William Wu (entrepreneur)
William Wu (born 1993) is an Australian entrepreneur known for founding Catheon Gaming and Artisse AI.
Early life and education
[edit]Wu was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1993 and attended Sydney Grammar School.[1] He earned a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Business Economics from the University of New South Wales, followed by a Master of Science in Finance and Private Equity from the London School of Economics.[2] He later completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.[3]
Career
[edit]After his studies, Wu began his career in finance and consulting. He interned at the United Nations in early 2015 and worked as an investment banking summer analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Later he joined McKinsey & Company in London as a Senior Business Analyst, specializing in corporate strategy and restructuring.[4][5] He later moved into private equity, serving as a vice president at Oaktree Capital Management in Hong Kong from 2017 to 2021, where he focused on special situations investing.[1][6]
Catheon Gaming
[edit]In 2021, Wu co-founded SolChicks, a play-to-earn game on the Solana blockchain. Building on that success, he established Catheon Gaming, an integrated blockchain gaming company.[7] Under his leadership, Catheon launched around 30 blockchain titles within its first year and raised between $50 million and $55 million through private rounds and a public token sale.[8] The company partnered with traditional game developers to integrate Web3 mechanics such as NFTs and token-based economies.[9]
In 2022, Catheon Gaming was ranked the top 10 "emerging giant" in Asia–Pacific by HSBC and KPMG, out of over 6,000 startups.[10] Wu appointed industry veterans like former Activision Blizzard executive Mark Aubrey to scale the business.[11] However, by late 2022, during a widespread downturn in the crypto market, Catheon reduced its headcount and several key executives, including Aubrey, departed.[12]
Artisse AI
[edit]In 2023, Wu founded Artisse AI, a generative AI startup based in Hong Kong, focused on personalized photography.[13] Drawing from technologies developed during his time in gaming, the app enables users to create hyperrealistic photos using their own selfies.[14][15] Launched in mid-2023, Artisse quickly surpassed 200,000 downloads and achieved top rankings on app stores in several markets.[16][17] In early 2024, Wu secured $6.7 million in seed funding to expand Artisse globally.[18]
References
[edit]- ^ a b "William Wu - Chief Executive Officer at Catheon Gaming". THE ORG. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ "Interview With William Wu - CEO and Founder of Artisse". SafetyDetectives. 2023-10-25. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ "William Wu: Positions, Relations and Network - MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ Perez, Sarah (2023-09-05). "Artisse can generate AI photos of you from prompts, templates or even a reference pic". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ "Artisse可以根据提示、模板，以及上传的参考图片生成你的专属的AI照片。". 2023-09-06.
- ^ Bijaya (2024-01-22). "Artisse AI Secures $6.7 Million in a Seed Round Led by The London Fund". The Story Watch. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ "Solchicks founder rattles $US100m tin for new crypto project". Australian Financial Review. 2022-07-12. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ "Crypto founder William Wu rattles the tin, again". Australian Financial Review. 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ "12 Top Startups in Australia to Watch in 2025 | TRUiC". startupsavant.com. 2024-07-02. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ "Emerging giants in Asia Pacific - KPMG Singapore". KPMG. 2024-07-08. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ Staff, PocketGamer biz (2022-06-23). "Former Activision Blizzard exec joins Catheon Gaming as co-CEO". www.pocketgamer.biz. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ "Sol-searching: After halving headcount, SolChicks creator plows on with new P2E platform". The Block. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ Russon, Mary-Ann (2023-11-15). "Tech start-ups betting on AI fashion models and virtual try-on". The Standard. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ "Why you'll never trust a dating app photo again". Forbes Australia. 2023-10-12. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ "Artisse创始人兼首席执行官吴威廉 – 访谈系列". 小猪AI. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ Cherrayil, Naushad K. (2023-10-14). "Artisse makes perfect personal photography accessible to all". Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ Gandharv, Kumar (2024-01-22). "Artisse AI CEO William Wu Claims 'Generative AI Will Reshape the Photography Industry'". Metaverse Post. Retrieved 2025-06-25.
- ^ Perez, Sarah (2024-01-23). "Artisse AI raises $6.7M for its 'more realistic' AI photography app". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-06-25.