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Adrian Chng, at heart, is an investor. He invests time and money in people and companies that excite and challenge him. As Chairman of Fintonia Group, and CEO of GoBear, Adrian is excited by the opportunity to improve the lives of people across Asia by giving them better access to personal finances.
We should probably take his word on that, because succeeding in FinTech is Adrian’s thing – in 2015 he founded a regional merchant bank (Fintonia Group) which supports entrepreneurial companies to achieve rapid growth and has made significant investments in FinTech across Asia, in 2016 he co-founded a digital, big data, AI-powered, consumer credit scoring business (CredoLab), and in 2017 he co-founded an Asian digital lending business (AsiaKredit). He also invested in and sits on the Boards of a number of FinTech companies (Trunomi, Silent Eight, Asia Collect, Store Hub) and has been in C-level roles across a number of different industries for the past 15 years – including CEO of jobsDB.com, the leading Asian job portal operating in 7 countries with 1,000 employees.
Having lived in 5 countries (he was born in Malaysia, grew up in Australia and has also lived in Taipei, Hong Kong and Singapore) Adrian has a knack for being able to work with people from different cultures and nationalities, which serves him well at Fintonia Group and GoBear, where he works with hundreds of team members from multiple nationalities and backgrounds.
Adrian has a double degree in Law and Commerce from the University of Melbourne and completed the General Management Program at UNSW Business School. He speaks English and Mandarin, and his opinion on business and tech is regularly sought by BBC and CNBC. He cooks a pretty mean Indo Mie Mee Goreng and is a self-professed fitness junkie (CrossFit and yoga keep him fit and sane).
Justin is a partner at Golden Gate Ventures. He joined the firm in 2012 as its first intern, and became one of its four partners in 2018. Alongside Jeffrey Paine, Justin leads the majority of deal-sourcing and portfolio management at the fund, and currently sits on the board for some of its most notable investments, including Homage, BukuWarung, Chilibeli, ALAMI, and Ritase.
Justin Hall received his Master’s of Public Policy from the National University of Singapore, and graduated first with honours in History and Political Science from Trinity, College Dublin. In addition to his role at Golden Gate Ventures, he is also Kauffman Fellow (Class 20), and an entrepreneur-in-residence at INSEAD.
In 2012, Justin chose Singapore’s entrepreneurship policy for his academic thesis, and first became acquainted with Golden Gate Ventures in a purely research capacity. He joined Golden Gate Ventures shortly after as an intern, before joining full-time as its first (and only) investment associate in 2013. Justin was eventually promoted to Principal following Golden Gate Ventures’ investment into Homage, and to partner in 2018 upon the close of Fund III.
Lee is a media futurist and one of Asia’s top entrepreneurial minds who founded TechStorm – Asia’s fastest growing 360 nextGen entertainment network on Asian Esports and technology innovations.
Under her leadership TechStorm’s 24/7 media network scaled internationally across 9 countries in Asia: Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Brunei across 100 distributor platforms in less than 22 months. TechStorm is still rapidly expanding across 26 countries across Europe, South Africa, Middle East, Latin America via mobile streaming on android handsets.
She is an accomplished international business strategist with 15 years of deep domain business and industry expertise with responsibilities across 13 Asia Pacific markets covering Southeast Asia, the Indian continent, and Northeast Asia. She brings in-depth media & advertising experience from MNC advertising conglomerates and international media companies that include TBWA (Omnicom Group), Lowe & Lintas Group, English & Pockett Asia and Asian Food Channel.
Dr Singh is a Peace Ambassador at the Centre of Peace Studies, and a United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDG) Brand Ambassador at the World Wide Human Rights Awareness Organization (WWHRAO). He is strengthening the role of Psycho-social Support Programming by UNICEF in making education accessible to youth in emerging countries within the Asia-Pacific region. The goal is to provide affordable and excellent quality training, and to advance a philosophy of life-long learning, in line with the educational priorities of UNESCO and the aims of the UNSDG 2030.
By merging available resources in local regions with modern requirements to sustain better training & employee development programmes worldwide, Dr Singh hopes to help youths to gain a unique ability to manage multi-disciplinary projects and to navigate complex challenges with ease. The aim is to build & re-shape the psychological state of the younger generation to adapt & grow as better humans against current educational challenges & demands.
Dr Singh is an approved trainer by the National Council for Training & Trade by the Ministry of Labour (Govt. of India). He is certified in Trade & Industrial Teacher Education with experience & expertise in youth development programmes globally in institutional & educational trade. He is also a “Milestones in UN Peacekeeping” holder by the United Nations Institute for Training & Research (UNITAR).
Gaurav Dhar is the CEO of the Payments Solution Provider Marshal in Dubai. Gaurav has been working at Marshal for over 18 years now, managing the core of the business as well staying ahead of the curve in the FinTech Industry. He strives to continually be on the frontier of delivering FinTech solutions, while building long-term partnerships and building out payment ecosystems.
Outside of the office, his personal time is spent on working with and investing directly in innovators, with a view to the future of payments both locally and globally via his cache of relationships which include VCs, incubators, accelerators, and start-ups and more.
Finally, in his position as a board member of the MENA FinTech Association and several advisory positions to family offices and funds, he looks to grow the relationships within the FinTech ecosystem to contribute towards the education of budding disruptors and eventually the growth of economies and the job market where possible.
Gavin Teo is a General Partner at Altara Ventures, a Singapore-based venture capital fund, where he invests in high growth technology startups in Asia and the United States. Mr. Teo was formerly General Partner at B Capital Group, a growth equity fund, where he ran the firm’s investment committee and managed the San Francisco office. Mr. Teo currently serves as a Board Director for Altara Ventures, Sampingan and Galen Growth and previously served as Board Director for Atomwise, AImotive, Baobab Studios, Bright.md, CXA Group, Galen Growth, Fishbrain and SilverCloud Health. Mr. Teo earned his M.B.A. from The Wharton School, where he graduated as a Palmer Scholar, and his B.A. from Claremont McKenna College.
Aectual Co-Founder, Hedwig Heinsman, is driven to disrupt the global architecture, engineering & construction (AEC) industry with architecture on-demand platform Aectual. She has over 15 years of experience in scaling cutting-edge architecture firm DUS, known for the 3D Print Canal House, an internationally acclaimed design-and-build research project into new global housing solutions and market explorations. The company won several international awards, including the 2014 SEA Global Sustainability Entrepreneurship Award and the prestigious Amsterdam Awards for the Arts 2011.
In 2017 she co-founded digital construction firm Aectual: the global go-to platform for customizable architectural products at industrial scale. With its proprietary software tools and XL robotic 3D printers, Aectual enables designers and builders to create tailor-made architecture on a mass scale in a sustainable way using bio-based and recycled materials.
Globally recognized brands like Nike, Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport and BMW already use Aectual’s technology. Hedwig studied at Helsinki University of Technology and holds a Cum Laude Masters Degree from Delft Technical University.
