Tim Draper

Founder, DFJ (Draper Fisher Jurvetson)

Tim Draper is the founding partner of Draper Associates and DFJ. Tim’s original suggestion to use viral marketing as a method for spreading a software application from customer to customer was instrumental to the successes of Hotmail, Skype, and others.

Tim has been recognized as a leading supporter of entrepreneurship with numerous awards and honors. He was listed as #46 of the most outstanding Harvard alumni, #7 on the Forbes Midas List, #1 of the Most Networked Venture Capitalists by Always On, and #98 in Worth Magazine’s 100 Most Powerful People in Finance. Tim also received the World Entrepreneurship Forum’s “Entrepreneur for the World” in 2015.

Tim received a BS from Stanford University with a major in electrical engineering and an MBA from the Harvard Business School.

Ming Maa

President, Grab

Ming has over 12 years of finance and investment experience across the U.S. and Asia. He joined Grab from SoftBank Group Corp., a leading global technology company and one of Grab’s key strategic investors, where he was based in Tokyo and played a key role in overseeing SoftBank’s investments in leading companies in the ridesharing and e-commerce industries, including SoftBank’s April 2015 Series D investment in Grab and additional Series F investment in September 2016.

Prior to joining SoftBank, Ming was a Principal at Ancora Capital Management Pte Ltd based in Jakarta. Prior to Ancora, between 2000-2012, Ming was a Vice President in Goldman Sachs’ Merchant Banking Division, the firm’s global private equity group, and was based in Tokyo and San Francisco. At Goldman Sachs, he managed investments across a wide spectrum of industries and served on the boards of several technology and media companies.

Ming received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jenny Lee

Managing Partner, GGV Capital

Jenny Lee joined GGV Capital in 2005 as a managing partner and was instrumental in setting up the GGV presence in China. As a self-professed geek, Jenny firmly believes that only the entrepreneurs who are passionate about products will be able to create new models and new products. As an investor, Jenny is focused on finding and partnering with disruptive technology companies that can change the traditional business models and create new value for users and enterprises.

Jenny’s previous operation and finance work experience with Singapore Technologies Aerospace, Morgan Stanley and JAFCO Asia enhanced her role as a preferred board mentor and investor to many entrepreneurs in China. Jenny graduated from Cornell University with a Masters and B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering and an M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Since 2011, Jenny has been recognized by the Forbes Global 100 VC Midas List of top venture capitalists, ranking as the #1 woman and #10 overall in 2015.

Cyrus Driver

Asia Head, Private Equity Directs, Partners Group

Cyrus Driver is Head of Partners Group's Asian Private Equity business unit, based in Singapore. He is a member of the firm's Private Equity Directs Investment Committee. He has been with Partners Group since 2012 and has 17 years of industry experience.

Prior to joining Partners Group, he worked at J.P. Morgan Partners LLC, Helix Investments and Arka Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd. He holds an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Syed Yasir Arafat Syed Abd Kadir

CEO, Ekuiti Nasional Bhd (Ekuinas)

Syed Yasir Arafat Syed Abd Kadir is the Chief Executive Officer of Ekuiti Nasional Berhad (Ekuinas). He leads the Management Committee and is a member of the Investment Committee.

He was previously the Country Manager (ING Wholesale Banking) overseeing both ING Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and ING Bank (Labuan) operations in Malaysia. He was with ING Corporate Advisory (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd for nine years, starting as VP Corporate Finance specialising in areas of mergers and acquisitions, equity and equity-linked fund raising, debt fund raising and financial advisory for some of Malaysia’s leading companies in banking, plantations, automotive, telecommunications and property, among others.

Prior to that, Syed Yasir Arafat was attached to United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Berhad, Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad, Commerce International Merchant Bankers Berhad and Aseambankers Malaysia Berhad.

Syed Yasir Arafat graduated from the University of Essex, United Kingdom with a B.A. (Hons) degree in Accounting & Financial Management.

Nicholas Bloy

Co-Managing Partner, Navis Capital

Nicholas Bloy is one of two Managing Partners of Navis and an Investment Committee member.

At Navis, he leads investment teams, works with company management and sits on the boards of a number of portfolio companies. He is also responsible for fundraising.

He co-founded Navis after spending ten years in Asia with The Boston Consulting Group, where he held various positions, including managing partner of the Kuala Lumpur office, Head of The Boston Consulting Group's Energy and Utilities Practice in Asia, and Head of The Boston Consulting Group's Asia Marketing Committee.

Ng Beng Tiong

CEO, ARA Private Funds & Assistant Group CEO, ARA Group

Mr Ng Beng Tiong is the Assistant Group Chief Executive Officer of ARA Group cum Chief Executive Officer of ARA Private Funds. He oversees the private real assets funds division of the Group. He serves on the Group Business Development committee, and the ARA Private Funds investment and executive committees. He is also a director of ARA China, ARA Australia, ARA Korea and APM, the property management subsidiary of ARA.

Prior to joining the ARA Group in 2007, Mr Ng was the Finance Director of Low Keng Huat (Singapore) Ltd, a property, construction and hotel group listed on the SGX-ST, from 2003 to 2007. He was a Director of Stone Forest M&A Pte. Ltd., a mergers and acquisitions advisory company from 2002 to 2003 and Director of Corporate Planning and Business Development at Labroy Marine Limited, a shipping, shipbuilding and marine engineering company listed on the SGX-ST from 1997 to 2002. Mr Ng began his career with DBS Bank Ltd in 1989, initially as a corporate banker and subsequently as an investment banker.

Mr Ng holds a Master of Engineering (Software Engineering) (First Class Honours) from Imperial College, London. He is also a CFA charterholder.

Helen Wong

Partner, Qiming Ventures

Helen Wong is a Partner at Qiming Ventures, focusing on its internet and consumer practice. She is responsible for the investments in Mobike (bike sharing), Ruhann (influencer ecommerce), Luojisiwei (audio platform), Afu (skincare brand) and serves on the boards of Bingobox (unmanned convenience store), Akulaku (consumer financing in SE Asia), Lagou (online recruitment), Xuebajun (online K12 education), and Helijia (on demand beauty services) and Linqu (crowdsourced delivery). Helen is a long time venture capitalist and had spent 15 years at GGV Capital and Venture TDF.

She was an early investor in Tudou, which listed successfully on the NASDAQ and subsequently merged with Youku at an over $1-billion valuation. She was also involved in the investment of Alibaba, Hurray (acquired by Shanda) and Buchang.

She is a Kauffman Fellow and is a member of the VC class at CEIBS. She received degrees from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, INSEAD, and Oxford University.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Paytm

Vijay Shekhar Sharma is the Founder of Paytm Mobile Solutions Private Limited and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Sharma Founded One97 Communications Ltd in 2000 and serves as its Chairman, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. He is a Partner of One97 Mobility Fund.

He has more than 10 years of experience in the telecom and new media industries, having founded his first venture XS Corps while he was at college, which he sold to Lotus Interworks LLC, New Jersey in 1999.

He holds a Bachelor's degree in Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering.

Cindy Chow

Executive Director, Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund

Cindy Chow is the Executive Director of the Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund. Cindy joined Alibaba Group in 2007 and has worked in the financial control and planning capacity, most recently as the Senior Director of International Finance. Before joining Alibaba, Cindy has worked in a number of Hong Kong listed companies, specialising in financing, and management reporting and planning.

Cindy holds a Master of Business Administration and is a certified public accountant. Through directly investing in early staged companies and organising various internship and training programmes, Cindy aspires to achieve the mission of the Fund which is to help Hong Kong entrepreneurs and young people realise their dreams for a vibrant world city.

Karam Butalia

Executive Chairman, KV ASIA CAPITAL

Karam Butalia is currently Executive Chairman, KV Asia Capital Pte Ltd, a Singapore headquartered private equity firm focused on acquiring significant equity ownership in quality mid-sized companies in South East Asia.

