Ebrahim PatelChairman, WIEF Young Leaders Network & Managing Director, SiyaXoxa Technologies, South Africa

Ebrahim Patel is the Managing Director of SiyaXoxa Technologies. He is also the Chairman of the WIEF Young Leaders Network and member of the WIEF International Advisory Panel.  He was the Founder and Past President of the Minara Chamber of Commerce and is an Advisory Board Member of the University of KwaZulu Natal ELC. Ebrahim was recently appointed as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Indonesia and serves on the KwaZulu Natal Economic Council which advises the provincial government on economic strategy. He is passionate about youth and entrepreneurship..

Gopi GanesalingamVice President, Global Growth Acceleration, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) Sdn Bhd, Malaysia

Gopi Ganesalingam Gopi is Vice President of Global Growth Acceleration at Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation Berhad (MDEC). At MDEC, the government agency tasked with developing Malaysia’s Digital Economy, he is at the forefront of championing talented entrepreneurs, by empowering them to actualise their business vision.

Gopi is a finance professional and an entrepreneur who served in executive and board positions in the Asia Pacific region for the last 30 years. Gopi has worked in organisations such as Matsushita, American Express International, Lucent Technologies, Telstra Australia, Salesforce.com and Google. He is passionate about developing Malaysia’s nascent digital economy towards achieving sustainable and inclusive socioeconomic development. His end goal is to connect and propel the global digital economy via government intervention as well as business chambers, aligning investors, government and business chambers, all of which will link global tech entrepreneurs.

Kilema ClementMusician, Madagascar

An acknowledged cultural ambassador of his homeland, with over 20 years of professional experience, Kilema is currently preparing his fourth LP titled Ampy Zay. He’s a master of Malagasy instruments such as the marovany, valiha, kabosy and katsà, conveying through them the magic and rhythmic soul of Madagascar.

Kilema has performed at festivals and theatres in around 20 countries including Australia, Japan, America, Malaysia, France, Sweden, Uzbekistan, Switzerland, Portugal, and Spain, where he resides. He also conducts workshops and didactic concerts at colleges, universities as well as conservatories. He focuses on understanding and approaching Malagasy cultures and contexts, through these workshops.

Anisa HassanFounder & Chief Executive Officer, Joompa Pte Ltd, Singapore

Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Joompa, a mobile dating and matchmaking app for Muslim singles in Southeast Asia. She is also the Founder of Date High Flyers and is an award-winning entrepreneur better known as Asia’s ultimate matchmaker to millionaires and high net worth individuals. For the last 15 years, she has paired more than 1,000 couples through her international luxury matchmaking service Date High Flyers.

Anisa is a regular columnist on regional publications, from Singapore to Jakarta and Bangkok, and is also the author of two guide books on dating and relationships. She was a former news anchor with Channel NewsAsia based in Singapore and is active in the startup space as she has taken her business from idea to implementation.

Anisa holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences in International Relations from the National University of Singapore.

Mohammed Yacoob Abdullah HumayunDirector Of Client Services ASEAN At Virtusa Inc, Malaysia, Former Digital Officer At Maxmoney, Former Vice President Of Regional Vendor Acquisition & Management At Lazada

Mohd Yacoob Abdullah Humayun is an e-commerce pioneer of South East Asia. As a founding member of some of the biggest and successful internet brands such as Lazada and Groupon, together with his team, they have enabled more than 10,000 SMEs to go online. Currently, he is the Director of Client Services ASEAN for Virtusa, a NASDAQ listed global digital-engineering leader.

Yacoob was previously a Chief Digital Officer, and he oversaw the digital transformation of a traditional brick and mortar money service business to a fintech company. As an experienced digital leader he has led design thinking workshops and consulted companies for go-to-market strategies, business development and marketing across several industries from telco, banking as well as financial services, to social enterprises.

Yacoob graduated with a master’s degree in e-business management from International University of Japan and studied computer science at International Islamic University Malaysia.

Zohab Zee KhanPerformance Poet, Motivational Speaker, Didgeridoo Player, Hip Hop Artist And YouTube Film Maker, United Kingdom

Zohab Zee Khan is a performance poet, motivational speaker, didgeridoo player, hip hop artist and YouTube filmmaker.

He has conducted over a thousand poetry and self development workshops around the world. Through the use of his high energy poetry and self development writing techniques he inspired change and confidence in countless young people. He regularly creates online self-development as well as wellness video content for his followers and uses his dynamic ability to connect with young people to provide tailored mentoring sessions.

In 2014, Zohab was crowned the National Poetry Slam Champion of Australian and co-founded the Pakistan Poetry Slam in 2015. His first poetry collection I Write became a bestseller in Australia within months of its release. Also, he has performed his poetry at some of the world renowned literary festivals.

Darren TanHead, Education And Community Outreach, ComCrop, Singapore

Darren Tan heads the Education and Community Outreach efforts at ComCrop, which is Singapore’s first and only AVA-licensed rooftop greenhouse farm. There, he ensures the continuity of knowledge to the next generation of farmers, as well as help the farm stay relevant and supportive of the community they are in. His science background has helped the farm keep up to date with developments in plant growth and nutrient formulation for yield optimisation. Having accumulated different experiences in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as various roles as an educator in a local secondary school, he has balanced perspectives on Singapore’s environmental sustainability and food security matters.

Darren was awarded the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Professional Fellowship by the American Department of State in 2017 and represented Singapore on an exchange focusing on environmental sustainability. He was nominated to be part of the Singapore Leaders Programme (OSLP) in 2018, a leadership programme that develops a network of high potential young Singaporeans. Darren is also part of the MEWR-NYC Youth Circles, that work closely with the two agencies on ground-up initiatives to co-deliberation of policies. He also mentors through the American Embassy Alumni Mentoring Programme and the 2019 Youth Action Challenge.

Jessy ChahalTV Personality And Broadcast Journalist, Malaysia

Jessy Chahal is a television anchor and presenter of news and live talk shows on current issues. She has over 16 years of corporate and media industry experience, with Frost & Sullivan, Oracle, Media Prima Berhad and Bernama. She hosted and moderated events such as President Obama’s visit to Malaysia, The Economic Times Business Leaders Conclave with Prime Ministers of Malaysia and India, as well as the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF).