Jamaur is the Founder & CEO of Asavi, an early stage startup building a market intelligence tool for talent and leadership teams. With Asavi, hiring managers and corporate leadership can quickly and easily understand how organizations of similar size, industry, and geography are structured, and showcase the defining elements of their own organization in order to attract mid-senior level hires. Prior to Asavi, Jamaur was a Senior Product Manager at Xendit, a Y-Combinator backed payment gateway based in Indonesia. Jamaur also has prior experience as a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Jamaur has an MBA from UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business and a BS from Duke University.
Karim is the Head of Silver Bullion’s Gold Savings Account; a gold purchasing platform formed through the joint venture of Aspial and Silver Bullion and powered by CACHE Gold. His primary mandate is to increase liquidity for the blockchain based system of account which backs CACHE Gold’s physical gold holdings through partnerships with bullion dealers, vaulting services and both retail and corporate investors.
Karim comes from banking and began working in Fintech with his move to Singapore in 2015. Till 2020 he was the Director of Strategy and Ventures at a Venture-Builder focused on Core Banking Technology where he set up and managed new ventures in Singapore, the Philippines, Australia, and the UK.
He has been listed as one of the top 100 Fintech influencers globally by Onalytica in 2020, holds interviews on BTCN.tv and is a regular speaker and host at events across SEA and Europe.
Paul Ark works with pan-Asian venture capital firm Gobi Partners, spearheading ESG and sustainability initiatives in the company’s operational and investment activities. Prior to joining Gobi Partners, he managing a US$100 million global corporate venture capital fund for Siam Commercial Bank’s Digital Ventures group, one of the largest fintech corporate VCs in Southeast Asia.
In addition to his career in venture capital, he worked as an investment banker across Asia and North America for Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, and in business development and new market entry roles for multinationals such as Apple, Microsoft, and Thailand’s Central Group.
Kate Barker is a highly-regarded Futurist with a passion for advancing the Future of Work. She is currently serving to advance Fortune 500 companies around the world giving clients confidence in their future on how to stay competitive & minimise risk through leading-edge Future of Work Strategies, Leadership for the 21st Century, human-centric Organizational Cultures and innovative Digital Workforce Transformations.
She has extensive global experience in partnering with Boards, C-Suite Executives, Prime Ministers & Sheikhs to bring to life the most relevant industry trends impacting the future of work, workforce and workplace. As a Futurist for $500b Futurist-City, NEOM in Saudi Arabia, to an Executive Advisor to His Highness (UAE) to leading global consulting teams for SAP & PWC in Asia, and Ernst & Young based in New York globally across 150 countries, Kate has garnered great respect.
Kate has been interviewed on the Future of Work frequently and, you may have heard her speak or read her published work on topics such as technology disruption, innovative talent strategies, women in leadership, inclusive cultures and workforce transformation at HR Summits & Executive Roundtable events across Asia, UK, UAE and Australia.
Her first book, What does it mean to be human? Humanity in the Digital Age, how global technology disruption, socio-economic issues and intensifying societal shifts are challenging our way of life, is due to be released late 2020.
In addition to holding a Masters in Psychology from the University of Sydney, and an MBA she was invited to attend Harvard’s Women in Leadership Program and recently commenced her PhD in Women in the Future of Work.
Marc Nicholson is the Founder of 1880, a members’ club in Singapore that is interested in inspiring conversations that change the world.
Professor Benjamin Horton is a Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore at Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
Prior to joining NTU, Professor Horton was Professor at Rutgers University and Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Horton obtained his PhD from the University of Durham, UK.
Professor Horton has won a number of awards in his career. In 2019, he was appointed the President’s Chair in Earth Sciences at NTU for outstanding achievement. For excellence in research he received the Plinius Medal from the European Geosciences Union, the Voyager Award from the American Geophysical Union, and the W. Storrs Cole Award from the Geological Society of America. He was elected Fellow of the Geological Society of America in 2013 and Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2018. Professor Horton was an author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report and is a Review Editor for the new 6th Assessment Report. Professor Horton’s research was cited by President Obama in his 2015 State of the Union Address at the United States Capitol on January 20th 2015.
Professor Horton has published over 220 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including 29 articles in high profile journals such as Science, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Geology. Professor Horton is supervising or has supervised 26 students to the degree of PhD and 22 postdoctoral scientists, of which 17 now have permanent academic positions.
Professor Horton’s research concerns sea-level change, with the aim of understanding and integrating the external and internal mechanisms that have determined sea-level changes in the past, and which will shape such changes in the future. His research impacts upon important ecological, ethical, social, economic and political problems specifically facing coastal regions.
Dominique joined HSBC in 2009 and the Sustainability function at HSBC Bank Middle East in 2013.
Dominique has been responsible for the design, development, planning, and implementation of major Sustainability projects in accordance with HSBC’s standards across the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.
As of 2018, Dominique began to lead the implementation of the global strategy, supporting the development of future skills and entrepreneurships across the Middle East region.
Previously, Dominique has worked for the UN with the Italian contingent in Lebanon where she supported the Community development team in their mandate. It was during this time she developed her passion for community development.
Dominique holds a postgraduate certificate in Sustainability in The Value Chains and a certificate in Sustainability Business Management from the University of Cambridge.
Jasmine Ng is the co-founder of a game development start-up that seeks to help enterprises gamify their services and products to enlarge their customer acquisition reach and also inspire customer loyalty.
Presently, Jasmine is also serving on the advisory boards of an online FinTech school, a prop-tech start-up, several social enterprises and also serves as the newly elected Secretary to the ACCESS Blockchain Association of Malaysia.
In Jasmine’s last position, she was the Chief Revenue Officer of iPay88, a leading payment gateway provider in South East Asia, and the Chief Executive Officer of Razer Fintech, a subsidiary of Razer Inc. She also previously held the positions of CEO of NEM Malaysia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NEM io Foundation, and the Business Development Director of South East Asia, as well as Head of Group Digital, Strategic Digital Alliances and Project Management Office for Maybank Group.
Jasmine has over 20 years of experience in the financial services sector. Her senior-level assignments include the setting up of corporate & consumer financial services contact centres, credit card merchant businesses, overseeing the card business regionalisation programmes, creating alliances with synergies for organisations and providing consultancy from business transformation to service culture enhancements to the C-suites.
She is also serving as an executive committee member to the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation (MCPF) – KL Chapter, specifically focussing on advising for Cyber Crime Prevention. MCPF is a Non-Government Organisation established in 1993. It is a Chapter of the Asia Crime Prevention Foundation, based in Tokyo, Japan.
Jasmine is the co-founder and advisor to EPIC Homes, a non-profit organisation; they have been building homes for the underprivileged communities of Malaysia since 2010.
Christine Kenna is a Partner at IGNIA, a cross-border venture capital fund focused in Latin America. Christine invests in innovative companies that are reinventing the way to do business with the emerging middle class in Latin America in sectors such as fintech, edtech, Saas and marketplaces. In addition, Christine serves on the Board of Directors of The Mexican Association of Venture Capital (AMEXCAP). Previously Christine worked in various operating roles in EF Education First, Google, the Guggenheim Foundation and EY Parthenon.
