A radiologist by training, Chen Fong is currently the Professor Emeritus of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary. He is also the Co-Chair of the Global Strategy Board of the Creative Destruction Lab; a platform for mentoring of young entrepreneurs.

Chen has 18 years of experience in the building of start-up entrepreneurial companies and is the co-founder of Pureweb Inc. Current board directorships include Pureweb Inc, Clarius Mobile Health, Cohesic Inc and Innovere Medical. He is active in the community and sits on a number of philanthropic boards in healthcare.

Chen holds an MD from the University of Manitoba and an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Calgary. He was inducted into the Order of Canada and was inducted into Junior Achievement’s Alberta Business Hall of Fame. Other honours include election as a Fellow of the America College of Radiology.

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Danny Lee is an experienced investor with over 25 years of global private equity experience spanning venture, growth and buyouts. He is currently managing VCA Capital Fund I, helping individuals and family offices manage their private equity portfolio globally through both fund and direct investments.

Danny is also a senior advisor to Blue Pool Capital where he was a partner running global private equity since 2015. Before that he was a managing director at Bain Capital and Vice President at Investor AB, the largest industrial holding company in the Nordic region. He started his career with Lehman Brothers in NY. Danny has a BA in Economics from Columbia and is a CFA Charter holder.

Danny is an Aspen Finance Fellow and Edmund Hillary Fellow. He sits on the investment committee for New Zealand Elevate Venture Fund, on the board of the HK Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, and is the chairman of Seed Foundation, a youth education NGO sponsored by Alibaba Entrepreneur Fund. He is also the founding patron for the M+ Museum and the HK Palace Museum.

Peter Lee is a Hong Kong based investor and founder / Chairman of Gallant Investment Partners. Over more than 15 years, Peter has grown Gallant’s investments from simple beginnings to an impressive international portfolio of private equity, venture capital and real estate opportunities.

Peter is also an active member of the alumni UBC Hong Kong Alumni Leadership Committee, providing counsel to the association and UBC to build stronger programs to support alumni in the region.

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Yuan Shi is an early-stage venture capital investor, focusing on climate, food, and agtech. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia, where she teaches entrepreneurial finance and innovation.  

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Francis is AVP, Exploratory and Industry TSG of Lenovo PCCW Solutions Limited. He has over 20 years of experience in driving business growth in the areas of innovation development, strategic programs and digital projects for the technology and industrial sectors leading teams in the APAC, EMEA and US.

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Besides work, Francis on the Executive Council and is Co-Chair of the Innovation Committee of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in HK, connecting business leaders, academic professionals, and entrepreneurs. He sits on the leadership council of the University of British Columbia alumni body in Hong Kong and is active with the Richard Ivey School of Business' alumni.

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Emmanuel Hui is the Principal of Pentepebble – an early-stage healthcare and life sciences fund with a GBA mandate. For his portfolio, he serves as a Board member of Tonisity China, EggLogics, and Angene Biotechnology. Pentepebble is a spin-off from Sagamore, a China-only fund of funds, and is also backed by HN Group (Macau).

Prior to investing, Emmanuel co-founded Moogene Medi (KRX:322970) a gene therapy platform company. He also serves on the HKSTP Biomedical Technology Development Advisory Panel, and the Hospital Authority Central Institutional Review Board (Paediatrics). Vocationally, he is a Line Producer for H1Music (recent works: The Rescue, Anita, etc.).

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.

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Mr. Yi Xie (Jack) is a specialist in tech venture start-up project management. He is an invited researcher at the Global Consolidated Research Institute for Science Wisdom of Waseda University. He has engaged in various projects related to Japan-based startups.

In 2007, he started his career as a member of the Daiwa Securities New Industry Research. He was a senior researcher in the investment research field of the China TMT sector and contributed to the establishment of the Pan Asian research team as the team leader.

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Since 2012, he has been engaged in corporate planning for mobile game company GREE Co., Ltd.'s expansion into China, and involved in the KPI management of the firm’s main game products in the Strategic Planning team.

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Besides establishing his own app venture business, he has more than 10 years of experience in supporting tech companies' overseas expansion and advisory business.

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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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.