Jessy is the founder of boutique communications firm, Bloom PR MediaComm. She is passionate about women empowerment, youth and technology. She holds a bachelor’s degree in computing and multimedia from Staffordshire University, United Kingdom, and a Master of Business Administration from Cardiff Metropolitan University, United Kingdom.

Nisa AddinaViolinist, Malaysia

Nisa Addina is a contemporary violinist, composer and producer born and raised in Kuching, Sarawak. She represents Sarawak and its culture through her music, having played various differing styles from classical, R&B, pop and jazz to a broad global audience. While in Berklee College of Music, she performed with various artists such as Jacob Collier and Tia Ray, as well as recorded many compositions and arrangements.

Nisa has released a debut EP “Yakina” produced by Syafiee Obe and an album dedicated to the Malaysian music icon, Tan Sri P Ramlee produced by Malaysian Berklee Alumni Helen Yap, featuring Aubrey Suwito, Jenny Chin and Azlan Abu Hassan.

In 2011, Nisa was the first Malaysian to win the Junior Grand Champion in the instrumentalist category at the World Championships of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. This placed her in the Malaysian Book of Records. She played with the Permata Seni Music (PSM) ensemble of Istana Budaya in Malaysia from 2010-2011 under the tutelage of principal conductor Mustafa Fuzer Nawi.

Rohan KhaunteMinister Of Revenue, Information Technology, Labour And Employment, Government Of Goa, India

Rohan Khaunte is the Minister of Revenue, Information Technology, Labour and Employment of the Government of Goa, India. He was also appointed as the Vice Chairman of the Investment Promotion Board (IPB) and the Chairman of Information Technology Goa (ITG). He is the youngest Member of the Goa Legislative Assembly and is an independent candidate from the Porvorim constituency in Goa, India.

As a politician, Khaunte believes in transparency, accessibility and hard work which has made him become an admired figure by youth in the state today. As a businessman, he has been actively involved in the family business and contributes to its sustainable growth.

For his exemplary contribution to the Indian democracy he was conferred the Adarsh Yuva Award by the Bharatiya Chhatra Sansad Foundation, headed by former Chief Election Commissioner of India T. N. Seshan.

The Honourable Tun Musa Hitam

Tun Musa Hitam, who is currently Chairman of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation was Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister until 1986. In the course of his service in the Malaysian government, he held various positions including Minister of Home Affairs, Education, Primary Industries and Trade and Industries and Chairman of the Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA). Among his major official activities were as Leader of Malaysian Investment Missions to Europe, United States and Japan, Leader of the Commonwealth Observers Delegation to the Malawi and Pakistani general elections and Member of the Commonwealth Ministers Action Group Delegations to Nigeria, Fiji and the Gambia. He also represented Malaysia at UN, UNESCO and United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) related negotiating and regular conferences. He was also elected for one term Chairman of the UN Commission on Human Rights.

Since Tun Musa’s retirement from politics in 1987, he held Chairmanships of three Public Listed Companies and various business related institutions both at domestic and international levels. He was Chairman of the Malaysia – China Business Council, Co-Chair of the Eminent Persons Group (EPG) of the ASEAN – China, 15 year economic cooperation programme and Chairman of the EPG to draft the ASEAN Charter. Currently, Tun Musa is Chairman of the International Advisory Panel of CIMB Bank, Chairman of the International Selection Panel of the Royal Award on Islamic Finance and member of the Advisory Panel of the Iskandar Development Authority as well as member of the High-Level Group (HLG) on Commonwealth Governance. He also represented the Malaysian Prime Minister to the 32nd ASEAN Summit 2018 in Singapore.

Tun Musa holds a BA from the University of Malaya and an MA from the University of Sussex and held a resident Fellowship at Harvard University. For his services to the nation, The Yang Di Pertuan Agong, King of Malaysia, conferred him Malaysia’s highest award which carries the title ‘Tun’.

Jose Manuel Noronha

Jose Manuel Noronha is the Chairman of Goa’s Public Service Commission (GPSC) and Goa State Innovation Council of the Government of Goa, India. He’s also a member of the Incubation Centre of the Economic Development Corporation.

He previously held positions as Chairman of the Goa State of Environmental Impact Assessment Authority and Chairman of the Programme Advisory and Monitoring Committee at the Ministry of Science and Technology, India. His experience includes 24 years of teaching in various capacities and over three years of industrial experience. He is also a Member of the Institutions of Engineers, India.

He holds a master’s degree in Engineering from Goa University, India and a postgraduate diploma in human rights law from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.

Nasser Munjee

Nasser Munjee is the Chairman of Development Credit Bank (DCB) Bank Ltd, India. He sits on 15 corporate boards in India including Tata Motors, Tata Chem, Britannia Industries, Cummins India, ABB India and Ambuja Cements, now part of the HOLCIM group. He’s also Chairman of other Aga Khan institutions in India – Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) and Muniwar-Abad Charitable Trust (MACT).

He was the President of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which is the city’s oldest chamber of commerce. He has also served on numerous government task forces on housing and urban development.

He holds an MSc in economics from the University of Chicago.

Ebrahim Patel

Ebrahim Patel is the Managing Director of TransAfrix Holdings and serves on various company boards. He is a South African entrepreneur with a passion for business who started a number of successful ventures. He’s the current National President of the Minara Chamber of Commerce, Deputy Chairperson of Business Forum South Africa, International Advisory Member of the World Islamic Economic Forum, Chairman of the WIEF Young Leaders Network, trustee of the eThekweni Community Foundation and Advisory Board Member of the University of KwaZulu Natal ELC.

Ebrahim serves on the KwaZulu Natal Economic Council which advises the provincial government on economic strategy and is a lead member of the KZN Halaal Hub Task Team. He is passionate about youth and entrepreneurship and is regularly asked to speak on various platforms locally as well as internationally.