As a passionate advocate for developing high-potential professional women and networks, Christine co-founded Mujeres Invirtiendo (Women in Venture Capital in Mexico), MBA Mujeres de México and was recognized as one of the top female investors in Latin American by the Latin American Venture Capital Association. Christine graduated from Duke University, Harvard Business School and is a Kauffman Fellow with Class 23.
Sonia Weymuller is a Founding Partner of VentureSouq (VSQ), a GCC-based VC focused on early-stage technology ventures both regionally and globally and with a portfolio of over 180 companies. VSQ also develops rich educational content around venture investing, and delivers it via a number of programs throughout the MENA region. In addition, Sonia is the Partner Lead for the VSQ Conscious Collective, a thematic fund that brings together regional mission-driven investors and family offices aligned in motives and purpose. Its remit is global and focused on early-stage ventures across HealthTech, AgTech, FoodTech and Financial Inclusion.
Previously, she worked in corporate strategy and commercial development at Microsoft, Viacom and Turner in London and Dubai. Sonia is a Charter Member and Board Director for TiE’s Dubai chapter and serves as the UAE Director for the Yale Alumni Schools Committee. She holds a B.A. from Yale University, a MSc from the London School of Economics and is a Kauffman Fellow.
Nicolas is concerned with helping individuals, teams and organizations be the best that they can be by getting the right amount of the right people, doing the right thing by deliberate design. He believes there is a way to create highly profitable organizations, regardless of industry, that do not conduct business at the cost of people or the environment. His experience comes from professional sport, being the former Executive Producer and President at Slush the world’s leading entrepreneurial event and former Human Catalyst at Smartly.io one of the most successful startups hailing out of Helsinki his home town known for its strong company culture. Currently he’s on a creative break, figuring out the next challenge that suits his mission.
Aziza Sheerin leads General Assembly’s growth in the region as their Managing Director for Asia. GA is a global tech education company advancing the future of work. General Assembly was voted one of the world’s most innovative companies in education by Fast Company.
Aziza launched and scaled the Singapore business for GA. In her role, she is responsible for P&L management, strategic partnerships, market expansion, and leading an awesome team.
Prior to GA, she worked on market expansion in emerging markets in Asia for a financial education firm. She is passionate about education and economic empowerment; and creating more opportunities in the tech industry for people of diverse backgrounds.
Jim was the CEO of Dyson from 2017 until his recent resignation, and has been a board member since 2012. During his tenure, Jim delivered record results year over year, while rapidly expanding the company’s technical, digital, and commercial capabilities.
During his time as CEO, Jim oversaw the launch of an unparalleled suite of new Dyson innovation that allowed the company to successfully enter new industries. This allowed Dyson to increase its market share across the globe while also adding new markets. During this time Jim was instrumental in transforming the company towards digital commerce, dramatically increasing online sales and profit margins as a result.
Jim joined Dyson as Chief Operating Officer in 2012. As COO, Jim led all aspects of the core Research, Design and Development activities as well as all operational functions, from Supply Chain and Logistics to Planning and Manufacturing. In this role, Jim applied his 20 years of experience in managing global operations, including Research In Motion (BlackBerry) and Flextronics, to lay the foundations for Dyson’s future success.
Jim built his career from production floor, serving as an engineering apprentice while attending college and university. He has founded two company start-ups which were established, scaled and later acquired for a premium. Jim studied Mechanical & Production Engineering and Electrical & Electronic Engineering at Glasgow Caledonian University and Glasgow School of Technology, and holds an MSc in Business with Supply Chain Management and Logistics from Northumbria University, UK.
In his free time, Jim enjoys fitness training and tennis and is a keen skier and hiker.
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While he’s known for shepherding Candy Crush Saga to mobile – and so helping to bankroll King’s $7 billion IPO in 2014 – Tommy Palm’s success story stretches back to the 1980s, when he began programming games for the Commodore 64. Between then and the dizzying success of King’s bestseller, Palm founded five companies including this latest venture, Resolution Games, a development studio with an eye on creating virtual reality and augmented reality game experiences everyone can enjoy. The studio’s concept is already proving successful, as its mobile VR fishing game, Bait!, is known as one of the most popular VR titles of all time. The team also recently ushered the Angry Birds into VR and mobile AR with the launches of Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs and Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs.
Turning towards the embryonic potential of VR and AR rather than resting on his mobile gaming laurels might seem a bold bet for Tommy. But, this serial mover and shaker prefers to be ahead of the pack when it comes to new technology, saying it’s the only way to be in the sweet spot when the revolutionary is ready for the limelight.
Claudia Zeisberger is an Author, Professor at INSEAD and Founder of the school’s PE & VC centre (GPEI). Before joining INSEAD in 2005, she spent 16 years in global investment banking.
Professor Zeisberger is actively involved in entrepreneurial ecosystems globally and devotes a significant amount of her time to mentor early stage companies; she was recently invited to join Google Startup Accelerator SEA as an industry mentor.
Professor Zeisberger is known for her books on Private Equity & Venture Capital and her extensive research on PE and VC in emerging markets. She regularly advises institutional investors, Family Offices and SWF’s on their investment strategy.
Full CV here.
Paul is a 3 time entrepreneur turned global investor. Collectively he’s invested in the seed rounds of over 300+ companies which includes holdings in multi-billion dollar companies like Unity, Niantic (Pokemon Go) & Zappos. He also sat on the advisory board of Uber from 2010-14. In addition to his work in the US, he’s the founder of venture capital funds in Africa, Asia & Europe.
Outside of work, he’s an avid skier where he competed for the Colombia National Cross-Country Ski Team and was National Champion from 2013-16.
Frank is the CEO, co-founder of Equilibrium (eqm.world), a company HQ’d in Singapore focused on helping companies be climate leaders with our combination of AI software and sustainability specialists – through automation of measurements, reporting, targets and planning.
Frank is also a partner and co-founder at SparkLabs Cultivate, with investments in sustainability, climate, food and agriculture technologies, and SparkLabs Group, the leading accelerator group across Asia. Previously Frank was on the boards of Spotify, Siri and Summly. Prior to that, GM for handsets and products at the 3 Group, and started his career as a software developer for Ericsson.
Ethan is the founder and CEO of MyMusicTaste. MyMusicTaste is a forecasting demand platform for live events, especially for Kpop. MyMusicTaste has promoted 170 concerts in 40 different countries per year. Under covid-19, thanks to 2.5M verified global Kpop fandom, MyMusicTaste has successfully switched its business to virtual concert and global online ecommerce platform.
Prior to MyMusicTaste, Ethan worked as a developer at Nexon, an online gaming company. where he was in charge of launching a game called Maplestory in US and EU markets.
Audrey is the founder and CEO of Moringa School, where she’s transforming higher education in Africa – starting with computer science. With a 85% job placement rate, Moringa was selected as one of Fast Company’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Africa in 2018.
For her work, she was selected as one of the 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs, World Economic Forum’s Top Female Innovators in Africa and named on the list of Marie Claire’s “The Youngest Execs in the Country” list. Moringa School has also been awarded Financial Times and IFC’s “Finalist – Achievement in Sustainable Development, with a focus on Education, Knowledge and Skills”. Moringa’s aim is to train over 200,000 knowledge workers through market-driven education by 2030.