Olivier Cotard is a seasoned entrepreneur and general manager, specializing in high-tech and manufacturing industries. He has managed companies, projects, and manufacturing facilities in Asia, Europe and the United States. He is the Founder and Managing Director of 3C Ventures Ltd., a strategy and operations consulting firm headquartered in Hong Kong.

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Mr. Cotard's career encompasses a wide spectrum of industries, ranging from startups to multinational corporations. These sectors include high-tech, internet, renewable energy, automotive, aerospace, railways, consumer goods, finance, and services.

Driven by a passion for technology-enabled innovation, Mr. Cotard was an associate at one of San Francisco's pioneering internet consulting firms in 2000. Since then, he has played an instrumental role in the development and funding of numerous innovative projects and companies. Committed to fostering growth, he serves as a mentor to several startups based in Asia and Europe.

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He has been appointed as an independent expert for the European Commission, evaluating deeptech ventures seeking funding. Furthermore, Olivier Cotard is a Co-founder and serves as the Startup Competition Chair for the ATEC Asia Technology Entrepreneurship Conference. 

Vikie is a holder of an MBA in Entrepreneurship from CUHK, complemented by a strong background in Electronics and Electrical Engineering. His professional journey commenced as a satellite engineer, leaving his mark in diverse countries including Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Myanmar and Kazakhstan.

As a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the dynamic fields of M&A Integration and Company Separation. His expertise has been honed through a distinguished career in the Technology, ICT Solutions, Data Centre, and Telecom industry.

Vikie has strong experience building effective cross-functional teams and driving highly specialized technologies to global markets. With a multifaceted skill set, he excels in various domains, including Business Process and Workflow Optimization, Corporate Strategy, Continuous Business Innovation, and Digital Transformation. His in-depth knowledge and strategic acumen have been pivotal in guiding organizations to success.  

As a Senior Investment Manager at Saltagen, Jimmy leads the deal flow at the firm, by proactive deal scouting and screening across the relevant investment verticals. He also builds strong partnerships with notable universities and ecosystems across Canada and Asia to support startups’ global expansion.

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Jimmy has experience building startups and growing teams. With his passion for education and technology, he built an EdTech startup providing career learning for young talents. Before joining Saltagen, Jimmy was a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group. Jimmy received his MBA from INSEAD and BBA (International Business and Global Management) from the University of Hong Kong.

Vincent is the Founder & Managing Partner at Inspect Element, a venture builder that invests, nurture & scale startups. It supports startups like Preface, EventX, Finddoc, Pakpobox, Clearco & more.

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Prior to Inspect Element, Vincent was an early employee and the first Product Manager at Klook, a travel unicorn startup based in Hong Kong.

He led the product growth team focusing on user acquisition, retention & monetization. Previously he was the first growth hire at GOGOX, in charge of global growth marketing initiatives.

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On the side, Vincent is also an advisor to early-stage startups, and regular speaker at different universities such as HKU, HKUST, HKBU & PolyU. He is also mentor at foundersHK, an NGO providing consultation to HK founders, from early-stage to series C companies.

Dr. Fong is a scholar-practitioner. He is a believer in life-long learning. He has continued to pursue scholastic research and teaching activities alongside his career pursuits.

As a practitioner, Dr. Fong has worked in many different senior managerial capacities in both private and public sectors. As an entrepreneur, he is a Director of GRE Manufacturing Limited and GRE Alpha Electronics Limited, two privately owned electronics manufacturing companies. As an intrapreneur, he was the former CEO of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and the former Directorate Officer of the Hong Kong government.

As a practitioner in corporate governance, he is an independent non-executive director of Hutchison Port Holdings Limited, Hong Kong Electric Investment Limited and Tom Group International Limited.

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As a scholar, Dr. Fong’s scholastic journey covers both empirical science and humanistic studies. In his DBA research, he developed a 2P3C Model to understand the sustainability of corporate human capital competitiveness. In his PhD research, he created a set of tools comprising differentiators, integrators, and connectors to help us understand the patterns of self–others interaction experience among stakeholders in enterprises. They can be deployed by CEOs to support oneness as an enterprise governance approach focusing on responsible leadership, enterprise well-being, and enterprise sustainability.

Ms. Amy Yung has extensive work experience in finance and investment. Amy is the Director of Private Equity Asset Management at Gaw Capital. Prior to the current role, Amy was the Investment Director at Gaw Capital overseeing real estate opportunities in Asia Pacific. She also worked at Goldman Sachs Global Investment Research across its New York, London, and Hong Kong offices. Amy received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Chicago and the Post-Graduate Diploma of Education from the University of Hong Kong. She has been on the board of schools, nonprofit organizations, and bursaries.

