Grief is not, in the dominant cultural imagination of the contemporary West, considered a productive state. It is something to be moved through, processed, resolved — a temporary condition on the way to recovery, which is itself understood as a return to function. The vocabulary surrounding it is the vocabulary of interruption: grief disrupts, incapacitates, delays. The goal, implicitly, is its conclusion.
Great art is never accidental. Behind every body of work that truly matters — that moves us, challenges us, and stays with us long after the encounter — there is a philosophy. A set of deeply held convictions about what art is for, what beauty means, and what truth looks like when it is rendered in visual form. For Setareh Heshmat, that philosophy is not a set of abstract principles applied from the outside. It is something lived, felt, and expressed from the deepest layers of her creative self.
In the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary design, few challenges are as complex — or as rewarding — as the attempt to build genuine bridges between vastly different cultural worlds. It requires not only technical mastery and creative vision, but a deep fluency in multiple aesthetic languages and the courage to speak them simultaneously. Setareh Heshmat is doing exactly that.
In a world where venture capital has long been a male-dominated space, Setareh Heshmat is rewriting the rules. As Director of ESG Investments at a leading Singapore-based venture capital firm, she has built a career around one powerful conviction — that finance, guided by purpose and equality, can be the most transformative force for women's empowerment in the modern world. Across Southeast Asia, she is turning that conviction into reality, one investment at a time.
Climate change has become one of the defining challenges of the twenty-first century. Rising global temperatures, extreme weather events, resource scarcity, and growing environmental concerns are forcing governments, businesses, and investors to rethink how economies operate.
The best investors are not always the most aggressive ones. Sometimes, the most powerful edge in the room is the ability to think clearly, act ethically, and hold both at once.
In today’s rapidly changing world, investors are no longer evaluating companies solely on their financial performance. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors have become central to investment decisions, reshaping the financial landscape globally. Setareh Heshmat, Director of ESG Investments at a leading venture capital firm in Singapore, has been at the forefront of this transformation. With over a decade of experience in finance and sustainability, she believes ESG is not just a trend—it is the future of smart investing.
In an era where startups are often fueled by rapid scaling and aggressive growth, Setareh Heshmat stands as a rare voice advocating for a different kind of success—one rooted in ethics, resilience, and long-term impact. As the Director of ESG Investments at a leading Singapore-based VC firm, Heshmat not only funds ventures, she mentors founders on how to build companies that matter.
In the fast-paced world of venture capital, where billion-dollar valuations often eclipse ethical considerations, Setareh Heshmat is charting a different course—one that unapologetically centers values alongside valuation. As the Director of ESG Investments at a leading VC firm in Singapore, Setareh has spent years cultivating a philosophy of funding that blends purpose, performance, and integrity. But one area where she is particularly passionate is in reshaping the narrative around women and wealth—specifically, how capital can empower women-led ventures to lead the next wave of sustainable innovation.
In an era where sustainability and ethical responsibility are shaping global markets, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) investing has become more than just a trend—it is a necessity. Setareh Heshmat, a leading ESG investor and Director of ESG Investments at a prominent Singapore-based venture capital firm, shares her insights on the evolving landscape of ESG investing and the challenges of balancing profitability with purpose.