Michael is a partner at Golden Gate Ventures. He joined the firm in 2013 and is currently leading the Growth venture fund. His entrepreneurial journey began in 2000 when he co-founded an IT managed services startup that was acquired in 2006. In 2007, Michael founded a venture fund focused on Dutch small- and medium-sized enterprises to help them with capital financing, business development, and strategy. During the same period, he was invited to join the Economic Development Board Rotterdam as vice-chairman. In that role, he launched the Young Economic Development Board. He brought together a highly influential Dutch network to increase public-private relationships to ensure business leadership invested in local while leveraging the public infrastructure.
Michael was introduced to Golden Gate Ventures in 2013 and relocated with his family to Singapore to join as a Venture Partner in 2013, helping with fundraising, strategic partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions. Since then, Michael has helped to raise over USD $60M for Golden Gate Ventures and its portfolio companies, including helping to raise later stage rounds from external investors as well as leading two early strategic acquisitions.
Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989 while working as a software engineer at CERN, the large particle physics laboratory near Geneva, Switzerland. Sir Tim understood the unrealized potential of millions of computers connected together through the Internet and envisioned the Web as a global information sharing space.
Sir Tim proposed what was to become the World Wide Web with a proposal specifying a set of technologies that would make the Internet truly accessible and useful to the world. Despite initial setbacks and with perseverance, by October of 1990, he had specified the three fundamental technologies that remain the foundation of today’s Web: HTML, URL, and HTTP.
He also wrote the first Web page editor/browser (“WorldWideWeb”) and the first Web server (“httpd”). By the end of 1990, the first Web page was available. By 1991, people outside of CERN joined the new Web community, and in April 1993, from much encouragement from Sir Tim and his colleagues, CERN announced that the World Wide Web technology would be available for anyone to use on a royalty-free basis.
Since that time, the Web has changed the world, arguably becoming the most powerful communication medium the world has ever known. Whereas only just over one half of the people on the planet are currently using the Web the Web has fundamentally altered the way we teach and learn, buy and sell, inform and are informed, agree and disagree, share and collaborate, meet and love, and tackle problems ranging from putting food on our tables to curing diseases.
In 2009, Sir Tim recognized that the Web’s potential to empower people to bring about positive change remained unrealized by billions around the world. Announcing the formation of the World Wide Web Foundation, he once again confirmed his commitment to ensuring an open, free Web accessible and to all where people can share knowledge, access services, conduct commerce, participate in good governance and communicate in creative ways. In 2012 Sir Tim co-founded the Open Data Institute with Sir Nigel Shadbolt, which seeks to show the value of open data, and to advocate for the innovative use of open data to affect positive change across the globe.
A graduate of Oxford University, Sir Tim is a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and in the Computer Science Department at Oxford University.
Chris has more than 20 years of experience in the electronic systems and semiconductor industries. As Senior Vice President of Products, Chris oversees all aspects of Menlo’s product roadmap, leading product development, product marketing, and developing go-to-market strategies.
Prior to Menlo Micro, Chris was Vice President, Business Development for GE Ventures. At GE Ventures, Chris was responsible for developing new programs and monetization strategies for key technologies developed at General Electric’s R&D center in Schenectady, NY. In particular, employing strategies such as licensing, joint ventures, acquisitions and spinouts for programs covering, wireless, semiconductor, MEMS and thermal management technology segments. Prior to GE, Chris served in a variety of management and leadership positions over an 18-year career at Teradyne, world leader in semiconductor test equipment. In his most recent role at Teradyne he was responsible for building a new Services Solutions Business for Teradyne’s Global Service Organization, a full-vertical supply-chain offering targeting emerging fabless semiconductor companies. Prior to that, Chris alternated between multiple assignments in Europe, where he managed large teams of customer support engineers, and senior management positions in Teradyne’s product development organizations, defining and developing new product roadmaps in the automated test equipment sector.
Gog Soon Joo is the Chief Futurist, Chief Research Officer and Chief Skills Officer at the SkillsFuture Singapore Agency, and has held a number of posts in Singapore government. She leads a team of Jobs-Skills Analysts, Data Scientists, and Futurists, to identify global trends that impact business, jobs and skills. Soon-Joo and her team work with local and international partners to prototype solutions in the areas of future of work, future of learning and future skills. Her research interests include capitalism in the digital economy, new economy firms, skills ecosystems and skills policies.
She chairs the Singapore National Steering Committee for the OECD Programme for International Assessment for Adult Competency (PIAAC), and a member of the OECD PIAAC Strategic Planning Group.
Soon Joo holds a doctoral degree jointly awarded by University College London, UK and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Master degrees from HEC, France and George Washington University, USA; bachelor degree from University of London, UK; and completed executive program at Singularity University, USA.
Julian is the Founder and Chairman of Ksubaka, an award winning retail tech company. Most recently he set up Voodoo in APAC, and boosted revenue and set up strategic partnerships with Tencent and others in the region for the French Unicorn that dominates the game hypercasual space. As he prepares his upcoming move back to the US, after 14 years in Asia, he is actively engaged as an angel investor and advising a number of gaming companies and ventures.
Julian’s extensive experience in entertainment and gaming has enabled him to be an actor since the early days of computer graphics, mobile gaming, and the inception of 3D RealD – that went on to own the cinema stereoscopic market (and IPO’d on NYSE in 2010) – and the APAC launch of the world-record setting R* iconic Grand Theft Auto IV & V. He has lived and worked in Europe, the US and Asia and is, for a few more months, a resident of Singapore.
Omar Rahim is the Director of MENA at Binance where he leads corporate strategy and development in the region. Omar joins Binance with a seasoned background in trading and worked at a number of funds as a commodities trader across multiple countries. Omar has managed portfolios of more than US $3 billion for leading global energy companies. He has also founded and sold companies in the trading space with an entrepreneurial track record of growing businesses from inception to exit. Omar has been involved in the crypto space since 2016 with a passion for evangelising the future of money.
Anurag is the CEO and Co-founder of Quilt.AI – a technology firm aimed at increasing understanding and empathy between organizations/ institutions and the billions of people on the planet. Companies including Amazon, J&J, & Target along with Non-profits including the World Bank, Girl Effect, CIFF, and BMGF leverage Quilt.AI to better connect with their customers and beneficiaries.
Quilt.AI has been rated by the Economist as an “AI for Good” company as it focuses on using technology at the intersection of governments, philanthropies, and corporates to solve complex problems ranging from allocation of funding and reducing maternal mortality to girl-child health.
Post a decade long career at American Express, Anurag started his entrepreneurial journey in 2012, focusing primarily on using technology in emerging markets. Quilt.AI is his third venture and was started in Jan 2018. Anurag has a Masters in Organizational Development from Bowling Green State University, and is a Harvard Business School alumni.
Benjamin Ang is Chief Data Officer (Policy) of AI Singapore (the national programme to develop deep capabilities in Artificial Intelligence in Singapore) where he leads governance and policy development, cybersecurity, data privacy, and access control, over AISG’s data assets. He is nominated as Singapore’s representative to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Network of AI Experts.
