his jeans and flip-flops he wears to give a talk at Cocoon, a co-working space for start-ups in Tin Hau. And when he sits down for this interview at the InterContinental hotel to talk about tech entrepreneurship in China, he slips his shoes off under the table and chats with a drink in hand.

"He tried to walk into China Club in flip-flops and they wouldn't let him in," laughs his venture partner Rui Ma. Ma is the first 500 partner to be based in China and is tasked with scouting early-stage companies in the region for the seed fund to invest in.

The addition of Ma six months ago and this trip down the coast of China - Beijing, Shenzhen and Hong Kong - is all part of a pivot to Asia and non-US markets. Twenty per cent of the companies that 500 Startups funds are now outside the United States and it is clear that McClure sees a lot of investing potential in Asia's tech scene.

It is his eighth trip to China in the past four years and his children -- a young son and daughter - have been learning Mandarin through a nanny essentially since birth.

McClure is one of the most high-profile angel investors in the world - partly for his investments in companies like Mint.com, Bit.ly, and Wildfire, which was later acquired by Google; and partly for his straight-talking blog 500 Hats (one of the most widely read sites on venture capital) which showcases his sailor mouth and unusually blunt advice like "don't suck!".

The company has invested in 9Gag, a website which shares memes or viral internet photos - the most successful start-up from Hong Kong. Recently, it injected funds into another local start-up Spottly, a social platform that makes it easy for people to create and curate location recommendations - similar to the Pinterest platform, but for places.