American multimillionaire Bill Tai believes Perth can become the world’s next Silicon Valley — it’s only a matter of time.

Mr Tai, among the world’s most prolific and successful early-stage venture capitalists, said Perth had all the necessary ingredients to excite and entice the next wave of digital entrepreneurs — smarts, sun and kitesurfing.

“When California’s Silicon Valley was established, it was centred on the development of computer hardware, which needed hundreds of people working together in the same office,” he said. “But things have changed.

“The current wave of digital advances can come from one person with a computer in their dorm room. There doesn’t need to be the same physical human concentration as there used to be.

“For example, major companies in the bitcoin ecosystem like BitFury were formed around a kid in Finland, teaming up with a guy in Ukraine and learning off each other.

“I backed them early on, and now the company has more than 700 employees across 16 countries.

“Lifestyle has become more important to the current generation of entrepreneurs and as more people learn about the fantastic lifestyle and weather in Perth, it will draw more of them to WA. The fact Perth also has many smart, driven people is an added bonus.”

Mr Tai, who started his career as a computer chip designer, has been funding start-up companies since 1991. Twenty have become public companies. He has personally funded companies such as Bitfury, Canva, Tweetdeck/Twitter and Zoom.

Mr Tai, an avid kitesurfer, is a co-founder of ACTAI Global — a group of athletes, conservationists, technologists, artists and innovators who meet in locations around the world to consider start-up investment options.

He is also an adjunct professor at Curtin University of Technology and received an honorary doctorate at the university’s graduation ceremony on Monday.

Mining entrepreneur Andrew Forrest, who attended the ceremony and has committed $130 million to higher education and research through the Forrest Research Foundation, said Mr Tai’s comments showed the potential for Perth to develop.

“It shows that if we can get dozens of smart people together in such a terrific city as Perth, we could create something really substantial,” he said.