Benjamin is also Head of Cyber Homeland Defence Research at the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS), a policy research think tank based at S Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) in Nanyang Technological University (NTU). His team researches, writes, and speaks on technology related national security issues, including cybersecurity, hybrid threats, disinformation, foreign interference, governance of artificial intelligence, technology nationalism, surveillance, data privacy, and more. He has presented to the United Nations’ Open Ended Working Group (UN OEWG) on state use of ICT and lectured for the UN-Singapore Cyber Diplomacy Course.
His varied career includes time as a litigation lawyer, IT director, legal counsel in a software company, technology consultant, law lecturer, and network administrator.
Dr. Ayesha Khanna is Co-Founder and CEO of ADDO AI, an artificial intelligence (AI) solutions firm and incubator. She has been a strategic advisor on artificial intelligence, smart cities and fintech to leading corporations and governments. Ayesha serves on the Board of Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), the Singapore government’s agency that develops and regulates its world-class technology sector to drive the country’s digital economy and power its Smart Nation vision. Ayesha is also a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Councils, a community of international experts who provide thought leadership on the impact and governance of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.
In 2017, ADDO AI was featured in Forbes magazine as one of four leading artificial intelligence companies in Asia and Ayesha was named one of South East Asia’s groundbreaking female entrepreneurs by Forbes magazine in 2018. Ayesha serves on the Board of Sport Singapore, the lead government agency tasked with developing a holistic sports culture for the nation. In 2014, Ayesha served as a member of the Ministry of Education, Singapore, steering committee resulting in SkillsFuture, Singapore’s innovative national program that aligns education with economic demand, career guidance and lifelong learning to prepare citizens for the fourth industrial revolution.
Ayesha is also the Founder of 21C GIRLS, a charity that delivers free coding and artificial intelligence classes to girls in Singapore. Programs that 21C Girls has partnered in include Code in the Community, a program sponsored by Google and that has taught thousands of children (8 – 14yrs) coding, and Empower, which has partnered with Ngee Ann Polytechnic to teach girls (18 – 24yrs) the basics of artificial intelligence.
Prior to founding ADDO AI, Ayesha spent more than a decade on Wall Street developing large scale trading, risk management and data analytics systems. Ayesha was co-founder of the Hybrid Reality Institute, a research and advisory group established to analyze the social and economic impact of accelerating technologies.
Ayesha was featured in ZDF’s (Germany’s largest TV channel) documentary on twelve “Leading Women” around the world (2019). She has been named one of Singapore’s leading women in tech (Singapore Computer Society), and been recently profiled for her work in artificial intelligence in leading publications including Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Switzerland), Focus Magazin (Germany), Corriere della Sera (Italy), Dagens Næringsliv (Norway), Lëtzebuerger Journal (Luxembourg), Computer Sweden (Sweden), Information Age (Nordics), Peak (Cover Story, Singapore), and In The Black (Cover Story, Australia).
Ayesha is author of Straight Through Processing (2008) and co-author of Hybrid Reality: Thriving in the Emerging Human-Technology Civilization (2012). She has been published and quoted on technology, innovation and smart cities in The New York Times, BusinessWeek, TIME, Newsweek, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Strategy+Business, and Foreign Policy. She has presented at major financial, technology and other industry conferences, provided high level government briefings, chaired symposiums such as AI Asia, and spoken at TEDx events.
Ayesha has a BA (honors) in Economics from Harvard University, an MS in Operations Research from Columbia University and a PhD in Information Systems from the London School of Economics.
As CEO of Collab Asia, Eugene Choi leads the company’s efforts in producing solutions for content creators, media platforms, and top brands in today’s rapidly developing digital ecosystem. With over 17 years of experience in the media industry, he was previously SVP of Business Development at Collab Inc. before raising venture capital funding to spin-off the Asia division in 2017. Collab Asia, Inc. has since become a leading digital media company and influencer network with operations in Seoul, Tokyo, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Shenzhen, and Los Angeles.
Eugene began his career at advertising agency Carat USA (Dentsu Aegis Network) where he supported media planning efforts for Hyundai and Kia. He then joined entertainment marketing agency EMP and was instrumental in its subsequent acquisition by Ketchum—an Omnicom Group company. Eugene later worked as a Senior Analyst in the Strategy and Planning group at CJ America, the US-based subsidiary of a Korean conglomerate, and also consulted for Fuji Television, a major TV network in Japan. He has also produced two digital web series with Electus as part of YouTube’s Original Channels initiative (“K-Town” and “Roll Models”) and also a documentary TV series with Arirang TV (“Aka Dan”).
Eugene has an MBA (International Business) from the USC Marshall School of Business and a BA (Mass Communications) from UC Berkeley.
Kenneth Bok is CEO of Blocks, a corporate finance advisory specialising in fintech and blockchain. Based in Singapore, Kenneth advises fintech startups with a wide range of advisory services, including capital raising, go-to-market strategy, product development, and corporate partnerships. Kenneth also serves as a mentor for R3, an enterprise blockchain platform.
Kenneth was previously Head of Growth and Strategy at Zilliqa, where he led ecosystem and business development. He was also lead organiser for De/Centralize 2018, a groundbreaking conference on cryptocurrencies and blockchain.
Kenneth started his career in finance as an equities trader with Goldman Sachs. As a cryptocurrency investor, he has realised over 1000x returns with early investments in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cosmos and Tezos, and continues to be optimistic about the future of public blockchains in fostering internet-wide innovation.
A recognised cryptocurrency, blockchain and fintech expert, Kenneth speaks regularly at technology events, writes for prominent industry platforms, and has been featured on many leading media outlets. Kenneth holds an M.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College and an M.A. in Philosophy and Religion from CIIS.
Steph L Dickson is a leading voice in sustainability in Asia. She founded Green Is The New Black, Asia’s first Conscious Festival and media platform, that uses stories, curated experiences to advocate for social & behavioural change, that leads to little green steps with big impact. Her mission is to make conscious living mainstream, accessible and sexy.
Steph is also the host of the Live Wide Awake podcast, which brings conversations to life at the intersections of consciousness and climate change, sustainability and spirituality.
She is regularly asked to conduct talks and workshops on conscious living, rethinking and driving sustainability at work, inspiring keynotes on actionable green steps for meaningful change and eco-anxiety. She has conducted talks and workshops in cities around Asia and in the UK.
As a changemaker in the green space, Steph has been described as “sustainability entrepreneur helping Asia businesses combat climate change” (CNBC) and a “force of nature” (Honeycombers). She is also a two-time TEDx speaker (P&G), a Gen.T by Tatler Leader of Tomorrow (2020), and Prestige 40 Under 40 (2018).
Maia is Co-founder and Managing Partner of Juvo Ventures. She joined from Learn Capital, where she was Partner and also served as a board observer to many portfolio companies spanning the globe, across all education subsections including Bloomboard, SoloLearn, Onramp, and Smashcut. Maia has a proven track record of conceptualizing, developing, and optimizing businesses in the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific. She has built and run multiple educational start-ups in addition to leading highly visible initiatives. A recognized thought-leader, her experience spans the globe with deep roots in the K-12, post-secondary education, professional/vocational, test prep, language training, pathways/foundation, and publishing industries.