Dr Ajit Parulekar

Dr Ajit Parulekar is the Director of the Goa Institute of Management (GIM), India. He is also the Chairman of the Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) at GIM and sits on the governing board of the Mineral Foundation of Goa (MFG) and the advisory council of the SMRC Hospital. He has taught at leading business schools in India and at the Antwerp Management School in Belgium, University of Kansas in the United States and University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

Dr Ajit Parulekar is the Director of the Goa Institute of Management (GIM), India. He is also the Chairman of the Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) at GIM and sits on the governing board of the Mineral Foundation of Goa (MFG) and the advisory council of the SMRC Hospital. He has taught at leading business schools in India and at the Antwerp Management School in Belgium, University of Kansas in the United States and University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

Dr Ajit Parulekar is the Director of the Goa Institute of Management (GIM), India. He is also the Chairman of the Atal Incubation Centre (AIC) at GIM and sits on the governing board of the Mineral Foundation of Goa (MFG) and the advisory council of the SMRC Hospital. He has taught at leading business schools in India and at the Antwerp Management School in Belgium, University of Kansas in the United States and University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

Ameya Salatry

Ameya Salatry is the Founder of, and practicing lawyer at, Legal Minds LLP. Legal Minds LLP is the first of its kind as a full service legal firm in Goa, India, with an associated Pan-India presence. Ameya focuses on the areas of corporate law, real estate law, intellectual property and litigation services. He has worked for over a decade in regions including India, United States and Middle East.

With his extensive global experience and working in-house for multinational companies as a general counsel, he has been advising several companies and individuals on a variety of issues such as restructuring, investment into startups and legal structure, commercial contracting, real estate investments and litigation.

His clientele currently includes companies in sectors such as manufacturing, information technology, construction and real estate, e-commerce, venture funds and education.

Jan Lambrechts

Jan Lambrechts is the Chief Executive Officer of CXS International, Malaysia. CXS International owns Scandinavia’s oldest education technology organisation. It provides talent analytic solutions to enterprises, education institutions and governments across Singapore, Malaysia and Scandinavia. CXS is also in the process of setting up entities, running pilots and establishing customer base with identified local partners in Netherlands, Estonia, Mexico, India and Turkey, as part of key operational activities in 2018.

After establishing CXS International in Singapore in 2016, he saw the potential of Malaysia as a market which could leverage CXS technology to rapidly develop its workforce to be able to take its place at the forefront of the digital economy, hence making the move of its global headquarters to Cyberjaya in Malaysia. CXS is actively exploring opportunities with credible partners in the various countries and regions.

Razif Aziz

Razif Aziz is the Acting Group Chief Executive Officer of Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd and was appointed as chief operations officer of the organisation since 2016. He’s a senior executive with over 23 years of experience in a variety of different roles. He is passionate about the dynamics between business, government and technology acquired through roles in both the public and private sectors.

He has written extensively in Malaysian daily newspapers on the impact technology, policies, regulations and public sector frameworks have on the growth of business. He has participated in the development of the Malaysian converged telephone company, broadcast and biotechnology sectors. His access to government and its engagements with the industry have enriched his experience in building conducive ecosystems.

Razif studied law at Coventry Polytechnic and is a Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn, London.

Norhizam Abdul Kadir

Norhizam Abdul Kadir is the Vice President of the Growth Ecosystem Development Division of the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). He brings with him almost 20 years of experience in multi-market technology and energy industries in various markets across Asia Pacific. He was with Intel, Microsoft and Ballard Power Systems before joining MDEC in 2015.

He’s currently championing the growth of digital entrepreneurial ecosystem in Malaysia and manages the development of the Malaysia Digital Hub, a programme that recognises startup ecosystem development in co-working spaces. He’s also responsible in enriching Malaysia’s startup ecosystem by engaging with global ecosystem players such as key internet companies, accelerators, talent providers, venture capitals and startup communities.

Sachin Karnik

Sachin Karnik is the President of Mumbai Angels Network in India. He has over 20 years of experience in diverse domains ranging from consumer electronics, e-commerce, retail and IT across companies like Onida, UTV Interactive and the then Aditya Birla Minacs, where he was Vice President of operations.

Sachin has led e-commerce startup teams right from the start and worked closely with startups in India as well as the United States where he leveraged his diverse functional experience across vendor development, product management, business development, operations and strategy. His accomplishments in supporting high growth initiatives include clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to startups and unicorns.

He is a Certified Private Equity Professional (CPEP), a certification awarded by Private Equity Investor’s Group (PEIG) and is a certified mentor for startups. Sachin studied production engineering at the University of Mumbai, India.

Farheen Sayed

Farheen Sayed is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Brushflicks, a digital platform for uploading, sharing and monetising any creative content, to help people with creative talent make a living. In 2017, she founded a sub product of Brushflicks, Boxifer, a clean tech-based product that converts acrylic plastic waste into unique packaging boxes with the Internet of Things (IoT) integrated technology.

She’s also a columnist in the in-business section with Goa’s leading daily Herald and has been featured in over 60 magazines and newspapers. She was also a leading speaker with state innovation council covering over 50 institutes with over 4,500 students in the last year.

She is the recipient of many awards including the GEMS Innovation Award 2018. Boxifer has also represented India on clean-tech in World Environment Day 2018.

Jatin Chaudhary

Jatin Chaudhary is the Co-founder of eChai Ventures, one of the largest offline-online startup social networks in India. He has conceptualised and hosted eChai programmes in over 40 cities to provide a platform to young entrepreneurs across India. Every month over 5,000 entrepreneurs, professionals, students and mentors come together at various eChai programmes. They connect, share and collaborate with each other to get eChai’s CoRise experience.

Jatin was selected as a Global Shaper by the World Economic Forum. He was also selected by the leading daily Ahmedabad Mirror as one of the top 35 Agents of Change of Gujarat, India and won the GCCI-Youth Wing Business Idea Award 2011 in the presence of the Chief Minister of Gujarat and leading industry icons.

Pranay Gupta

Pranay Gupta is the Co-founder of 91springboard, the first co-working hubs company in India. They have a pan India network of co-working hubs and are instrumental in creating communities that help businesses grow. Previously, he worked with Lehman Bros & Nomura and was Joint Chief Executive Officer at the Centre for Innovation Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE) in the Indian Institute of Management (IIM).

Pranay loves to coach and help entrepreneurs and is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad. He was instrumental in setting up and running IIM Ahmedabad’s incubator, including programmes like MentorEdge, Power of Ideas and iAccelerator.