He has over 35 years of experience in Asia including 20 years in Private Equity. He was previously Global Head of PE at Standard Chartered (2002-2008), where he built a highly successful platform generating strong returns across Asia for Standard Chartered and the Merlion India Fund (with Temasek).

He also held various positions during a 24-year tenure with Citibank throughout Asia, including MD Asian PE (1995-2002), Founding MD / Partner for CVC Asia (1999) & MD Asian Corporate Finance (1993-1995). He was also Vice Chairman and Acting Chairman of HKVCA (1998).

Dr Jeffrey Chi

Vice Chairman - Asia, Vickers Venture Partners

Dr. Jeffrey Chi joined Vickers in 2005 and is a member of the Investment Committee. He is based in Shanghai and Singapore. Between 2013 and 2017, Jeff also served as the Chairman of Singapore Venture Capital Association.

Prior to joining Vickers, Jeff was a Corporate Finance Specialist and an Executive Director at Pegasus Capital, where he managed engagements for a wide range of clients in both the public and private sectors. He was a Senior Consultant with the Monitor Group from 2001 to 2002.

Jeff’s operational background includes working on the management team of an engineering and construction group where he oversaw operations in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Indonesia from 1992 to 1998. As the Managing Director, he guided the group into tripling its revenue in a mere 3 years, which helped the group clinch a spot in the Enterprise 50 awards in Singapore.

Jeff graduated from the University of Cambridge with a First Class Honors in Engineering and has a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is also a CFA charterholder, and is fluent in English and Mandarin.

Ralph Keitel

Regional Lead for PE funds in East Asia and Pacific, IFC (World Bank)

Keitel is currently a Principal Investment Officer in the Private Equity and Investment Funds department of the IFC International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. Since joining IFC in early 2006, he has been responsible as regional lead for all of IFC’s private equity fund activities in Russia/CIS and, since 2008, Africa. Ralph is currently based in IFC’s Johannesburg office.

Prior to joining IFC, Ralph was with Caisse de Dépot et Placement de Québec , where he was responsible for a portfolio of venture capital funds in North America and Europe.

Previously, he spent nearly 5 years with TBG, providing seed financing and venture capital for technology start-up companies before assuming responsibility for TBG’s funds portfolio.

Alan Hellawell

Group Chief Strategy Officer, Sea

Alan Hellawell joined Sea as Group Chief Strategy Officer in October 2017 from Deutsche Bank, where he led the investment bank's Asia TMT research group for 11 years.

Alan managed a team of six internet analysts at Deutsche Bank, and a broader team of 25 Asia TMT analysts. He was ranked Deutsche Bank's #1 Asian analyst (out of 120) for the last seven years of his tenure.

Prior to Deutsche Bank, Alan spent five years as Managing Director and co-Head of Research at Lehman Brothers. Prior to Lehman Brothers, Alan spent several years in optical networking with Zaffire Communications and Lucent Technologies. He was also involved in Business Development for Netscape Communications, developers of the world’s first Internet browser.

Brenda Lau

Head, Private Equity Asia at CA Indosuez

Brenda Lau is the Head of Private Equity Asia at CA Indosuez (Switzerland) SA, based in the Hong Kong office. She is responsible for managing all Asia Pacific private equity investments as well as advising on the allocation of strategies for the private clients’ portfolios in the region. She joined the Bank in 2016.

Prior to this role, Brenda was a Senior Vice President at EntrustPermal where she led the sales effort for distribution of alternative products to institutional and private banking clients in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Previously, she held relationship management and business development roles at Hamilton Lane, SEI and JPMorgan, covering institutional clients including sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and provident funds in the Asia ex-Japan region.

Brenda holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance and Management of Organizations from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. She is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst and a member of the CAIA Association.

Nicholas Cator

Managing Director, Verlinvest S.A.

Nick joined Verlinvest in 2006 and was appointed Director of Business Development of Armonea, the largest nursing home operator in Belgium. He joined the Verlinvest investment team after 2,5 years and made investments in Europe, India and the US in a range of industries. In 2012 Nick returned to Armonea, this time as CEO, with a view of improving operations and growth. In October 2014 Nick rejoined Verlinvest as Executive Director, responsible for opening the Singapore office and with a focus on the E-commerce, Education and Healthcare Services sectors.

Nick holds a Masters in Economics and complemented his education in executive leadership and strategic marketing at INSEAD and Stanford.

Loong Mei Yin

Deputy CEO, Co-Founder & Partner, TAEL Partners

Mei Yin, with her over 20 years experience working with a diverse range of business groups in Malaysia and Thailand, has spearheaded TAEL's investments in these two countries. She also initiated the launch of TAEL Tijari, a Shariah compliant fund which co-invests with TAEL One and Two.

Before co-founding TAEL, she headed the Thai investment banking team of UOB Asia. She started her career in 1992 and during her tenure at Schroders Malaysia and subsequently as an executive director in UOB Asia, she spearheaded a substantial number of domestic/cross-border debt and equity capital market transactions for Malaysian and Thai business groups. Mei Yin also leads TAEL's investments in Myanmar which is a new market focus.

Mei Yin holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Monash University, Australia, majoring in accounting, finance and computer science. She is a CFA charter holder.

Norhizam Abdul Kadir

VP, Growth Ecosystem Development Division, MDEC

Norhizam Abdul Kadir (or Hizam) brings with him almost 20 years’ experience in multi-market technology and energy industries in various markets across Asia Pacific. He was with Intel, Microsoft and Ballard Power System before joining MDEC as Vice President in 2015. He has wide experience in corporate marketing, end-customer sales, business development, communications and channel marketing and enablement.

At MDEC, currently, he is championing the growth of digital entrepreneurial ecosystem in Malaysia. He has been tasked to manage the development of Malaysia Digital Hub, a program that recognizes startup ecosystem development in co-working spaces. He is also responsible in enriching Malaysia’s startup ecosystem by engaging and redomiciling global ecosystem players such as key internet companies, accelerators, talent providers, venture capitals, and startup communities. He also leads the Bumiputera Internet Economy initiative that aims to upskill Bumiputera ICT companies and getting their products and services to be recognized regionally and globally.

Steve Leonard

Founding Chief Executive Officer, SGInnovate

In his current role as the Founding Chief Executive Officer of SGInnovate – a private limited company wholly owned by the Singapore Government – Steve Leonard has been chartered to lead an organisation that builds ‘deep-tech’ companies. Capitalising on the science and technology research for which Singapore has gained a global reputation, his team works with local and international partners, including universities, venture capitalists, and major corporations to help technical founders imagine, start and scale globally-relevant early- stage technology companies from Singapore.

Prior to his role as the CEO of SGInnovate, Leonard served three years as the Executive Deputy Chairman of the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), a government statutory board under the purview of Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information. In that role, he had executive responsibility at the national level for various aspects of the information technology and telecommunications industries in Singapore.

Reshmi Khurana

MD and Kroll’s Head of Southeast Asia, Business Intelligence & Investigations

Reshmi Khurana is Managing Director and Head of Southeast Asia in Kroll’s Investigations and Disputes practice, based in the Singapore office.

She joined Kroll in 2003 in New York, where she worked for six years. She then moved to Kroll’s Singapore office, where she oversaw the operations in Southeast Asia before joining Kroll’s Mumbai office in 2011. Recently, she has led assignments in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, and Mauritius.

Prior to joining Kroll, Reshmi was a consultant with McKinsey & Company in India, where she advised clients on strategy and operations in the telecom, retail, and consumer packaged goods sectors.

Reshmi is an Independent Director on the Board of a leading Indian retail company.