Previously, Maia was the Executive Vice President of Innovation and Strategic Initiatives for Charter Schools USA, responsible for developing innovative EdTech solutions and new capabilities within the organization as well as overseeing marketing; before that she was Corporate Vice President for Strategy and Innovation with Kaplan, Inc. where she led a broad range of strategic initiatives, oversaw the company’s EdTech portfolio and built multiple businesses. Prior to Kaplan, Maia served as Executive Director of Operations for the New York City Department of Education and was a founding member of its Children First team spearheading various reform initiatives.
Maia serves on the board of multiple education organizations including colleges, research think tanks, EdTech accelerators, and start-ups, and is a mentor to numerous start-ups and small businesses. A graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, CT, Maia earned her MBA from the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and is a Kauffman Fellow. She is an avid skier, has traveled extensively, lived and worked overseas, is fluent in multiple languages, and a United States Patent holder.
Graduated from The London College Of Fashion where he took on roles as College Social Secretary and Sabbatical College Union President, which brought him closer to his other passion for music. In 1986, Roche commenced his Asian journey in Hong Kong after 7 years in high-end fashion buying for Harvey Nichols in London’s West End. His professional work has taken him to over 65 countries worldwide.
Moving to Singapore to join the HPL/Lushington Group in 1990, he started with niche retail outlets in fashion, music, furnishings and lifestyle products. In addition, he worked on many of the group’s hotel projects and remains involved with the ongoing expansion of the Hard Rock Hotel brand where he helms the development, design, production and retailing of all its branded merchandise.
Roche became operational head of Lushington Entertainments in 1994 and has now amassed over 25 years experience in bringing some of the world’s biggest acts to Asia. Sales have surpassed the US$300million mark with over 2.5 million tickets sold.
Lushington Entertainments has successfully positioned itself as South East Asia’s leading promoter, with shows by more than 500 top entertainers in over seven countries.
In 2007, Michael Roche then brought his vast experience to one of his more challenging projects, as the Executive Director of Singapore GP. His creative background combined with his expertise in staging large events, has been an invaluable part of the planning and delivering the FORMULA 1 SINGPORE GRAND PRIX, right from its inaugural race in 2008.
Responsible for the commercial, contracting and operational affairs for the FORMULA 1 SINGAPORE GRAND PRIX, Roche oversees operations, marketing strategies, music content and contracting, merchandise, food and beverage, design concepts and the exclusive Formula One Paddock Club™, as well as the total visitor experience within the circuit park. In it’s 12th edition with over 3 million tickets sold, the Singapore race has been heralded as the ‘Jewel in the Formula 1 Crown’ and annually sets new standards of event delivery.
With extensive experience in marketing leadership roles across the technology and financial services industry, Todd loves to make the most of new innovations to provide a first-class customer experience.
Before joining Currencycloud, he delivered international marketing, product and customer satisfaction strategies for some of the world’s best-known brands, including American Express and Microsoft.
These skills, together with Todd’s interest in how technology is changing the way we interact with money, ensure Currencycloud’s clients get the best possible experience with the next generation of business payment innovations.
Bert-Ola Bergstrand is a system entrepreneur and global action facilitator. He is an initiator, co-founder and founder of a number of global platforms and networks in the impact economy e.g. Learning Society, Impact Journey, Katapult Future Fest and SoCap Network (Social Capital Markets Network). All initiatives above are focusing on amplifying the human potential through impact business and multi-stakeholder collaboration and thereby building a better society.
Ivy Huq Russell is the CEO & founder of Maya. After becoming a mother for the first time, Ivy originally founded Maya in 2011 as a blog for mothers in Bangladesh. Through her personal journey she experienced first hand the challenges faced by women in Bangladesh when trying to access the information and advice they are looking for. These can range from geographic and financial barriers all the way to socio-cultural. After partnering with leading NGO, BRAC, the Maya service officially launched in Bangladesh in February 2015 with a clear mission to provide women with the information they are looking for, when they need it. Maya is an intuitive, anonymous messaging service that connects its users to qualified experts on health and mental health issues and each other. The service is available on app, web and recently in messenger, with plans to expand abroad very soon.
Ivy grew up in Bangladesh before pursuing her higher education in England. She completed her MSc. in Finance and Economics at Warwick Business School, before spending a number of years as an Investment Management & Hedge Fund professional at leading firms including HSBC, GAM and Barclays. She currently divides her time between Bangladesh and San Francisco, where she is based with her husband, Bickey, and 2 children, Ameena and Emir.
Passionate about innovation and collaborative culture, Barbara works at the intersection of corporate innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology.
In October 2020, Barbara joined Dole to lead its corporate venture arm. Dole Ventures will collaborate with start-ups to support profitable growth and enable the realisation of the Dole Promise, announced by the company in July 2020. To achieve these ambitious goals, Dole Ventures wants to play a role in the complex innovation ecosystem, by breaking down traditional barriers and tapping into talent, science, and technology.
For the last 15 years, Barbara has developed an exhaustive understanding of disruptive technologies, digital environments, and their commercial applications. A respected driver of innovation, Barbara has a track record of building successful collaboration between start-ups and corporate, engaging with tech communities, accelerators, and VCs, as well as building meaningful ecosystem relationships to accelerate growth. Prior to her role at Dole, Barbara built and led for 5 years Unilever Foundry, Unilever’s platform for start-ups engagement, which she then transformed into a cross-functional technology discovery platform, while designing and managing internal and external innovation networks.
A mentor for start-ups, Barbara speaks regularly on corporate innovation and the importance of inspiring entrepreneurial spirit within companies.
Steve Stine is Founder and Managing Director of Inside Asia Advisors, a boutique leadership development and advisory firm. He is the host of the Inside Asia podcast, one of Asia’s longest running business-focused programs with over 170 episodes featuring the region’s top business personalities, industry analysts, and insiders (www.insideasiapodcast.com).
Steve works with corporate leadership teams and boards to assist them in building “future fluent” capabilities to address some of the most complex challenges of our time. In partnership with The Conference Board and the Center for Creative Leadership, his firm, Inside Asia Advisors, has established the Asia Corporate Leadership Council, convening CEOs from across the region to build “purpose-driven” agendas designed to better serve employees, suppliers, customers, shareholders, and the environment.
Steve is a 30-year Asia veteran who has worked across multiple industries and in a variety of senior roles. He served as Hong Kong correspondent with The Asian Wall Street Journal, a strategy consultant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, and a regional marketing executive with IBM. From 1999-2008, he launched a series of new businesses, and established his own advisory firm. In 2009, he became an executive search consultant and served as Partner with Heidrick & Struggles. In 2014, he joined DHR International as Regional Managing Director.
Steve holds a B.A. degree from Davidson College, an M.A. in China Studies from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, and an M.A. in Mythological Studies from the Pacifica Graduate Institute in California.