Becky KuxPortfolio Manager, 500 Startups, United States

Becky Kux is Portfolio Manager at 500 Startups, one of the most active seed stage venture capital firms on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs globally. Based in Kuala Lumpur, Becky is the touchpoint for the 160 Southeast Asian portfolio companies throughout their lifecycle with the regionally focused fund, 500 Durians, monitoring and reporting on their progress and aiding in access to later stage capital.

Prior to joining 500, Becky led Customer Success for startup TrustedCompany across South America and Asia, providing her with the insights on operating a startup with a global footprint, her first foray into entrepreneurship after being an active concert pianist in Toronto, Canada.

Anisa Hassan

Anisa Hassan is the Founder of Joompa, a mobile dating and matchmaking app for Muslim singles in Southeast Asia. She is also the Founder of Date High Flyers and is an award-winning entrepreneur better known as Asia’s ultimate matchmaker to millionaires and high net worth individuals. For the last 15 years, she has paired more than 1,000 couples through her international luxury matchmaking service Date High Flyers.

Anisa is a regular columnist on regional publications, from Singapore to Jakarta and Bangkok, and is also the author of two guide books on dating and relationships. She was a former news anchor with Channel NewsAsia based in Singapore and is active in the startup space as she has taken her business from idea to implementation.

Anisa holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences in International Relations from the National University of Singapore.

Gourav Jaswal

Gourav Jaswal is the Founder and Director of Prototyze based out of Goa, India. Prototyze is among India’s handful of tech-focused venture-builder incubators that handhold’s a venture through the first 36 – 48 months of its journey. It has spawned multiple digital-economy ventures. He is also Founder and Director of another entrepreneurial ecosystems called Private Unlimited. Private Unlimited is a cluster of knowledge-capital companies including Synapse, ScreenRoot, Visual JuJu and Junoon Ventures which are focused on storytelling and user experience design (UXD).

Gourav has been a serial entrepreneur for over 22 years. He is responsible for strategic direction, fund-raising and implementing the organisational culture.

Swapnil Tripathi

Swapnil Tripathi is the Chief Operating Officer of Decotarium, India, which is a cloud design studio focused on workspace décor. He has over 19 years of experience across sales, operations, supply chain and marketing. He embarked on his entrepreneurial journey as Chief Operating Officer at Buildzar.com and also co-founded a farm-to-fork venture.

Swapnil was among the first six employees at InfoEdge (Naukri.com) and spearheaded the growth of the venture for over 10 years, from the first operations from the founder’s apartment until the point where the venture employed over 5,000 employees. He also served as Head of Consumer Operations at an online travel organisation, Ibibo.

He is an MIT Sloan School of Management alumnus.

Hetal Sonpal

Hetal Sonpal is the Business Head of Seynse Technologies, India. He has had an incredible journey of more than 20 years, across some of the biggest names worldwide, excelling in sales, alliances, marketing and strategic leadership.

Hetal started his career with Wipro, an Indian information technology services corporation in India and then went on to play key roles at Microsoft, LinkedIn and Intel. He then founded his own venture, WigZo Technologies Pvt Ltd. He has been an angel investor for more than three years and has advised and mentored numerous startups.

Hetal holds an MBA from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (NMIMS), India.

Rishi Kapal

ishi Kapal is the Global Strategist and Chief Executive Officer at the Global Edtech Startup Accelerator (EDUGILD). He currently holds a portfolio of more than 15 edtech companies and invests in sweat equity as a business strategist, sales and marketing game-changer. Rishi has spearheaded strategic and operational roles in Sony, Qualcomm, Ericsson, BP Castrol, Avaya and HCL.

Having received several awards and accolades for his professionalism and speed of execution, his last corporate assignment was as the Vice President and Interim Managing Director of Sony Mobile Communications. Rishi is a Stanford LEADer and was a speaker at the United Nations in New York. He has co-authored research papers with laureates of Oxford University and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur. He holds dual master degrees in management from the International Management Institute (IMI), New Delhi and Savitribai Phule Pune University, India.

Abhijith Naraparaju

Abhijith Naraparaju is a co-founder of an agrifuturetech start-up, iCognitiveGlobal, a cognitive social-developing protocols on blockchain for the agri-market places, crop insurance and microfinance.

He is working as Director of research and development for Global Blockchain Foundation. He is on the advisory board of blockchain based startups like Fintrux (P2P lending) and LAToken.

Abhijith has formulated valuation metrics for the token structure of blockchain based projects. He was region head for Blockchain Eductaion Network.

Shekar Nair

Shekar Nair is Partner and Co-founder of Upekkha, a business accelerator for early stage Software as a Service (SaaS) startups. Shekar was part of two startup exits in the United States. As part of the inception team at Xylan Corporation in the United States, he was instrumental in its successful Initial Public Offering (IPO) and its acquisition by Alcatel.

Shekar also Co-founded Allegro Networks and sold the India operations to Juniper Networks. He was an entrepreneur in residence with Thomas Weisel Venture Partners and helped evaluate and invest in early stage opportunities. Control4 is one such successful investment trade in NASDAQ. He was previously President and General Manager of NetApp’s Indian operation.

Amarsh Chaturvedi

Amarsh is the Director of Transerve Technologies, India, which is a geospatial technology company specialising in smart city solutions and advanced data collection technology for data democratisation. It was incorporated with a vision to provide India-centric smart technology solutions for cities. His team created an intelligent city application stack, which primarily uses modern technology for city operations like revenue, water supply and sanitation, solid waste, slum mapping and municipal asset management.

Prior to incorporating Transerve, he worked with Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), an investment management company, as a Business Analyst in Delhi. Amarsh has been working in the field of geoinformatics and has been instrumental in building technology and execution of projects within Transerve.

He studied civil engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur.

Akash Bhavsar

Akash Bhavsar is the Chief Architect of the Sustainable Development Goals Accelerator (SDGA). The SDGA identifies and supports disruptive innovations and startups that can radically transform businesses and industries in high impact areas like Agriculture and food, water, health, energy and information and communications technology.