Heang Chhor

Founder/Managing Partner, Qualgro

Heang Chhor is the Founder and Managing Partner of Qualgro. He was previously a Senior Partner at McKinsey & Company (26 years) and has worked many years in Europe and the last decade in Asia, especially in Japan and in Asean.

He has advised multinationals and Asian conglomerates on topics spanning growth, operations, M&A and organization. He has deep business experience and networks in Consumer, Retail / e-commerce, Banking / Fintech and Technology areas.

Heang is a French citizen, was born in Cambodia, educated in Europe and has worked across continents.

Dr. Damian Tan

Managing Director, Vickers Venture Partners

Dr. Damian Tan joined Vickers in 2005 as a Venture Partner. He has been a Managing Director and a member of the Investment Committee since July 1, 2014, and is based in Singapore. He has over 30 years of experience in the field of IT in companies such as Hewlett Packard, Digital, Far East Computers, Olivetti, Oracle and Apple. Damian also has extensive project management experience, having been involved with the direction of large, complex technology projects in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and the U.S.

Damian earned his professional degree from the British Computer Society, and holds a Doctor of Business Administration from the California Intercontinental University and a Master of Science with Distinction from Middlesex University.

Damian has held various leadership positions, including Chairman of Entrepreneurship of the Singapore Polytechnic Graduates Guild Executive committee and Chairman of the Focus IT Group of the Singapore Polytechnic Alumni Network. He is fluent in English and Malay.

Vish Ramaswami

Managing Director, Cambridge Associates

Vish Ramaswami is a Managing Director based in Cambridge Associates’ Singapore office. He works on the firm’s private equity and venture capital research team, performing due diligence on investment opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region. Working as a resource for the firm’s investment directors, Vish identifies and researches high quality investment firms and keeps abreast of trends in the market.

Shin Ein Ng

Co-founder & Advisor, Gryphus Capital

Ms Ng Shin Ein is Co-founder of Gryphus Capital, a pan Asian investment firm. Ms Ng leads a global network of family offices and strategic investors in private equity investments, and is actively engaged in strategic and business development of portfolio companies.

Prior to this, Ms Ng spent a number of years at the Singapore Exchange, where she was responsible for developing Singapore’s capital market and bringing foreign companies to list in Singapore. Additionally, she was part of the Singapore Exchange’s IPO Approval Committee, where she contributed industry perspectives and also acted as a conduit between the marketplace and regulators.

Admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the Singapore Supreme Court, Ms Ng started her career as a corporate lawyer in Messrs Lee & Lee. Whilst at Lee & Lee, she advised clients on joint ventures, mergers & acquisitions and fund raising exercises.

Ms Ng has served on the boards of NTUC Fairprice, Singapore largest supermarket operation. Additionally, she serves on the boards of Yanlord Land Ltd, First Resources Ltd and Avarga Holdings, companies listed on the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange. Ms Ng also serves on the board of Singapore International Foundation and the Middle East Institute.

Ng Shin Ein is Singapore’s non-resident ambassador to The Republic of Hungary.

Paul Ark

Managing Director, Corporate VC, Digital Ventures

Paul is managing director for corporate venture capital at Digital Ventures, a subsidiary of Siam Commercial Bank.

Starting his career as an investment banker, he worked on IPOs, private equity deals and M&A at Deutsche Bank and Citigroup in Asia and New York. He also did i-banking stints at boutique firms Tonson Capital and Blackwood Ventures in Southeast Asia.

He then moved to the retail industry, where he worked with Chinas Central Retail Corporation, and subsequently moved to work with Apple and Microsoft. At Apple, he led the firms retail real estate for Asia and helped open flagship stores in China, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia. In a similar role at Microsoft, he advised the firm on its China retail strategy.

He was named one of Asia's Top 100 Leaders in FinTech by Next Money.

Vivek Kathpalia

Head of Singapore & Far East, Nishith Desai Associates

Vivek Kathpalia heads the Singapore office of the multi- skilled, research-based international law firm, Nishith Desai Associates. He globally leads the firms International Commercial Law Practice Group. He also is a leader in the M&A & PE practice group at the firm.

He globally co-leads the Information Technology, Telecommunications, New Media and Education Industry Practice Groups. He holds numerous management positions in the firm. Vivek divides his time between Singapore and India.

Vivek advises clients in complex cross-border transactions including, technology deals, M&A, private equity investments, regulatory & commercial matters across various industry sectors. As the partner in charge of the Singapore office, he leads the firm’s various initiatives in Asia and Japan.

He actively writes articles and papers in the Indian and foreign press and is often invited to speak at conferences both in India and internationally.

Vivek earned a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Government Law College, Mumbai and is a Solicitor affiliated with the Bombay Incorporated Law Society. He is a member of the Bombay Bar Association, Bar Council of Maharashtra & Goa & the International Bar Association. He is a registered foreign attorney in Singapore since 2007.

Joel Bar-El

Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Trax

Joel Bar-El is the co-founder of Trax and has served as the chief executive officer (CEO) since October 2011. He is responsible for Trax’s vision and overall market strategy and execution. Before being named CEO of Trax, Mr. Bar-El served as our chief technology officer (CTO) since Trax’s inception.

Prior to Trax, Mr. Bar-El served as CEO of Sentryi Limited, a wealth management software company, which after four years of business was sold to IRESS Limited. He also co-founded Tersus Software Limited, where he built and managed global sales channels and marketing activities.

Mr. Bar-El also previously served as SunGard Business Integration General Manager for Asia Pacific and later North America, overseeing complete P&L and execution in those regions.

Among other skills and qualifications, Mr. Bar-El has a unique ability to envision, develop and deliver paradigm changing technologies and is in every sense, a tech entrepreneur. He has spent the last 20 years delivering technology solutions to blue-chip clients and holds a B.Sc. in Physics from Tel Aviv University.

Robbie Antonio

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Revolution Precrafted

Robbie Antonio currently has 82 million square feet worth of developed, in-progress, and managed properties under his belt, being the Founder and President of Antonio Development in New York, Managing Director of Century Properties based in Asia, and now the Founder and CEO of Revolution Precrafted.

To date, he has worked with 13 Pritzker Prize Architects/firms such as Zaha Hadid, Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie, Rem Koolhaas, Jean Nouvel, I.M. Pei, Paulo Mendes da Rocha, and Christian de Portzamaprc, as well as designers such as Ron Arad, Campana Brothers, Tom Dixon, Philippe Starck, and Marcel Wanders.

To date, Revolution Precrafted has bagged around $7.2 Billion in project revenues for the company’s ongoing projects in the Philippines, Myanmar, United Arab Emirates, Jamaica, Guyana, Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Puerto Rico and Japan.

Genevieve Heng

Co-founder, Anthem Asia

Genevieve Heng, co-founder of Anthem Asia, is an experienced finance and investment professional with a career in private equity and investment banking spanning nearly 20 years. She was a senior member of CLSA Capital Partner’s pan-Asian private equity firm for 13 years. Previously she worked for seven years in information technology.

Heng has worked on investment transactions in India, China, Indonesia, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Myanmar in such sectors as food & beverage, industrial goods, fast-moving consumer goods, and logistics & distribution. She has been instrumental in sourcing and directing investments into mid-market public and private companies, leading the value-add, monitoring and divestment phases. Her experience also includes M&A, joint ventures, listings, due diligence, portfolio monitoring, structuring and valuation, financial and strategic planning and investor relations.

Heng holds an MBA from the London Business School and attended University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business as an international exchange student.

Brian Lau

Managing Director & Partner, ShawKwei & Partners

Brian Lau is Managing Director and Partner at ShawKwei. He is involved in all aspects of deal flow, investments and leverages his deep operating, sales and strategy background to manage portfolio companies at the board level. Brian is also a member of the investment committee.