Neil is the CEO, Founder of OnePointFive (opf.degree), a remote advisory network of multidisciplinary sustainability experts. Neil is a sustainability advisor, investor, and content creator. He served as a Startup Advisor for Yale University’s Center of Business and Environment (CBEY), providing mentorship to early-stage startups. Prior to this, Neil was a Deputy Director at Echoing Green who managed a $8.5mn climate startup investment portfolio, and led the startup post-investment support department. Over three years, he reviewed over 2,000+ climate-related startup applications, and invested in and advised 70 climate startups across 20 countries. He also helped these startups raise millions collectively to bring their solutions from lab to market.
Neil writes for Forbes on next-generation climate solutions and startup investing, accumulating over 100,000 reads of his articles. He has been invited to speak on business and environment topics at the United Nations, Oxford, Harvard, Yale, New York, and Princeton universities. He has over five years of management consulting experience across four continents with Dalberg, Accenture, and KPMG. Neil has an Executive Masters of Environmental Management from Yale University and has an MBA from Oxford University. He also has degrees in Robotics Engineering, International Business, and Management from Adelaide and Hong Kong Universities.
Yang Yang Zhang is the Managing Director of Xendit Philippines. She was born in China and moved with her parents to the United States when she was a kid. Thus, she had more keen awareness of her circumstances and being out of her comfort zone most of the time.
She started to code as early as 5-year-old. Growing up as a programming obsessed person, Yang Yang earned her bachelor’s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, majoring of computer science. Prior to joining Xendit, she was the Co-Founder and Chief of Strategy of a cryptocurrency trading platform in the Philippines, where she discovered the opportunities of the Philippines’ financial infrastructure.
Her life and career experiences have motivated her to build up her career and realize her dream in Philippines; to build a brand new digital payment infrastructure for Filipinos through Xendit Philippines.
Kenneth is currently the Chief Executive Officer at Sparrow Exchange and is a member of Singapore Cybersports and Online Gaming Association (SCOGA).
Kenneth has 10 years of professional experience as a proprietary trader in derivatives and was formerly one of Singapore’s top professional gamers. Proficient in high frequency trading, futures in regulated derivatives markets such as CME, LME, EUREX, LIFFE, SGX, TSE, HKFE and OSE, he established his own team of traders focused on algorithmic and discretionary trading.
Kenrick is the founding partner of LuneX Ventures, the blockchain and crypto fund by Golden Gate Ventures based in Singapore. LuneX invests in both crypto currencies and equity of startups building a new open financial system and Web 3.0. Kenrick holds an MBA from HKUST in Hong Kong and has spent the past 15 years with various tech startups in South East Asia.
Ik Kanu is an experienced investor with ten years of direct African investment experience, and nine additional years of experience working in technology and consulting in the United States.
Prior to founding Atlantica, Ik was a Principal at Convergence Partners Investments, a private equity firm focused on the TMT sector in Africa. During his four-year tenure at Convergence, Ik served as both the West African lead and the Pan-African FinTech lead. Prior to Convergence, Ik spent five years with Helios Investment Partners, a prominent private equity firm in Africa, where he rose to the position of Vice President. At both firms, Ik demonstrated success by applying flexible structuring knowledge, deep technical expertise and hands-on value creation skills — all of which are required when investing in Africa.
Prior to entering Africa’s private equity industry, Ik worked for Lucent Technologies Bell Labs, PA Consulting and Arthur D. Little in the United States.
Ik is an active angel investor in Nigeria. He sits on the advisory and main board for several Nigerian startups and is a mentor to another startup in Kenya.
Ik graduated from Penn State University with a BS in Electrical Engineering and an MS in Management Science/Operations Research. He received an MBA from the Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University. Ik is also a Kauffman Fellow (Class 23), where he is part of a two-year executive education program in venture capital and innovation leadership.
Dr. Tan Sian Wee is the Co-Founder and Executive Director of Finaxar, a Singapore-based fintech startup that is reinventing business financing for small-and-medium enterprises. He was an early investor and pioneer of touch feedback for Immersion (NASDAQ: IMMR) with 10 patents. Immersion’s technology is today felt through over 3 billion game controllers, automotive, medical, mobile and peripheral systems. He later advised Primesense at start-up, which became Face ID for Apple in 2017 after Primesense was acquired. He later collaborated with the German Aerospace Center to commercialize advanced thermal storage solutions prior to joining Monk’s Hill Ventures. Sian focuses on opportunities that intersect both technology and business, beginning from the 1990s when he was in Silicon Valley.
Sian is also currently serving on the Pro-Enterprise Panel for Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry, the SME Committee for Technology, Innovation & Productivity at the Singapore Business Federation and a Lead Mentor at the German Accelerator for Southeast Asia. He is also an Operating Advisor at Monk’s Hill Ventures. Sian holds a BSc. in Mathematics and Physics from the University of Bristol, a M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University.
Wong Joo Seng is founder and CEO of Spark Systems. A company he conceptualised and started up in April 2016. Spark’s focus is on building the next generation of FX trading platforms that are ultra-fast, resilient, low latency and cost efficient. In addition to being a recipient of an MAS grant, Spark Systems also raised USD8.7 million in a Series A investment round (with venture capital as well as strategic investors) in 2017.
Joo Seng is also a Venture Capitalist and is a Venture Partner with both Vickers Venture Partners as well as an Investment Partner with True Global Ventures. Wong, Joo Seng is also co-founder of M-DAQ; Jan 2010 and the company’s founding Chairman (Non Executive). He assumed the role of Executive Chairman in Jan 2014 and led the company to a successful Series C investment round with a major e-commerce company in Nov 2015 with a valuation of $250 million.
Prior to M-DAQ, Joo Seng was the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of G K Goh Financial Services (S) Private Ltd., then a member firm of the Singapore Exchange – Derivatives Trading (“SGX- DT”). G K Goh Financial Services (S) Private Ltd. is the wholly owned securities & derivative brokerage and foreign exchange trading subsidiary of G K Goh Holdings Ltd; a listed company based in Singapore. He joined in 1998 and was instrumental in the start-up of the unit as its founding CEO, a role he continued in until his departure in Jan 2014 when he joined M-DAQ as Executive Chairman. In his time there, he grew GKGFS from a new company into one of the largest institutional foreign exchange trading houses in Asia.
Joo Seng started his career in 1987 in United Overseas Bank Singapore. There he was dealing in precious metals as a trader in Gold, Silver and Platinum over-the-counter Spot, Forwards and Options as well as exchange traded Futures and Options.
Thereafter he joined Republic National Bank of New York, Singapore; now part of the HSBC, as Vice President – Foreign Exchange & Precious Metals Options. At Republic National Bank of New York, he was responsible for interbank price-making and risk management of the bank’s foreign exchange and precious metal options portfolio in Asia, as part of a global options risk management team with centers in New York, London and Singapore.
He subsequently joined Bank of New Zealand in Wellington, New Zealand as Manager – Foreign Exchange Options where he was overall in charge of the currency options desk. His responsibilities included the strategic positioning of the bank’s global currency options portfolio and all price-making activities to both retail & institutional clients of the bank as well as to the interbank market at large.