Garry is a seasoned business professional and a DBA candidate at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, UK. Years ago, he earned his EMBA from the University of Hull, UK. Garry is the Director of PE Asset Management at Gaw Capital and has held senior executive positions at various companies. He is involved in diverse business consultancy, corporate training, and community work. With solid management and operational knowledge, Garry proactively monitors and maintains high levels of quality and accuracy in strategic planning efforts and lecturing on his own time. Moreover, in his entrepreneurial experience, he has owned and sold automobile dealerships and other businesses in Canada.

Joyce NG is currently the Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer of CUHK Innovation Limited.  She was the Investment Director of Cyberport Macro Fund and was the Managing Director at OurCrowd, a hybrid venture capital platform for investing in global startups.

With over a decade of experience in hedge fund management, Joyce was the partner and senior portfolio manager of Sumeru Capital, a Greater China-focused equity long/short fund. Prior to joining Sumeru Capital, she was a portfolio manager at LIM Advisors, managing an event-driven portfolio of Asia's oldest hedge fund. Joyce started her career at Citigroup Hong Kong, where she first worked as a corporate finance analyst at Global Markets and then as an Investment Counsellor at Private Bank. Joyce holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Chicago and an MBA from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. 

Maria Liao is an executive in the electronics and manufacturing industry who has worked in Canada, China and Hong Kong.  Prior to her current role as COO of Wise Ally Holdings Ltd., Maria has been involved in various MNCs and mid-size companies in global management roles, working with international customers that range from start-ups to industry leaders.

Trained as an electrical engineer, her earlier experience has spanned from large telecom and mission-critical control systems to household consumer electronics, journeying from design to project and then product management.  Pivoting from products to service, Maria has subsequently been more engaged in electronics manufacturing, with responsibilities in sales and also operations management.

Dr. PM Lai is a co-founder of multiple ventures and a seasoned corporate executive with over 25 years of experience in managing multidisciplinary projects and business expansion in Asia.  He has accumulated rich experience in forming joint ventures and strategic partnerships with tech companies from Hong Kong, Canada, Singapore, and Thailand.  He is currently the founder and CEO of Goldbox Technologies specializing in IoT platforms and unmanned systems for enabling smart city applications, and a partner at NH-Accelerator of New Horizon Capital to seek out high-potential early-stage startups. 

Dr. Lai is the former Chairman of the Hong Kong Retail Technology Industry Association and has served on the advisory committees for ICT Services in various government organizations.  Furthermore, he is widely connected with the startup ecosystem as a mentor who has advised more than 20 startups on NewRetail, FoodTech, eHealth, and ESG to help productize their ideas and raise capital for scale-up.  He holds a Doctor of Engineering from CityU HK, a Master of Science from HKU, and an MBA from Bath UK.  A Chartered Engineer and IEEE Senior Member, he holds numerous tech patents relating to fulfillment automation and multi-sensor data fusion.

Mike has 22 years intrapreneurial experience with technology corporates (Philips Electronics where he founded start-ups within the Business units, he was the CEO in Silicon Valley and Hong Kong) and OSRAM/ Siemens) and 16 years of entrepreneurial experience founding or scaling 4 different global start-ups and scale-ups in various industries (Consumer Electronics, Telcos, IoT Lighting, Energy, and IoT solutions). The following describes his competencies/skills: CEO, COO, Board Director/Member, Strategy, Innovation, Sustainability, Change Management, Start-ups/Scale-ups, SaaS, IoT, Author 'Xponential Growth', Management Consulting. Has university degrees in Physics, Electronics, and Economics after studies in Greece, the Netherlands, and Belgium.

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Lived in 4 countries in the EU and in Hong Kong for the last 25 years with extensive business experience in Europe, the Americas (especially the USA), and APAC. Currently is the founder and managing partner of TenX2 (www.TenX2.com) a technology business accelerator for start-ups after the seed stage, mentor with the Founder Institute, and board member of the advisory board of MSc. Business Analytics of the HK University of Science and Technology and fellow of the Hong Kong institute of Directors.