Brian brings an industry perspective to his responsibilities having performed global strategy, sales, and manufacturing operations roles at Celestica, a $7.5 billion global electronics supply chain services and manufacturing company, and also Texas Instruments, a Fortune 100 global leader in semiconductor, technology and industrial manufacturing.

Brian received an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University and a BA from the University of Waterloo, and holds the CPA designation (Chartered Professional Account) from Canada.

Kabir Narang

Partner, B Capital

Kabir Narang is a Partner at B Capital based in Singapore. He leads investments for the firm focused on financial technology and consumer enablement.

Kabir was previously a Partner at Eight Roads Ventures India, Fidelity’s venture capital investment arm. During his tenure at Eight Roads, he led investments in technology and financial services. Kabir was also a member of the Regional Partnership, which actively evaluated investment opportunities across Asia, including China and Japan.

Prior to Eight Roads, Kabir was with Warburg Pincus, India, where he was involved with investments and portfolio management in Max India, Max Healthcare, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. Kabir first began his career in consulting, spanning over six years with McKinsey in India, and the Boston Consulting Group in the US. His work mainly focused on technology and financial services in the areas of strategy and operations.

Eugene Lai

Managing Director, Co-Managing Partner, Southern Capital Group

Eugene Lai is responsible for deal generation, execution and portfolio monitoring at Southern Capital.

Prior to Southern Capital, Eugene was a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group's Asia Buyout business and a Managing Director at JP Morgan. Eugene was also the former Chief Executive Officer of The Ascott Group Limited, one of the largest serviced apartment businesses in the world.

Eugene holds an LLB from The London School of Economics and Political Science, where he graduated with First Class Honors, and an LLM from Harvard Law School.

Ritu Arora

CEO & Chief Investment Officer Asia, Allianz Investment Management

Ritu Arora is a business and Investment Leader with global exposure and over 20 years of experience. She is a founding member of 2 very successful Life Insurance ventures in India (MetLife India and Canara HSBC JV). She has been involved in Strategic Investment governance of HSBC Insurance in China, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia since Jun 2014. She has also been an Independent Director on the boards of HCL Infosystems Ltd. (since Apr 2015) & Canara Bank Securities Ltd. (since Oct 2014). She was also nterviewed and featured as Economy & Capital markets expert in leading electronic and print media.

As Chief Investment Officer manage capital market investments of $ 1.7bn in Equity & Debt, Ritu has consistently outperforming benchmarks and peers over last 6 years. She is responsible for Investment Governance of HSBC Insurance in China, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia. She was awarded “Leading Women in Finance” by Women in Leadership Forum India, and “Women Leader of Choice” award 2013 by WILL.

Ritu is a dynamic Investment leader with rich experience of leading successful Investment mandates and working with External Investment advisors across Asian markets. She has exposure of investments in broad range of assets (equity, fixed income, alternative investment funds, real estate, private debt, derivatives, etc.).

Tak Wai Chung

Partner, Head of Southeast Asia, EQT Partners

Tak Wai CHUNG joined EQT Partners in February 2009 as a Vice President.

Tak Wai holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry and Mathematics-Economics from Wesleyan University (High Honors, Phi Beta Kappa), and a Master of Business Administration degree from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Prior to joining EQT Partners, Tak Wai was with Lehman Brothers for over six years. While at Private Equity in Hong Kong, he focused on making direct investments into China. Before that, he was in the Investment Banking division covering primarily telecommunications, financial institutions and natural resources in both New York and Hong Kong.

Gillian Chee

Fund Manager, Managing Director, SC Capital Partners

Gillian joined SC Capital in July 2014 with over 25 years of industry experience. She serves as a Fund Manager of the firm’s inaugural core-plus open-ended fund which targets stabilized assets across APAC.

Gillian was instrumental in the fund formation and the fund raising activities. She also serves as an Investment Committee member and is responsible for acquisitions, asset management and oversees a team on fund operations.

Prior to this, Gillian was a Senior Vice President, Fund Management at Aviva
Investors for seven years as the first fund manager of the firm’s flagship Pan Asian fund in 2008.

Khairul Mohd Khairi

Partner, Investment, Gobi Partners

Khairul joined Gobi in 2017, and prior to that was a Senior Vice President for Investment at MAVCAP, where he was involved with Investment Committee meetings and liaising with MAVCAP's partners, including venture capital firms. He began his career as a writer at The Edge Malaysia and has extensive experience in investment management and strategy, after holding positions at Maybank Investment Bank, CIMB Private Equity, and Khazanah Nasional Bhd. Khairul holds an L.L.B. from Bristol University in the UK, as well as a Master's in Public Administration from Harvard University.

Hiroyuki Ono

Partner of ACA Investments Pte Ltd

Ono is currently a Partner of ACA Investments Pte Ltd. He has been engaged in fundraising, deal sourcing, execution and portfolio management.

In the Vietnam market, he has invested in Viet Thanh Technology Corporation, a cable TV network service provider in Ho Chi Minh city; Cat Dong Trading and Services, the operator of the largest discount e-commerce networks Cungmua.com and NhomMua.com; Bibomart JSC, the largest baby and mom retail chain in Vietnam with more than 140 retail outlets; and Son Kim Land Corporation, a real estate developer focusing on the luxury segment.

Prior to joining ACA Group, Ono was engaged in cross-border M&A advisory at the Tokyo office of Houlihan Lokey, the US investment bank which focuses on small-cap to mid-cap investments. He started his career in the Investment Banking division of Daiwa Securities SMBC Co., Ltd. (now Daiwa Securities).

Xiang Qian Lin

CEO, Esco Group

Xiang Qian Lin has been financially independent since the age 13 (1997), and lived and worked in the US, China and Singapore, with extensive operating and investment ventures in Europe.

He transformed Esco into a global life science and medical equipment manufacturer and solutions provider, growing shareholder value 25% CAGR over more than 15 years (since 2000). Developed multiple products and technologies from concept to profitable commercial reality, multiple patents and cumulative revenues over 1B dollars. Esco products are sold today in more than 100 countries, with more than 130,000 systems installed.

He has been a huge helping hand in synergising entrepreneurship with scientists/innovators — bringing early stage capital, strong instincts, a nose for good science, global business acumen/networks/resources, and track record in taking technologies from concept to commercial reality.

Xiang Qian holds a BSc degree in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.

Carmen Yuen

Partner, Vertex Ventures

Carmen Yuen joined Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India in 2014. She has served many years in Singapore’s government-backed venture capital initiatives including EDB Investments and Spring SEEDS Capital where she worked closely with many startup companies in Singapore.

She currently serves on the Board of TickledMedia (dba TheAsianParent.com) and Turnkey Lender. Carmen received her BBA from Simon Fraser University.

Julien Mialaret

Operating Partner, Idinvest

Julien Mialaret is an Operating Partner in Asia for Idinvest Partners (former Allianz PE France). Idinvest is a large European Venture Capital / PE firm with are fast-growing extensions in Asia and a regional office in Shanghai.

An active investor in deep technologies, Julien focuses on the digitalization of industry and enterprise: artificial intelligence, internet of things, cybersecurity, data analytics, robotics and cleantech. To date, he has mainly invested in US and EU B2B business models with global reach: Neurala Inc. (Deep neural networks, US), TrustInSoft (Automated code analysis, FR), Enlighted Inc. (IoT networks for buildings, US, acquired by Siemens), First Fuel Software (Energy data analytics, US), Organica Water Inc. (Decentralized waste water treatment, HK) and Actility (Low power IoT networks, FR). Julien currently review new investment opportunities in Asia and supports the growth of Idinvest portfolio companies to China and ASEAN.

Prior to joining Idinvest in 2011, Julien was based in China where he developed and acquired power projects for EDF Group, the global electric utility companies. He shifted to technology start-ups in 2009, working with entrepreneurs to advise them on their deployments to the Mainland.