He is also the Co-founder of the SkyQuest Technology Group and WaterQuest Hydroresources Management India. The SkyQuest Technology Group specialises in scouting, assessment, incubation and acceleration of innovative technologies and ventures operating across 16 countries, working for MNCs, R&D organisations, governments and startups alike. WaterQuest Hydroresources Management India is an AI-based water source development company.

Akash chairs the Innovation and Competitiveness Task Force of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Sustainable Business Network in Thailand and Commercialisation Advisor to the International Federation of Inventors Association in Geneva.

Jyothirmayee JT

Jyothi is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HiveMinds Innovative Market Solutions, an online marketing strategy and services firm based in Bangalore, India. HiveMinds was acquired by Madison Media, the second largest media agency in India.

Over the last 12 years, Jyothi has built, seen and supported many products and businesses perfect their business journey from the ground up. She has gained vast experience working with startup founders and venture capital on rapid growth startups.

She is an entrepreneur, angel investor, marketer, engineer and a mother with an interest in pre-schoolers’ education. As a renowned marketer, she has been the key marketing strategist and consultant for many Indian startups. Few of her early and long standing engagements include TutorVista, Dailyhunt, MobiKwik, Hoopos, BigBasket, Simplilearn, RedBus.in, NewsCred, Voonik, TaxiForSure and many others.

Tanmay Modi

Tanmay Modi is the Chief Executive Officer of Private Unlimited which is a group of three independent agencies that offer storytelling, multimedia and digital product design services for enterprise clients. Tanmay leads its cluster of companies ScreenRoot, Synapse and Visual Juju. ScreenRoot is an interaction design firm, Synapse is a storytelling media and Visual Juju amplifies the efficacy of communication via memorable multimedia.

Tanmay started his career in 2002 with Synapse and spent the next eleven years in London, Shanghai, Dubai and Cape Town holding senior roles that offered knowledge-capital services for enterprise clients. He is also credited with having run the world’s largest metering publication and Africa’s leading mining magazine.

Jignesh Jain

Jignesh Jain is the Director of Ygen Technologies Pvt Ltd, India. He is currently acting as a coach and mentor and advises many startups across the globe. He is associated with a few acceleration and incubation programmes across India, United States, Russia and the Nordic countries.

Jignesh focuses on helping entrepreneurs achieve their goals by providing technology consulting and raising funds through his network. He plays a significant role in building go-to market strategies along with appropriate product messaging that helps leverage today’s modern technologies.

His achievements include acquiring Cristiano Ronaldo’s CR7 digital rights, consulting for brands such as Pepsi, HTC, Tata Motors and Walt Disney.

Hatim Kantawalla

Hatim Kantawalla is the Chief Product Officer of Prototyze in India and has been with Prototyze since its inception in 2014. Prototyze provides strategic guidance and technical expertise to each venture team for planning and executing their individual product roadmaps and direction. He’s also the Chief Product Officer of HandyTrain, a Prototyze incubated venture, which is a mobile Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform for corporate training.

Hatim is an engineer with experience in customer hardware. He ran a technology media company in Dubai for seven years and was part of a data visualisation startup. He then headed a cluster of products namely Burrp, Tech2 and Overdrive at Web 18. Web 18 is the internet and mobile arm of Network 18, one of India’s leading media conglomerates.

Jan-Cayo Fiebig

Jan-Cayo Fiebig is the General Partner of 3B Ventures, the impact venture capital fund investing in high growth tech ventures to scale in Southeast Asia. 3B Ventures combines Nordic expertise with the Southeast Asian market opportunities to generate above the market financial and social returns.

With his venture, CodersTrust, Cayo created the largest online workforce in Bangladesh and scaled the venture to 12 frontier markets. He is the Founding Partner at the Nordic Impact Investing Network and is frequently invited to speak at conferences about the future of work, impact investing and value creation in emerging markets.

Prathibha Sastry

Prathibha Sastry is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of PS: This Matters, a global media production company that aims to impact the lives of independent women through videos on topics of health, wealth and career.

In a career spanning over 17 years, Prathibha has launched a film magazine, hosted a film-based radio talk show and co-founded a mobile app based on the Indian entertainment industry. She also launched Digital Desh and discovered 35 hardware startups during her travels in India which exposed her to the burgeoning innovation and startup ecosystem. Prathibha has helped entrepreneurs fulfil their dreams through stints at Microsoft and the Indian Software Product Industry Round Table (iSPIRT).

She is currently building the content brand and platform, The PS Show, to bring together innovative women entrepreneurs to celebrate their successes.

Ebrahim Patel

Ebrahim Patel, a South African entrepreneur with a passion for business, started a number of successful ventures. He is the Chairman of TransAfrix Holdings and serves on various company boards. He is the current National President of the Minara Chamber of Commerce, Deputy Chairperson of Business Forum SA, International Advisory Member of the World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation, Chairman of the WIEF Young Leaders Network, Trustee of the eThekweni Community Foundation and Advisory Board member of the University of KwaZulu Natal ELC. Ebrahim serves on the KwaZulu Natal Economic Council which advises the provincial government on economic strategy and is a lead member of the KZN Halaal Hub Task Team. He is passionate about youth and entrepreneurship and is regularly asked to speak on various platforms locally and internationally.

Tan Sri Fuzi Abdul Razak

Tan Sri Dato’ Ahmad Fuzi Haji Abdul Razak was previously the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia. He joined the Malaysian Diplomatic and Administrative Service in 1972, and served in various capacities at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also served as Director General, Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations Malaysia; Deputy Secretary General 1, Ambassador-at-Large and Malaysia’s Representative to the ASEAN High Level Task Force (HLTF) on the Drafting of the ASEAN Charter and Malaysia’s Representative to the High Level Panel (HLP) on the Drafting of the Terms of Reference of the ASEAN Human Rights Body. Currently, he is Secretary-General of the World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation (WIEF) and Chairman of Amanahraya-Reit Managers Sdn Bhd; Seremban Engineering Berhad; Theatre Management Associates Sdn Bhd; Optima Capital Sdn Bhd; Sofgen (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, ACE Holdings Sdn Bhd and IMAN Research Consulting Sdn Bhd. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Maybank Islamic Bhd; Puncak Niaga Holdings Berhad; Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) Malaysia Sdn Bhd; MDIS Unicampus Malaysia Sdn Bhd; Alstar Solutions Sdn Bhd; Lejadi Medimax Sdn Bhd and WEROS Technology Sdn Bhd. He is also Advisor, Xadarcorp Sdn Bhd. In recognition of his service to the nation, he was awarded the AMN (1979), the JSM (1999), the DSPN (1999), the DMPN (2002) the PSM (2003) and the DSLJ (Brunei Darussalam 2014).