He returned to Singapore to take up the position of Head of Treasury at TLB Bullion and Futures, the wholly owned derivative brokerage arm of Tat Lee Bank Singapore, prior to joining G K Goh to start up and run G K Goh Financial Services (S) Private Ltd. in 1998.
Joo Seng holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics and Mathematics from the National University of Singapore. He is also a member of Mensa Singapore, the local chapter of Mensa International, and was the society’s Vice President.
Laurence is the Director for AI Innovation at AI Singapore where he drives the adoption of AI by the Singapore ecosystem through the 100 Experiments, Makerspace and AI Apprenticeship programmes.
A visionary and serial technopreneur, Laurence identified and introduced Singapore’s enterprises to:
Laurence graduated from National University of Singapore (NUS) with First Class Honours in Engineering and holds a Masters in Knowledge Engineering from NUS.
Michele is the Co-Founder and CEO of StashAway.
Prior to founding StashAway, he was the Group CEO of ZALORA where he was responsible for its 15x growth and becoming the undisputed leader in the market. Before ZALORA, Michele founded the Italian and Pakistani operations of Rocket Internet, launching 5 companies in these 2 countries.
From 2004 to 2012, Michele worked in the financial industry, first as a consultant at McKinsey (Milan and New York offices) where he advised several world-class financial institutions on a variety of topics, then in Milan-based private equity fund manager Synergo. Michele earned his MBA at Columbia Business School and his Bachelor of Science in Finance at Bocconi University in Italy. Michele was part of Singapore’s Committee for the Future of the Economy in 2016, invited by the Minister of Finance.
Scott Jones is co-founder of Six Kin Development, and Senior Lecturer at Singapore Institute of Technology.
Scott is a Silicon Valley veteran who began his career writing code and managing software development teams for several early Internet startup companies, including Netscape, where he helped build the legendary Netscape Navigator web browser. He has since founded several startups and been involved with numerous high-tech ventures over the past 25 years. Mr. Jones currently oversees deep tech projects that utilize next generation artificial intelligence, including Pandai, a revolutionary new AI powered personal tutor.
Additionally, Scott has spent more than a decade in academia, as a lecturer at both the polytechnic and university level in Singapore, and as a researcher at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where he worked alongside renowned AI visionary, Dr. Ben Goertzel, co-founder & CEO of SingularityNET.
Hyui is the co-founder of 22C, the company that is bringing you the inaugural 22nd Century Today Summit: Game Changers virtual summit on 25 February 2021. 22C began as an idea to improve stale networking sessions and grew into a company focused on sparking the ideas & connections that will shape the 22nd century.
Hyui has a background in law, financial services and entrepreneurship, with a passion for tech and futurism. She has over 14 years of experience working across startups and MNCs in Europe and APAC in commercial functions and change management. Hyui was previously the Head of Partnerships at Slush Singapore, and the Programme Head of the joint initiative NUS Enterprise-Singapore Airlines Accelerator Programme.
Technology is changing the world rapidly – Hyui is a strong advocate for education and sustainability, and believes that both are fundamental to future development for a better 22nd century.
Marijke is the co-founder of 22C, the company that is bringing you the inaugural 22nd Century Today Summit: Game Changers virtual summit on 25 February 2021. She is an experienced and multi-talented professional and has worked across the financial sector, events industry and startup ecosystem in The Netherlands and Singapore. With over 20 years of experience in accountancy, 2 years as director of Cruise Port Rotterdam and 3 years at Slush Singapore, she brings a unique experience to the table.
She was a founding member of Slush Singapore, launching the first edition of the conference in Singapore in 2016, in collaboration with the National Research Foundation Singapore (NRF). Marijke was Head of Volunteers and managed a group of over 300 volunteers, before heading up operations as Chief Operating Officer.
Her work for Slush Singapore inspired Marijke to continue working with inspiring entrepreneurs, building and giving back to the startup community. She is a team player but can also work on her own when necessary. Inspiring others to work on a common goal is something she is used to.
Jeff Benjamin is an award-winning music journalist, editor, curator and host with a strong focus on Korean-pop music. While watching the K-pop scene for more than a decade, he’s been writing as Billboard’s K-Pop Columnist since 2013, curating as the K-Pop Editor at Jay-Z’s streaming service TIDAL since 2020, and seen his work published in outlets like the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Forbes and beyond.
Throughout his career, Jeff broken international exclusives about K-pop artists like PSY, BIGBANG, HyunA, BTS, 2NE1, EXO, TWICE, BLACKPINK and more. His expertise has been featured in and called upon by the Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, CNN, USA Today, TIME and more.
Jeff’s work has led him to travel and speak around the world including Korea, France, Japan, Taiwan and around the United States. In 2019, he joined the KBS World variety show ‘We K-Pop’ and ‘We K-Pop Friends,’ reaching more than 100 million viewers in 120 countries weekly with his segments filmed in his home of New York City, leading ArirangTV to declare him “just as famous as any other K-pop star among K-pop fans.” The New York Times has called Jeff “the leading American authority on K-pop,” while CNN said he is “the perfect person to talk about K-pop.”
Steve co-founded AmazeVR, a virtual reality concert platform for the highest quality VR content creation and mass distribution in 2015 with founding members of Kakao. After the COVID-19, when music concerts are canceled in the foreseeable future, AmazeVR is providing an end-to-end solution for a radical new way to experience immersive music content with our proprietary technologies—from ultra-high-resolution custom cameras to cloud-based creation tools, to intuitive social interactions with friends as avatars.
AmazeVR raised a $9.5M Series A investment round in 2019 from several strategic investors including LG Technology Ventures (Telco.), CJ Timewise Investment (Media/Content), Smilegate Investment (Gaming), and YG Investment (Entertainment/K-pop).
Prior to AmazeVR, Steve worked as Head of Strategy and Head of New Business at Kakao. He led corporate-level projects including the M&A with Daum. He also worked as a management consultant at Bain & Company and Kearney.
Brett King is an International Bestselling Author, a world-renowned futurist and media personality. President Xi Jinping cited his book Augmented. He has spoken in over 50 countries, given keynotes for TEDx, Wired, Techsauce, Singularity University, Web Summit, The Economist, IBM’s World of Watson, CES, SIBOS and more. He has appeared on CNBC, BBC, ABC, Fox, and Bloomberg. He advised the Obama administration on Fintech.
King hosts the world’s #1 Fintech Radio Show/Podcast called Breaking Banks (180 countries, 6.5 million listeners). He is the founder of Moven, a globally recognized mobile start-up, which has raised over US$40 million to date, and launched the first in-app mobile bank account offered anywhere in the world.
Banking Exchange named him the King of the Disruptors, he was nominated as American Banker’s Innovator of the Year, voted the world’s #1 Financial Services Influencer by The Financial Brand and listed by Bank Innovation as one of the top 10 “coolest brands in banking”. King was shortlisted for the Advance Global Australian of the Year for being one of the most influential Australians offshore. His book Augmented: Life in the Smart Lane, was a top-10 non-fiction book in North America. Bank 4.0 remained a global bestseller in banking more than 12 months after release. The Rise of Technosocialism, his 7th book will be released mid-2020.