Julien holds degrees from ESCP Europe Business School, La Sorbonne University, Beijing University and the French School of Oriental Studies. He is a fluent Mandarin, English, French and Spanish speaker and has working capacity in Japanese.

Rohan Sikri

Senior Partner, The Xander Group

Rohan Sikri is a Senior Partner at The Xander Group Inc., and heads the firm’s real estate investment management program for Asia. Based in Singapore, he chairs the investment committee for the Xander Funds and the credit committee for Xander Finance. He is also a member of the firm’s management committee.

Earlier, from 2005 to 2010, he co-founded and subsequently supervised Xander’s India investment program and built a US$ 1.4 billion equity investment portfolio across direct acquisitions, development partnerships and platform joint ventures, in core and non-core commercial real estate, retail, hotels, residential, industrial, and infrastructure. The portfolio has already seen profitable exits in excess of US$ 1 billion, a rarity in that market. In 2010, he was instrumental in setting up Xander Finance, the group's credit platform in India, where he serves as Chairman of the board. He is also a board member of Virtuous Retail South Asia Pte. Ltd., an integrated retail mall developer, owner and asset manager for India, set up in 2016 as a US $450 million JV between APG Asset Management and Xander Retail Partners. Mr. Sikri also represents the firm on the boards of key portfolio companies.

A graduate in Commerce with Honors from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, he secured an MBA with dual specialization in Finance and Marketing from the International Management Institute. He has played national level squash, been a state-level 1,500 meters swimmer, enjoys running and is a keen golfer.

Rachel Lau

Partner, RHL Ventures

Before setting up RHL Ventures as a partner in February 2016, Rachel was vice president at a leading investment management firm. She helped manage $4 billion of global long-only and absolute return equity strategies focused on Asia Pacific.

Prior to this, Rachel worked as an investment analyst with Dutch investment manager NN Investment Management. During her stint at the firm, she worked in the Asian Equities team in Hong Kong, Emerging Market Debt team in Atlanta and Multi Assets Strategies in New York.

She serves on the leadership team of the Hong Kong chapter of Ellevate (formerly 85 Broads), a 34,000-member global network of professional women, and sits on the Program Committee of EMpower, a not-for-profit organization that supports at-risk youth in developing countries.

Shane Chesson

Partner, Openspace Ventures

Shane is Founder and Partner of Openspace Ventures (formerly NSI Ventures), a Singapore-headquartered VC focused on Series A and B investments in Southeast Asia-based technology companies. Openspace currently manages 2 funds with total committed capital of US$225M. Selected Openspace investments overseen by Shane include Go-Jek, Chope, Tradegecko, CXA, Topica, Oway, HaloDoc, Sale Stock and Pathao. Shane was previously Managing Director and Co-Head (Technology Investment Banking, of Citigroup Asia-Pacific. As a technology banker, he spent over thirteen years advising Asian technology companies and financial sponsors on capital raising and M&A strategies. Over this time, his clients have included strategic players such as Qihoo, Mediatek, Pactera, Acquity, Hisoft, ASE, SAS and sponsors such as Temasek, ATIC, GGV, CVCI and DCM. Shane has acted as advisor on many Singapore technology M&A transactions, including the sale of Singapore Computer Systems to NCS in 2009 and the private equity buyouts of Unisteel, MMI and Acument.

Shane has an MBA with distinction from INSEAD Singapore where he was a recipient of the IAA Asian Campus scholarship. Prior to his banking career, Shane was a strategy consultant with Bain and Company and GEM Consulting in Australia.

Ozi Amanat

Founder, K2 Global

Ozi Amanat is an angel investor and founder of K2 Global, an early-stage venture capital (VC) firm focused on technology startups.

Founded in 2015, K2 helps wealthy Asian families invest in startups before they raise money through initial public offerings (IPOs). Through its first fund, the VC firm is currently invested in more than 15 companies, mostly in the technology sector.

It has invested in startups such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Spotify Ltd. In Singapore, K2 recently led a $32.5 million funding round in Paktor, the regions biggest online dating app.

Amanat was earlier the Chief investment officer at the $2-billion Spice Global Group.

Alvin Lim

Managing Director, CVC Capital Partners

Alvin Lim, Managing Director, joined CVC in 2016 and is based in Singapore. Prior to joining CVC, Alvin spent over 11 years with HSBC where he was Head of Investment Banking for Southeast Asia. Prior to that, he worked for the investment banking division of Citigroup / Schroders for over 7 years in Singapore and the UK working on transactions across Asia and Europe. He started his career with the corporate finance division of Coopers & Lybrand. Alvin graduated from the London School of Economics with a BSc (Economics) degree specializing in accounting & finance and he is also a qualified Chartered Financial Analyst.

Abrar Mir

Founder and Managing Partner, Quadria Capital

Abrar Mir has over 20 years of private equity, investment banking, and healthcare sector experience.

Previously, he was the Global Head of Healthcare Investment Banking of Religare Capital Markets Prior to that, he worked as the Managing Director with Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s global investment banking group. He has also Led numerous private equity transactions across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

Furthermore, he is a qualified international finance lawyer with a M.Phil in International Law from University of Cambridge.

Deepak Shahdadpuri

Founder and Managing Director, DSG Consumer Partners

Deepak I. Shahdadpuri is the Founder and Managing Director of DSG Consumer Partners and has over 15 years of private equity experience. Before DSGCP, he co-founded and managed the Beacon India Private Equity Fund and GEM India. Prior to that, Deepak worked with Reuters Venture Capital, Bain & Company and Ernst & Young.

Deepak currently serves on multiple boards including Veeba Food Services, Raw Pressery, Eazydiner, Mswipe, Sula Wines, Impresario, Epigamia, IndoStar Capital, Furtados, Saraf Foods, India Lends and Saffronart. His investment experience also includes RBL Bank, National Stock Exchange, OYO Rooms, Cleartrip, GOQii, Redmart, Chope, F&B Asia and Hostmaker.

Deepak has an MBA with Distinction from INSEAD where he graduated on the Deans list, an LLB (Hons) from King's College London and an FCA from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England & Wales.

John Tsui

Managing Principal, Peninsula House, LLC

Based in New York, John F. Tsui is Managing Principal of Peninsula House, LLC which is a single family office investor (SFO.

He previously held managerial positions with hotel chains in their corporate headquarter and regional offices including Marriott Corporation, Sheraton Hotels in the Pacific, Landauer Associates - a leading property counseling and valuation firm and Bankers Trust Company (real estate banking division).

He was appointed by Honorable John C. Whitehead to be on the Board of Directors of The Boy Scouts of the Greater New York Council and The Economic Club of New York. He is Visiting Lecturer at the SEM program at Tsinghua University and University of California at Berkeley – Haas School of Business. He was formerly an Adjunct Visiting Professor of Advanced Case Study on emerging markets investment at Columbia University and founded the international curriculum at the Masters program in Real
Estate Development. He authored a Thomson Reuters report titled China Property Investments: Profits and Pitfalls.

He received a BS from Michigan State University in Hotel Administration and a Masters from Columbia University in Real Estate. He is a graduate of the Owner President Management Program (OPM) at Harvard Business School.

Wong Chee Yann

Managing Director, Northstar Group

Chee Yann joined Northstar in 2014. Prior to joining Northstar, he was with Actis for 4 years, focusing on mid-market buyout and growth capital investments in the consumer sector in Southeast Asia and China. Prior to Actis, Chee-Yann spent 6 years with GIC Special Investments, focusing on the consumer and financial services sectors in the Indonesia and China. He holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering from Cornell University, and a Master of Finance from Princeton University.