Dato' Yasmin Mahmood

YBhg. Dato’ Yasmin Mahmood was appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), effective 15 September 2014. She was appointed to the Board on 19 January 2015. Her career prior to joining MDEC includes leadership positions such as Executive Director of YTL e-Solutions Bhd., Managing Director of Microsoft Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., Regional Manager of Dell Asia Pacific and General Manager of HP Sales Malaysia.

Zikry Kholil

Co-founder of Incitement, Zikry is one of the two Malaysians who made in the recent Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list in the Social Entrepreneurs category. Incitement is a movement to transform inspiration into actionable steps for the startup community with social businesses. After four years of bootstrapping, Incitement now has establishments in over 41 countries and co-created hundreds of social impact projects worldwide. This social enterprise has been sustaining a 400% year-on-year revenue growth.

Udesh Chaskar

Chaskar, with entrepreneurship experience over the past 11 years, is a tech expert as well as a known figure in the youth development industry. He has ventured into many areas including the setting up of an Asia TV reality show, and setting up a youth organisation called Osiris International. Currently he works with several government agencies, he is trailblazing the ASEAN Smart Network Initiative, under AllChat World.

Jan Lambrechts

Jan Lambrechts is making Malaysia his home and business base for his company CXS International after 18-year career building technology focused startups. After a successful career building cloud computing companies including Yuntaa, one of the first cloud storage companies in Europe, Jan’s interest turned to big data and analytics after he saw the potential of taking human development solutions developed for Scandinavia into Asia. After establishing CXS International in Singapore in 2016, Jan coordinated a leveraged buyout of Conexus Norway, one of the oldest Scandinavian education technology companies. Jan quickly saw the potential of Malaysia as a market, which could leverage CXS technology to rapidly develop its workforce to be able to take its place at the forefront of the digital economy. The commitment of the Malaysian government to developing its digital economy and the open mindset of both industry and educational institutes towards adopting cutting edge talent management solutions made a compelling case for Jan to migrate permanently to Kuala Lumpur with his family and his business team to make Malaysia the international headquarters for CXS. CXS International’s new international headquarters is now in Cyberjaya, serving as a digital hub for developing Malaysia’s talent for meeting the needs of the digital economy.

Ganesh Kumar Bangah

Ganesh Kumar Bangah is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Commerce.Asia, an Omni channel commerce Venture Builder that provides mentorship, acceleration programs, investment and market access to commerce technology Enablers while providing omni-channel commerce solutions to Merchants.
Ganesh is the Deputy Chairman of the National ICT Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) and is the Chairman of E-Commerce Malaysia, a Chapter of PIKOM. He is also a member of PEMUDAH, a unit of the Prime Minister of Malaysia’s office entrusted to improve the global ranking of Malaysia in efficiency of doing business.
Ganesh was certified by the Malaysia Book of Records as the youngest Chief Exec- utive Officer of a public listed company in Malaysia. He was the Ernst & Young Tech- nology Entrepreneur of the Year Malaysia in 2012 and has won several other prestig- ious business awards. Society Magazine has recognized him as one of the 100 peo- ple you must know in Asia.
Prior to Commerce.Asia, Ganesh was Founder and Group CEO of MOL Global Inc. He built MOL from start-up till it became South East Asia’s first internet company to be listed on the NASDAQ. He is also a Director of MOL Ventures, an investment holding company that has made successful private investments in global social media and mobile internet companies such as Facebook, Friendster and Kakao.

James Digby

James is a Founding Partner at the Global Startup Awards, a pan regional startup competition that recognises entrepreneurs and their respective supporting ecosystems in 53 countries around the world, and co-founded the award-winning startup incubator Rockstart Accelerator in Amsterdam, Netherlands. As a seasoned board member, most recently with Louisiana State University (LSU), James has also served on the management team and a personal mentor for a number of startups that have gone on to raise significant funding and global traction, recently with the award-winning AIRTAME wireless HDMI streaming device that became the most publically backed crowd funded project in Europe on Indiegogo of all time. James has more than a decade of entrepreneurial experience working with startups and alongside corporations like Samsung, and public organisations such as the Saïd Business School at Oxford University and the Kauffman Foundation to development innovation & strategy workshops as well as lecture on entrepreneurial techniques with a focus on ‘lean’ methodologies and social innovation.

Hassan Alsagoff

Hassan is a startup investor that aims to motivate Malaysia’s boldest entrepreneurs to bring great tech products to a global market. After spending his formative years being mentored as a strategist in advertising multinationals, he started a digital communications agency with a close friend. This success allowed him to begin investing in startups which lead to the birth of Qeerad, a startup investment firm that after 2 years was acquired by Swiss based tech company builder – Mountain Partners.

Ahmad Reza

Ahmad Reza comes from startup named Arena One Consultancy and joins Axiata Digital as MIFE Business Development Director. He is responsible for the development of the strategy, go to market and roll out plan for Axiata Digital Mobile Internet Fulfillment Exchange (MIFE) business, targeting tech entrepreneurs, retailers and independent app developers. Reza have been in the ICT Industry for over 15 years serving in various positions from Customer Service Helpdesk, Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), Technical Support, Presales Engineer, Business Analyst, Sales Manager and IT consultant to various ICT Companies.
Most recently he has worked on special projects dealing with government agencies such as Cyber Security Malaysia, the Sarawak State Government, MAMPU, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Communications & Multimedia and the Prime Minister’s Department. Reza loves to upkeep with latest technology and is regarded by his peers, clients and supervisors as dependable, trustworthy and always in-tune to deliver the win for clients in both commercial or government space.