Mr Johnson Cheng is the founder and partner at Voyager Capital, the VC arm of his family office that focuses on Series A-C AI and enterprise SaaS opportunities across the globe. Their portfolio includes companies like FiscalNote, AutoX, Sonatus, CrowdComfort, Full Truck Alliance, etc.

He also founded Voyager Education, which offers experiment-based science education courses certified by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Prior to founding Voyager, he ran a B2B industrial goods and MRO e-Commerce platform that reached 800K+ members, over 3M SKUs, 186M RMB annual GMV, and a strategic partnership with JD.com (NASDAQ: JD).

He is a member of the Advisory Board of FiscalNote, Board member of the Family Business Network - Asia, member of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), and advisor for the Cornell Emerging Markets Institute. He received his B.S. and MBA from Cornell University.

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.

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.

Dr. Carolyn Zhao is currently the Founder of LinkLab Innovation, the Head of Seamless Ventures Asia and the Partner of TenX2, specializing in global high tech scouting and benchmark, innovation strategy and tech startup scale-up. She has wide network of academia, tech-related government departments, high-tech parks, startup incubators / accelerators and cross-industry multinational companies. Carolyn has engaged with hundreds of global top startups in corporate-startup collaboration and steered different levels of Proof-of-Concept projects, focusing on Digital Transformation, Consumer Healthcare, New Mobility, AIOT, etc.
With over fifteen years of experience in innovation, Carolyn was the general manager of an APAC Innovation Center in China and the corporate venture capitalist in the United States for an automotive Fortune500. Prior to that, she took different research, innovation and marketing roles in the fields of telecom, home appliance, lighting and green building.

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. 

Mingles serves as the Chief eXploration Officer (CXO) at ParticleX, a Hong Kong-based investment firm and innovation catalyst, dedicated to early-stage technology startups. Leveraging a unique combination of extensive network, financial resources, and research expertise to expedite technological advancements and support startups in seizing global opportunities. 

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Prior to joining ParticleX, Mingles played a pivotal role at KPMG China as the Director of Startup and Innovation Services, where he focused on consulting services for startups and innovative businesses. With a passion for startup education, Mingles dedicated eight years to the CUHK Center for Entrepreneurship as Project Director. He was instrumental in the success of major initiatives such as the "Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge" and Google's Empowering Young Entrepreneur (EYE) Program in Hong Kong. 

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Mingles holds numerous board and committee positions, including the Hong Kong Business Angel Network (HKBAN), Cyberport Investors Network (CIN), DIT Committee of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, HKITIC & HK ProServices Council under the Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI), Hong Kong Medical and Healthcare Device Industries Association (HKMHDIA). He also serves as Director and Founding Member of Social Value Hong Kong (SVHK), Vice-Chairman of FHKI's Startup Council, Vice-Chairman of the Institute of Financial Technologists of Asia (IFTA), where he is also the Chairman of the Academic and Accreditation Advisory Committee. 

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.

Henry Tan is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Q Venture Partners, a venture capital fund investing in deeptech and hardware technologies, with focus areas including Enabling Technologies, Industry 4.0, Robotics and IOT applications. Henry is also the Director of Q Design Studio, a product design, engineering, prototyping and manufacturing studio with presence in Silicon Valley, Hong Kong and Shenzhen. He acquired his BA in Economics from Cornell University and MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.

Perkins is the Head of Operations at MTR Lab, where his expertise in innovation and strategic growth is integral to advancing smart city and sustainable technologies. At MTR Lab, a subsidiary of MTR Corporation Limited, he leads the charge in nurturing a culture of innovation, implementing strategies, and managing change, with an emphasis on proptech, smart city, rail tech, and sustainability.
His previous role as Lead of HKT Startup Business Development at AWS saw him significantly impact the startup sector in Hong Kong and Taiwan, where he forged key relationships and led innovation programs across various tech disciplines. Perkins' strategic influence extended to collaborative solutions for government innovation, startup support, and sector-wide open innovation in areas like Web3, AI, and blockchain.
Before AWS, as Head of Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Perkins was instrumental in shaping the entrepreneurial ecosystem, fostering technology commercialization, and spearheading innovation initiatives. His leadership at CUHK involved cultivating partnerships with a network of stakeholders throughout Greater China and worldwide, highlighting his commitment to global entrepreneurial development.