Raj Shastri

Partner, Kaizen PE

Raj joined Kaizen in 2010 and works closely with portfolio companies to help drive significant increases in revenues and margins, post-investment. Prior to Kaizen, he spent 7 years in private equity investing including stints at Guggenheim Partners and Helix Investments.

With experience investing across sectors, Raj’s most successful exits were with education companies, one of which is now listed. He maintains close relationships with education entrepreneurs, investment advisors and research professionals, and brings his extensive network and operational experience to bear in his board roles at portfolio companies.

Raj has an MBA from the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT), New Delhi.

Grace Yun Xia

Principal, Jungle Ventures

Grace’s has over a decade of experience in investment, corporate strategy and business development across early stage startups and Fortune 500 companies in both Silicon Valley and emerging markets in Asia. At Jungle Ventures she focuses on identifying innovative startups in Asia and cross-border investment opportunities.

Prior to joining Jungle Ventures, she was Senior Director of Corporate Strategy and Investment at Tencent. In this role, she focused on identifying strategic opportunities in emerging markets, building Tencent’s overseas product ecosystem through investments and collaborations with local partners; and overseeing the implementation of deals and capital deployment.

A Kauffman Fellow, Grace started her career as a management consultant where she advised clients in financial sectors. Grace has an MBA in strategy and decision science from Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.

Sebastien Guillaud

Managing Partner, Hera Capital

Sebastien is co-founder and Managing Director of Hera Capital. Sebastien has accumulated 17 years of leadership experience growing, running and turning around various companies in both MNC and start-up environments across Europe, Latin America and Asia. Sebastien is the founder of Soft Venture, a consulting firm assisting high-growth potential companies accelerate in Asia.

Sebastien is a member of the World Entrepreneurship Forum Think-Tank, and holds a Masters in Management from EM Lyon, a leading European Business School. He speaks French, English, Spanish, Portuguese and some German. He has been living in Singapore since June 2004.

Raj Dugar

Managing Partner, Asia, Eight Roads

Raj joined Eight Roads in 2007 following time at The Carlyle Group, where he was a senior member of the Asia buy-out group. Raj was also a co-founder of WestBridge Capital Partners. Previously, Raj worked in Goldman Sachs’ technology banking group, with additional responsibility for India coverage.

Avnish Mehra

Managing Director, Private Equity, Everstone Capital

Avnish Mehra joined Everstone in 2016 and is responsible for leading deal teams in the health-care and media sectors as well as special situations.

Avnish has over 18 years’ experience in global investment firms based in Asia and Europe, and has worked with ABN Amro and Virgin Media. Most recently, he was a member of the team that established the India business for Advent International.

Avnish holds a Bachelor of Economics from St. Stephen’s College, University of Delhi, with a Master of Economics from Cambridge University. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charterholder from the CFA Institute in the USA.

Ranu Vohra

Co-founder, MD and CEO, Avendus Capital

Ranu heads Avendus, a leading provider of financial services with an emphasis on customized solutions in the areas of investment banking, wealth management, alternative asset management and credit solutions. The firm has advised close to $5 billion in PE transactions so far.

From Coolstartups in 1999 to a 200-employee company that is consistently ranked as Indias top name in investment banking, Avendus has carved a niche for itself by partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs, family offices and global investors.

Prior to co-founding Avendus, Ranu worked with a Tampa, US-based technology and media investment bank, Communications Equity Associates (CEA), and Hinduja Finance, a diversified financial services firm.

Ranu holds an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), University of Delhi and a BTech in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi.

Vinod Murali

Managing Partner & Co-founder, Alteria Capital

Vinod Murali is Managing Partner and Co-founder of Alteria Capital. Vinod has 15+ years of experience spanning Venture Debt, Mezzanine Capital & Structured finance, Corporate Banking and Branding.

Prior to starting Alteria Capital, Vinod was Deputy Chief Executive Officer at InnoVen Capital India and Managing Director (2014-2017).

Since 2012, Vinod successfully led the deal team at InnoVen India to execute 100+ transactions across sectors like Technology, Healthcare, Education, Fintech, Retail and Clean-tech. He also launched and led the mezzanine debt financing business aimed at providing profitable, lower middle market, bootstrapped companies in India with flexible growth capital options.

Pravan Malhotra

Lead, Venture Capital, South-East Asia and Asia internet investments, IFC

Pravan Malhotra leads venture capital investments for the International Finance Corporation, a member of the World Bank Group, in Southeast Asia and is the co-lead for Global Internet investments. IFC's venture capital investments include Lenskart, BigBasket, Portea, Azure Power, EyeQ and NephroPlus. He has been investing in VC for IFC for almost nine years and is based out of Singapore. Prior to joining IFC, he was a Principal with ORIX Venture Finance in New York. He has also worked for Metropolitan Venture Partners, Global Bridge Ventures. Earlier in his career, Pravan was an investment banker at BMO Nesbitt Burns and a credit analyst at the Tokai Bank in Chicago

Kay Mok Ku

Managing Partner, Gobi Partners

Kay-Mok joined Gobi in 2010 as Partner (ASEAN).

Gobi's ASEAN fund is a joint venture with MAVCAP, the largest VC-focused fund of fund in Southeast Asia. Prior to Gobi, he worked at the Media Development Authority of Singapore, a limited partner to several media and tech funds. He has also lived in Silicon Valley for over 10 years, where he co-founded Private Express Inc.

He started his career with the Infocomm Development Authority, and has a Computer Science degree from UC-Berkeley, and an MBA from San Jose State University.

Chris Yeo

Head, Grab Ventures

Chris Yeo is Head of Grab Ventures, where he oversees the development of the next generation of tech leaders in SEA by building, scaling and launching new ventures within Grab, as well as investing and partnering with promising startups.

Prior to Grab, Chris was Director and Head of APAC Strategy at AIMIA, where he was responsible for strategic initiatives, partnerships, M&A, new business model innovation and loyalty thought leadership for a global loyalty SaaS player.

He also has experience running APAC Strategy at PayPal, where he oversaw market entry, growth, strategic investments/ partnerships and developing new use cases to improve merchant value proposition & consumer velocity. While at consultancy BCG, he led multiple projects across SEA, Middle East and Australia for clients in telco and travel industries.

Chris holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, and he graduated with a BA (Economics) and BSc (Engineering) from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jianggan Li

Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Momentum Works

Jianggan Li is the Founder & CEO of Momentum Works. Prior to founding Momentum Works, he co-founded Easy Taxi in Asia, and served as Managing Director of Foodpanda.

He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a degree in Computer Engineering from Nanyang Technological University. Apart from English and his native Mandarin, he is also fluent in French and conversational in Cantonese & Spanish.

Joshua Morris

CEO, Emerging Markets Investment Advisers

Josh founded, with Trent, EMGH and EMIA’s sister company EMC. Prior to launching EMIA, Josh was focused on driving strategic client relationships, firm-wide project delivery and regional expansion for EMC. Josh also oversees Emerging Markets Entrepreneurs, EMGH’s business incubator based in Myanmar. Before moving to Cambodia in 2002, Josh spent over a decade in senior corporate development and marketing roles in start-ups and publicly-listed firms in the USA. Josh has a BA from Harvard University and MBA from Harvard Business School.

Peng T. Ong

Managing Partner, Monk’s Hill Ventures

Peng T. Ong is the Managing Partner at Monk's Hill Ventures - a technology venture fund based in Southeast Asia that he co-founded. Peng was the co-founder and CTO of Match.com (acquired by IAC). After Match.com, he was the founder and CEO of Interwoven, which went public on NASDAQ and grew to a $10B market cap, before being acquired and is now part of HP. After Interwoven, Peng founded Encentuate (acquired by IBM), the leader in enterprise identity management. The three businesses he started now generate annual revenues that total more than $1 billion. Most recently, Peng was a Partner at GSR Ventures, a leading VC in China. Peng has also served on many boards, including SingTel and YY.com. He is currently the Chairman of SolveEducation!. Peng earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas and an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois.