Ashraf Salleh

Ashraf Salleh has been working with innovative digital companies for 15 years. From ecommerce to digital enterprise ventures. I spent 9 years at Zappos.com doing digital marketing and witnessed its growth as a pioneer in online sales and company culture, through to its acquisition by Amazon.com. I spent 3 years at Axiata Digital helping teams collaborate and innovate in a space that’s ripe for disruption, which is telecommunications. I’m passionate about customer obsession, and building things that people love

Elain Lockman

Elain brings a truly impressive array of talents, experience and energy to Ata Plus. She has earned her stripes in combats in the last 23 years of her career in management and operations of GLCs and start-ups. Her experience spans across varying sectors, namely Oil and Gas, ICT, Telecommunications, Finance, Carbon Management, F&B, Tourism, Strategic Consulting, Fashion and Franchising. First-hand experiences were gained at Petronas, MDeC, iPerintis, Malaysia Debt Ventures, The Media Shoppe, DiGi Telecommunications, Packet One Networks, Green Science, MSC Management Services and The IA Group. Elain is Board member and Chairman of the Internal Audit Committee of Western Union Payments Malaysia. She also plays an active role in entrepreneurial nurturing activities, providing advice to entrepreneurs in funding, business and operational strategies. Elain graduated from the London School of Economics with a BSc in Actuarial Science and MSc in Operational Research.

Nadhir Ashafiq

Nadhir Ashafiq is the Co-Founder & Executive Director of TheLorry – an on-demand logistics platform that connects customers to lorry, van and 4×4 drivers. He previously co-founded Glokalise, a social networking app and has experience working in air freight logistics and investment banking. He was recently featured in the Forbes Asia 2017’s list of ‘30 under 30’

Riel Temasya

Riel is the founder and CEO of Muslimarket.com, Indonesia’s halal marketplace. His experience is syariah banking and insurance has brought him to be a reputable Islomic entrepreneur.  In this session, Riel will share about his ups-and-downs in running the business of Muslimarket and its new sister, Suqma (suqma.com).

Tomas Laboutka

Mr. Tomas Laboutka is a serial entrepreneur who founded 3 ventures over the past 9 years and has most recently served as Co-Founder and Managing Partner of FL Ventures Ltd, a specialist in advising start-ups on how to expand successfully across Europe. As Project Manager for multinational consultancies, Mr. Tomas Laboutka focused on market entry strategies and matchmaking in Central and Eastern Europe. He was also a member of the Sub-Committee for Entrepreneurship of the National Economic Council of the Czech Government. He earned his CEMS MIM degree from the Rotterdam School of Management and the University of Economics in Prague. As CEO and Co-founder of HotelQuickly Limited, Mr. Tomas Laboutka has built the #1 mobile app for last-minute hotel booking in the Asia Pacific Region. HotelQuickly Limited has grown to 16 countries in Asia including Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia in the last 3 years and is set to change the way people travel spontaneously in the region.

Tan Sri Dato’ Ahmad Fuzi Haji Abdul RazakSecretary General

Tan Sri Dato’ Ahmad Fuzi Haji Abdul Razak was previously the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Malaysia. He joined the Malaysian Diplomatic and Administrative Service in 1972, and served in various capacities at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He also served as Director General, Institute of Diplomacy and Foreign Relations Malaysia; Deputy Secretary General 1, Ambassador-at-Large and Malaysia’s Representative to the ASEAN High Level Task Force (HLTF) on the Drafting of the ASEAN Charter and Malaysia’s Representative to the High Level Panel (HLP) on the Drafting of the Terms of Reference of the ASEAN Human Rights Body.

Currently, he is Secretary-General of the World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation (WIEF) and Chairman of Amanahraya-Reit Managers Sdn Bhd; Seremban Engineering Berhad; Theatre Management Associates Sdn Bhd; Optima Capital Sdn Bhd; Sofgen (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, ACE Holdings Sdn Bhd and IMAN Research Consulting Sdn Bhd.

He is also a member of the Board of Directors of Maybank Islamic Bhd; Puncak Niaga Holdings Berhad; Management Development Institute of Singapore (MDIS) Malaysia Sdn Bhd; MDIS Unicampus Malaysia Sdn Bhd; Alstar Solutions Sdn Bhd; Lejadi Medimax Sdn Bhd and WEROS Technology Sdn Bhd. He is also Advisor, Xadarcorp Sdn Bhd.

In recognition of his service to the nation, he was awarded the AMN (1979), the JSM (1999), the DSPN (1999), the DMPN (2002) the PSM (2003) and the DSLJ (Brunei Darussalam 2014).

Ebrahim PatelChairman

Ebrahim Patel, a South African entrepreneur with a passion for business, started a number of successful ventures. He is the Chairman of TransAfrix Holdings and serves on various company boards.

He is the current National President of the Minara Chamber of Commerce, Deputy Chairperson of Business Forum SA, International Advisory Member of the World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation, Chairman of the WIEF Young Leaders Network, Trustee of the eThekweni Community Foundation and Advisory Board member of the University of KwaZulu Natal ELC.

Ebrahim serves on the KwaZulu Natal Economic Council which advises the provincial government on economic strategy and is a lead member of the KZN Halaal Hub Task Team. He is passionate about youth and entrepreneurship and is regularly asked to speak on various platforms locally and internationally.

Andrew TanVenture Partner

Andrew is a serial entrepreneur and Founding Partner of TinkBig Venture, where he is Venture Partner of the firm’s investment and management team.

Before TinkBig, Andrew was Chief Business Development Officer and a Financial-Services Investor at Appshack Asia. During his position at Appshack, he led investments in 7 startup deals with other venture capital companies. He was also a private-equity investor, where he regularly advised his partners on private-equity deals and fund formation. He successfully listed his company at the MESDAQ Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Securities Exchange where he learned the intricacies of the stock market.

He has been featured in various publications and newspapers as an outstanding entrepreneur. His previous experiences include EBay UK, TESCO, MAVCAP and CGC Malaysia.

Andrew Tan holds a Masters in Ecommerce from Queen Mary University of London.

