Former Mentors
Alvin Hung
Location: Canada
Alvin Hung is a dedicated technology enthusiast and entrepreneur with a strong background in the tech sector, focusing on B2B SaaS solutions. As the founder of Vyond, Alvin radically transformed the process of creating animated videos for businesses, making it as user-friendly as designing a PowerPoint presentation. This innovative approach has attracted a diverse clientele, including most of the Fortune 500 companies and numerous small and medium-sized businesses. Vyond-created videos can be commonly found on platforms like YouTube, showcasing its widespread popularity.
Starting with a modest workspace and a maverick vision, Alvin's dedication to innovation and teamwork paved the way for him to build a skilled team that has expanded to include over 200 professionals. With product development teams in Asia, business teams in the US, and customers all over the world, Vyond has grown into an international business, expanding beyond regional limits and providing services to a diverse array of industries worldwide.
With experience in startups, international growth, product development, and leading global teams, Alvin is currently involved in various investment projects. This includes seed investing in a new market-neutral hedge fund.
Eager to give back to aspiring entrepreneurs, Alvin actively mentors startups. He shares his own knowledge and experience to help them tackle the challenges of building and scaling their companies.
Derek V. Exner
Location: Canada
Dr. Derek V. Exner, MD, MPH is a practicing heart rhythm specialist, professor, and Associate Dean of Innovation and Commercialization at the Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary. He is an international authority on clinical trials. After navigating the complex path to market access approval for two companies he co-founded, Derek founded the Integrated Management Platform to Accelerate Clinical Trials (IMPACT) Program at the University of Calgary. IMPACTsimplifies and demystifies clinical validation and regulatory adherence, assisting health tech innovators over their development, from proof of concept testing through market access approval.
Derek has served in numerous leadership positions for clinical trials and has participated in multiple Canadian and International practice guidelines. He is a recognized international expert in cardiovascular medical devices for heart rhythm disorders and frequently lectures and trains physicians on surgical technique and best practices in this area. He is actively involved with innovation and commercialization activities, leading commercialization efforts for multiple medical devices, advising multiple large and small medical device companies, serving as an expert to the Canadian government, and actively mentoring companies through the Creative Destruction Network. Derek is also an active angel investor and board member at HaloHealth.
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Furuzonfar Zehni
Location: Hong Kong
Furuzonfar Zehni is a Partner of Fresco Capital and is involved in all aspects of investment and operations. He has extensive experience in developing and executing investment strategies for long-term resilience and strong know-how in developing and managing the operational foundation. Prior to Fresco Capital , Furuzonfar built and scaled businesses in data analytics, wealth management and investment advisory. Before plunging into the entrepreneurial world he was with Ernst & Young.
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He is a TEDx license holder, a mentor for the Laudato Si Challenge, a mentor for Founder Institute, and is an active member of the Hong Kong University and St. John’s College Alumni Club. With the Shahidi Foundation, Furuzonfar is passionate about economic and cultural empowerment.
Louis Li
Location: Hong Kong
Louis Li is the Co-founder & CTO of Fraktiq. He has extensive experience in blockchain technology and Web3. He is also the Director & Advisor of Index Game; CTO of Ardgo; and Partner of Blockchain Specialist (RedSo).
Michael Chan
Location: Hong Kong
Michael has over 20 years’ experience in the finance industry and is a seasoned banker at Deutsche Bank Wealth Management since 2010, focusing on investment for the HK family offices. Previously worked in equity derivatives sales team at Lehman Brothers, Nomura and Citigroup.
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Michael is also passionate and actively involved in the education sector and serves as the Director of Babylon Education since early 2010, covering business development for international school projects across Asia and investing in edtech projects.
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Michael has a BBA degree from CUHK, an MBA from Columbia University, and is a CFA charter holder. Michael is also a adjunct assistant professor for HKU business school and sits on the board for Malvern College Asia and Columbia Venture Community.
Thomas Deng
Location: Hong Kong
Thomas Deng is the Chairman of Prudence Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited.
Thomas holds double master degrees in economics and statistics from university of Utah, and received a B.A. in international finance from Wuhan university. He also completed the advanced management program from Harvard business school.
Thomas became a CFA charter holder in 2000, and currently serves as a member of the board of directors at the Harvard business school association of Hong Kong.
Wesley Choi
Location: Hong Kong
Wesley has over 20 years of general management and investment experience and is currently President of qonvolv Ventures, established in 2023, the corporate ventures arm of Tessellation Group. qonvolv Ventures aims to be the hub of industry knowledge and technologies for innovative growth in the fashion industry and beyond and conducts both incubations of creative solutions as new businesses and investments in emerging technologies in manufacturing excellence, digital value chain, green tech, and enablement of the future workforce.
Previously Wesley spent over six years with Esquel Group, having taken on various positions including Chief of Staff to Chairman, Head of Corporate Communications, and Head of Group Finance before establishing Esquel Ventures in January 2022.
Prior to joining Esquel, Wesley was an Executive Director of China Infrastructure Partners Fund and Bank of China International Private Equity, evaluating and investing in private equity opportunities with Greater China and Asia angles. Wesley also worked in investments and M&A at Oaktree Capital and Alibaba, after having started his career as a management consultant at Bain & Company.
Born and raised in Hong Kong, Wesley obtained his Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degrees in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Will Xie
Location: Hong Kong
Will Xie serves as the CFO at Atypical Ventures, a venture capital firm that specializes in investing in early-stage technology companies in China. With more than 15 years of experience in the field of private equity funds and venture capital, he has successfully taken on diverse responsibilities ranging from investment to operational management. Before joining Atypical Ventures, Will worked at Ernst & Young. Will is a CPA in Canada.
Yuki Chan
Location: Hong Kong
Yuki Chan
Location: Hong Kong
Ms Yuki Chan is an Investment Director at DNA Capital, an AI-powered venture capital specialized in global deep technology investments. Her notable investments include Snowflake (SNOW.NYSE) and Palantir (PLTR.NYSE). She has co-founded MinDeal, an AI agent that seeks to automate all investment decisions with advanced model trainings and algorithms.
Yuki has started her career in JPMorgan and has spent a decade of experience in private equity and venture investments. She received her Master degree from the University of Oxford and Bachelor of Economics and Finance from University of Hong Kong. She is an active member of the CFA Institute.