YC Ng

Founding Partner, Latitude Venture Partners

YC Ng serves as a founding partner of Latitude Venture Partners - a growth stage venture fund in South East Asia.

After trading his Barclays career to start Scarlett of Soho (acquired by MyOptique/Essilor) in the UK, YC made the leap to advise and help other start-ups. In his time as a partner at Potential VC, he is known to be an acknowledged thought leader in UK early-stage venture. He has invested in 15 companies and serves on the mentor board of Techstars, Ignite and Entrepreneur First. Never shying away from exploring new frontiers, YC moved to Indonesia in 2017 to advise SEA startups and head up one of Indonesia’s largest conglomerates’ financial technology company. YC holds a MA and BA in Economics from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Badrul Hisham Jaafar

Senior Vice President, COPE Private Equity

Badrul is a principal and Senior Vice President of COPE Private Equity. He is also a member of the Investment Committee.

Prior to joining the firm, he was an investment principal with Kumpulan Modal Perdana, a VC firm under the Ministry of Finance of Malaysia. Earlier in his career, he was in various leadership positions in the private equity, private banking, semiconductor and IT industry.

Badrul holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Investment and Banking Management from the University of Wisconsin–Madison

Paul Ng

Senior Vice President, Investments, EDBI

Paul is Senior Vice President, Investments, at EDBI responsible for global and regional technological investments. EDBI is a Singapore-based global investor in select high growth technology sectors ranging from Information & Communication Technology (ICT), Emerging Technology (ET), Healthcare (HC) and other strategic industries.

Prior, he was from the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) investing in public consumer companies in non-Asian emerging markets. Paul started his career in information technology, managing and executing IT infrastructure projects in areas of security, network and systems management. 

He is a CFA charter holder, holds a MSc in Wealth Management from the Singapore Management University, as well as a 1st Class Honours Degree in Electrical Engineering from the National University of Singapore.

David Do

Managing Director, VI Group

David Do is a Managing Director at VI Group, a Vietnam focused Private Equity firm with over $500 Million under management. VI Group has investments in consumer services (education, food service, media, entertainment, retail, travel and hospitality), consumer goods as well as ports & logistics.

David was previously a General Manager at Microsoft where he led Strategy, Mergers & Acquisitions, Investments, Joint Ventures and Post-Merger Integration. His operating experience includes managing global retail, telecom, media, payments sectors for Microsoft’s services businesses and well as serving as a member of the Board of Directors of MSNBC, CNBC, ninemsn and companies in China, Australia, Mexico and the Middle East. He was an Independent Director of Wotif (the largest listed Online Travel Agency for Australia, New Zealand and SE-Asia) acquired by Expedia for over $700 Million.

Prior to working at Microsoft, David was a member of the Founding Team at EachNet, the leading Chinese e-commerce firm which was acquired by eBay for $225 Million. David has also worked at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and JP Morgan. David has an MBA from Harvard University. He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales.

Ashish Wadhwani

Managing Partner, IvyCap Ventures

Ashish Wadhwani is the Managing Partner at IvyCap Ventures. He has over 25 years of experience in Venture Capital, M&A, and Strategy Consulting. IvyCap is a Venture Capital fund build around the alumni of premier institutions of India and manage about 125m USD of Capital.

During his career, Ashish has led and managed investments of over INR 1.0 bn and also a NASDAQ listing. In addition, he has also worked on about 15 M&A transactions. Ashish has worked with companies across the investment lifecycle, from incubation to exit.

He advised over 40 companies on business strategy, growth, implementing new business models, mergers and acquisitions across Asia, India and Europe. Ashish sits on the board of several privately held companies in India and Asia.

Ashish is a regular speaker and author on thought leadership topics.. He holds a post-graduate diploma in management from the IIM Ahmedabad, and a B.Tech. degree from the IIT Delhi.

Ashish was born in Jamshedpur, India in 1968 and has been living out of Singapore and working across Asia since 2000.

Jefrey Joe

Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Alpha JWC Ventures

Jefrey Joe is a venture capitalist with tech, product and consulting background. Prior to co-founding Alpha JWC, Jefrey was the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Groupon Indonesia, the leading daily deals site in Indonesia where he focused on technology, customer experience and logistics.

Jefrey obtained his MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management, and London Business School.

Simin Zhou

VP & Managing Director, UL Ventures

Simin leads UL Ventures, where the focus is on developing and investing in new fields, such as, digital manufacturing, autonomous systems, smart cities and digital health.

Simin has 20 years of experience in business management, technology and venture capital, and is passionate about technology and innovation.

She holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and studied Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at University of Minnesota.

Khailee Ng

Managing Partner with 500 Startups

Khailee co-founded GroupsMore (acquired by Groupon) and SAYS.com (acquired by Catcha Group). He takes care of 500’s Southeast Asia fund and focuses on expanding 500’s global presence.

Dr. Basil Lui

Senior Vice President, Investments, EDBI

Dr Basil Lui is Senior Vice President, Investments, at EDBI, a Singapore-based global investor in select high growth technology sectors and key strategic industries in Singapore.

As Senior Vice President (Investments), Dr Lui leads EDBI’s emerging technology team to make strategic investments into emerging smart and sustainable deep tech areas such as mobility (land/air/sea/space), advanced manufacturing (automation/additive manufacturing/IOT), future of computing, blockchain, AR/VR and agrifood-tech. He also fronts the value creation efforts for EDBI’s portfolio companies to assist their growth and has extensive experience in corporate, business and technology development, business advisory and academia.

Dr Lui holds a BA in Mechanical Engineering and a PHD from University of Cambridge.

Tan Yinglan

Founding Managing Partner, Insignia Ventures Partners

Tan Yinglan founded Insignia Venture Partners in 2017, an early stage technology venture fund focusing on Southeast Asia. Prior to founding Insignia Venture Partners, Yinglan was Sequoia Capital’s first hire and Venture Partner in Southeast Asia.

Yinglan is the author of 3 books, namely, The Way Of the VC: Having Top Venture Capitalists On Your Board.(Wiley, 2009), Chinnovation – How Chinese Innovators are Changing the World (Wiley 2010) and textbook New Venture Creation – Entrepreneurship for the 21st Century – An Asian Perspective (Mcgraw Hill 2011).

At Carnegie Mellon University, Yinglan finished two Bachelor Degrees, a B.S.(Electrical and Computer Engineering) and a B.S.(Economics). He also received a Masters in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. A Certified Risk Analyst, Yinglan also completed post-graduate work at Harvard Business School and Harvard Kennedy School

Chan Kum Kong

Head of Research and Products - Equities and Fixed Income, SGX

Chan is the Head of Research and Products at Singapore Exchange (SGX). He has over 20 years of experience in the finance industry.

Prior to SGX, he was the Investment Director at DBS Asset Management, managing a team of investment professionals and the suite of funds. Before DBS Asset Management, Mr Chan was at Nomura Securities as the senior research analyst covering the technology sector in Seoul and subsequently assumed the role as Head of Research in Shanghai. Prior to Nomura Securities, he was an investment manager at Bank of America Equity Partners, a private equity firm investing into Asia.

Victor Chua

Managing Partner, Vynn Capital

Victor is the Managing Partner of Vynn Capital, an early stage venture capital firm focusing on Travel, property, Food/FMCG, Female Economics and Logistics & Enablers. He was formally the Vice President of Gobi Partners and was with MAVCAP, the venture capital arm owned by the Ministry of Finance of Malaysia. His earlier career was with Willis Towers Watson, advising corporates, pension funds and sovereign funds on investment strategies.

