Michael Schmidt is a private equity investment professional with 20 years of experience, with a particular passion for Southeast Asia. He held leadership positions, including Managing Director at Alchemist Capital Partners and Samena Capital, where he focused on growth capital investments in Southeast Asia. He started his private equity career at EQT Partners, executing buyout transactions, and prior to that, advised private equity firms on M&A, capital markets, and leverage finance as an investment banker at Credit Suisse.
With extensive experience in sourcing, executing, and managing private equity investments, Michael worked closely with entrepreneurs as a board director and portfolio manager, providing leadership on business planning, strategy formulation, fundraising, and M&A to implement value creation initiatives. He had developed professional investment organizations and led high-performing teams.
At Mekong Capital, as Deal Execution Director, Michael leads transaction execution on new investments and secures successful exits—a critical objective for the firm. In addition, he currently spearheads a comprehensive investment lessons project, systematically analyzing patterns from decades of investment insights to further optimize the firm’s investment processes. Michael has also taken on the deal leadership responsibility for selected investee companies, leveraging his extensive expertise in value creation. Michael has made significant contributions to the full investment cycle at Mekong Capital, helping to fulfill the firm’s vision through exit management, post-investment, and enhancements to organizational investment learning processes.
His deep fascination with Vietnam’s unique culture, dynamic economy, and genuine enjoyment of collaborating with the entrepreneurial spirit of Vietnamese people drive his current professional pursuits. Before joining Mekong Capital, Michael orchestrated pan-regional investments throughout Southeast Asia from Singapore and Hong Kong, while developing his passion for Vietnam. Joining Mekong perfectly unites his twin passions, immersing himself in Vietnam’s business community while furthering his private equity journey.