Victor was an honoree of the Forbes Asia 30 under 30 in 2017. He is currently the Honorary Secretary of the Malaysia Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (``MVCA``) as well as a CFA charterholder and a Mensa member.

Michelle Suteja

Partner, Central Capital Ventura

Michelle has an extensive experience in the startup ecosystem. Prior to her venture capital days, she was a founder of several tech companies. In addition to that, Michelle has also consulted several start ups and help them grow their business. Michelle graduated from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

Chris Leahy

Co-Founder, Blackpeak Group

Chris Leahy has more than 25 years of leadership experience in risk advisory, banking and finance in the Asia–Pacific region. Based in Singapore, Leahy has led risk projects all around the region.

As the head of Blackpeak’s Southeast Asia business, he manages complex due diligence, investigations, business intelligence and dispute cases in the region. In addition to client and project work, Leahy oversees Blackpeak’s growth and strategic initiatives together with the other partners.

Prior to founding Blackpeak, he was the Asia–Pacific head of Kroll, the global risk advisory business, and built the firm’s Southeast Asian practice. He was also the former head of investment banking in Asia for Crosby and, prior to that, was an executive director of BNP Peregrine Capital. He is an authority on corporate governance in Asia and has been a member of the secretariat of the Asian Corporate Governance Association since 2004.

Gary Ng

Partner, Altair Capital

Gary has more than 16 years private equity experience in Asia with a mid-cap private equity firm CLSA Capital Partners. In CLSA, he was a Managing Director and Investment Committee member of the mid-cap fund ARIA. Prior experience include 4 years with PricewaterhouseCoopers in the audit and due diligence team.

Gary graduated with a Bachelor in Accountancy from the Nanyang Business School in Singapore. He completed the Chartered Financial Analyst (``CFA``) program and the General Management Program from the Harvard Business School. Currently, He is serving as Vice Chair of the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (``SVCA”).

Saifulbahri Hassan

Vice President, KWAP

Saifulbahri Hassan is a Vice President of Kumpulan Wang Persaraan Diperbadankan (KWAP) who currently leads the investment efforts in the Private Equity and Infrastructure space for the Malaysian pension fund.

Saiful has over 15 years' experience in private equity, venture capital and developmental finance. Prior to joining KWAP, he was a manager with Malaysia Venture Capital Management Ltd (MAVCAP).

Saiful received his degree in Economics from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, USA and his Masters Degree in Management from the International Islamic University of Malaysia.

Gan Fong Jek

Managing Partner, Jubilee Capital Management

Fong Jek has 20 years of experience in cross-border strategic and venture investments, M&A, and corporate development in telecommunications, media, technologies, Internet, mobile, FMCG and luxury retail sectors across Asia Pacific, especially Greater China. He held senior investment positions in Kraft Foods, Temasek companies (STT and MediaCorp), Asian Family Corporations (MNC Media and Sincere Watch) and co-founded two corporate venture funds.

Fong Jek holds Dual EMBA degrees from INSEAD and Tsinghua University, a Master in Business (Family Business) and Bachelor of Accountancy (Honours) from Nanyang Technological University. He is also a Chartered Accountant of Singapore.

Satveer Singh Thakral

CEO, Singapore Angel Network

Satveer has the experience of working across a few industries such as yarn manufacturing and real estate development in different countries. Now, under the guidance of his father, he helps the investments made through SGAN grow by leveraging the management expertise and global network of the Thakral Group. Academically, Satveer has graduated from the University of Virginia (UVa) with distinctions, earning a Bachelor of Science degree from McIntire School of Commerce (Finance & Management), along with a major in Psychology and a minor in Leadership from The College of Arts & Sciences.

SGAN (Singapore Angel Network Pte. Ltd) is the angel investment arm of the multi-billion dollar Thakral Group of Companies that has an active portfolio of over 100 companies in India and Southeast Asia.

Anupum Khaitan

Principal, Symphony Asia Holdings

Anupum joined Symphony Asia Holdings Pte. Ltd. in 2013, and is based in Singapore. He is involved in all aspects of Symphony’s investments, including executing new investment transactions, and monitoring and divesting investments. Anupum has a BA in Computer Science from Berkeley, an MS in Computer Science from Oxford, and an MBA in Finance from Yale.

Before joining Symphony, Anupum was an Investment Analyst for a New York City-based asset management company, Scarsdale Equities, where he focused on a variety of sectors including consumer, real estate, healthcare, technology, alternative energy, and natural resources.

He also worked as a Senior Associate on the Investment Banking team at Merrill Lynch in New York, and before that, as a Management Consultant at Accenture in San Francisco and London.

Koichi Saito

Partner, Sun SEA Capital & General Partner, KK Fund

Koichi Saito was previously a Director at IMJ Investment Partners and responsible for IMJ's investments throughout Southeast Asia such as iMoney, Bukalapak and Zipmatch.

Prior to IMJ, Koichi worked at Private Equity Fund founded by George Soros, and was engaged in corporate and hotel acquisitions.

He previously served as an arranger at investment banking division of Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities. He was also at Orix Corporation, responsible for providing loans to SMEs in Japan. Koichi holds an MBA from IE business school in Spain.

Sukan Makmuri

CTO, COO, UangTeman

Sukan Makmuri is the the Chief Technology & Operations Officer at UangTeman, and is responsible for leading the company’s efforts to scale its technology, research and development and drive towards a more automated and scalable digital lending technology framework. Holding the operational portfolio, Sukan is also be focused on delivering technology solutions to solve operational problems such as credit underwriting, disbursement and collections in UangTeman. Based in Jakarta and having served previously as Kudo’s CTO during its acquisition by Grab and as Kaskus’ CEO in 2013 and 2014.

For over 20 years, Sukan honed his business, product management, finance, and technology skills in several startups in Silicon Valley, as a senior consultant to major corporations, and as Vice President of Internet Banking Technology at Bank of America. In the last few years, numerous startups & incubators in Silicon Valley and SE Asia has also benefited from his strategic and detailed mentoring.

Sukan holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California – Santa Barbara, MS in Engineering Management from Stanford University and Computer Science from Rice University.

Gavin Lock

COO & Board Director, Senjo Group

Gavin has 20 years of global experience working in technology and communications industry.

His executive roles are primarily in strategy, M&A and management consulting. Gavin is the COO and Board Director of Senjō Group.

Currently, he also holds the title of Director for both Kalixa Payments Group and Finolita.

Ryosuke Hayashi

Managing Director, CEO, SBI Ven Capital

Ryosuke is a Managing Director and CEO of SBI Ven Capital, a venture capital that invests in financial services and technology sectors across Asia. The company also serves as a regional headquarter of SBI Group, a leading Japanese internet-based financial service conglomerate. The Group is an active investor in the space of FinTech in Asia.

Ryosuke has strong combined expertise in the sector of financial services and ICT through his investment, operational and entrepreneurial experience. Ryosuke has been engaged in venture capital investments in South East Asia region with SBI Group since 2012 and also serves as the director of various regulated financial institutions in the region. Before that, Ryosuke launched and managed the Wall Street Journal’s Japanese language online edition as the Managing Director at Wall Street Journal Japan K.K. Ryosuke worked for an advertisement agency and a hedge fund before doing his MBA.

He holds a MBA from INSEAD and a Bachelor of Law from the University of Tokyo.

Wee Peng Cho

Group CFO, ESR

Wee Peng Cho joined ESR as CFO in December 2016. He has 24 years of experience in finance with international and regional companies across various geographies. He was the former CFO of two listed companies in Singapore, and previously held various treasury roles with Dow Chemical in the USA and Asia Pacific from 1998 to 2007. A Chartered Financial Analyst, Mr. Cho graduated with a Masters of Applied Finance from National University of Singapore, and a Bachelor of Accountancy (Hons) from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.