Ashran Dato’ GhaziChief Executive Officer

Ashran started his career in the Oil & Gas sector with Petronas (MITCO). He Previously led many organisations, serving in positions such as, Chairman of New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF), Chairman of myHarapan, President of Malaysian Association of Bumiputera ICT Industry & Entrepreneurs (NEF), and Deputy Chairman of Global Innovation & Entrepreneurship Foundation (GIEF).

In addition, he also served as an Advisory Board Member to Malaysian Academy of SME & Entrepreneurship Development (MASMED), as well as a Board Member for SME Corp. Malaysia. In 2011, Ashran co-founded Joota, a social content networking site. Joota secured private investments of USD2.1 million with patent and distribution partners in the USA.

His recent initiatives include creating an accelerator for the creative sector via comics –

ComicXcel and a new ASEAN regional award for startups, the Rice Bowl Startup Awards.

Ashran was appointed as the CEO of MaGIC in May 2016. He holds a BA in Business Administration (Finance & CIS) from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.

Dr Sivapalan VivekarajahPresident

Dr Siva, an entrepreneur and Angel Investor over the last 30 years, is the President of the Malaysian Business Angels Network (MBAN), an association that represents high net worth angel investors. He is also a member in the management committee of the Malaysian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (MVCA).

He previously founded and was president of the Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia (TeAM). As an active Angel Investor, he has made many investments in technology companies in education, medical device, Internet based businesses and the User Experience (UX) industry.

He also serves as Chief Investor of Proficeo Ventures Sdn Bhd, an angel investment company, and is Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of Proficeo Consultants, an entrepreneur coaching & mentoring company that has coached more than 1,000 entrepreneurs in Malaysia, over the last 8 years, including the highly successful “Coach & Grow Program” under Cradle Fund and the Ministry of Finance.

He has a PhD in Venture Capital from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Garrick LimBusiness Development Lead

Garrick Lim is the Business Development Lead of Crowdo, a Fintech startup offering a full portfolio of equity crowdfunding and P2P Lending solutions. Crowdo is one of SEA’s largest and longest running crowdfunding operators with over 23,000 members with offices in Jakarta, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Crowdo has been successful in facilitating the largest equity crowdfunding offer as well as the fastest target achievement of an offer in the region. It is the first P2P Lending platform to be licensed in ASEAN, by the Securities Commission of Malaysia, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore. Garrick is one of Malaysia’s equity crowdfunding industry pioneers, having successfully raised millions of capital for startups and SMEs in Malaysia.

Prior to joining Crowdo, Garrick started his career in CIMB Commercial Banking. He has vast experience in commercial lending to SMEs and corporates across various industries and was awarded the winner of the CIMB CEO Challenge in 2014. Garrick holds a Bachelor’s degree of Economics from the University of Malaya.  As a recognised thought leader within the Fintech Industry, Garrick has spoken at the SMIDEX SME Showcase 2016 by SME Corp, the MSC Malaysia Funding Awareness 2016 by MDEC, and at the ISPIM Innovation pre-conference 2016.

Henry LokeChief Financial Officer

Over a career spaning 16 years in the banking industry, Henry Loke has gained extensive experience in credit evaluation, project financing, debt capital markets and treasury. He is passionate about early stage funding and has, to date, funded over 15 startups.

Henry started his career, at the inception of the local debt capital markets in 2000, in debt capital markets (DCM) with AmInvestment Bank. He was involved in over 20 corporate and infrastructure financing. Previously, he was Vice President of the Treasury in Citibank. His experiences include dealing with local rates, credit, G10, FX and derivatives.

Hideki FujitaFounder

Hideki Fujita is Founder of SEGNEL Ventures, which invests in the Seed stage startups in Asia, such as Kfit, Favful, Helpr, Spotnews, SaltyCustoms, Tapway, WatchOverMe. He has over 10 years experience of investment in startups achieving notable investments in the Asian region, including Full Speed Inc., SMS Co. Ltd, and Rentracks Co. Ltd., GoGoVan, Prenetics among others.

Prior to SEGNEL, Hideki was Co-Founder of COENT Venture Partners and worked for GREE and JAFCO.

Imran JumabhoyInvestor

Imran is part of the investment team in B Capital’s Singapore office, dealing with Southeast Asian and Indian companies. B Capital is a global venture fund, focusing on Series B investments.

Prior to working at B Capital, Imran worked for Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in the Los Angeles office. His work at BCG was primarily in corporate development, and his experience spans a range of industries including TMT, industrial goods, and financial and consumer services.

Imran holds an undergraduate degree from Cambridge University, and a Master’s degree from MIT in Finance.

Jamal NassarCoach & Trainer

Jamal carries a diverse cultural and professional background with expertise in marketing, strategic planning, policy development, coaching and training, spread across a number of industries starting with Telecom, FMCG, to microfinance and social media.

Jamal is currently pursuing a Doctorate degree at INCEIF (2013-2017), with his thesis titled “Financing Tech Startups in Malaysia and examining the role of Islamic Finance”. He is examining the role of the startup ecosystem in accelerating growth and development while focusing on emerging financing practices and fundraising for tech startups.

Jamal delivers tailored workshops to young talent, startups and executives of multinational corporations within Southeast Asia. The workshops conducted by Jamal focus on culture hacking, entrepreneurship, personal development, youth leadership, and personal branding. He occasionally participates in local and international conferences as a participating speaker and presenter.

Jermaine LimCo-Founder and Incubator in Residence

Jermaine is a graduate from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). Her professional experiences include assurance and corporate recovery consulting.

She co-founded a beauty services startup aiming to
empower men and women and was selected as one of the 100 Most Inspiring Real Women by Singtel & Cozycot International Women’s Day 2011.

In year 2012, She joined ECO Group Sdn Bhd, an international interior fit out company, as a Business Development Director, focusing on corporate offices remodelling services in Singapore and Johor.

Since 2015, She returned to Malaysia following her aspiration to invest more on people and businesses. She invested in Alphacap Berhad, an incubator venture capital firm with a group of angel investors from around the region. As an Incubator in Residence, she manages startups incubation programmes with the mission to build investment grade companies in ASEAN.

Jin TanPrincipal Partner

Jin Tan has experience in overseeing the creation of a handful of startups & fundraising activities. He was the Co-Founder of Appshack, which has successfully sold off.

He was also the head of IT teams in several MNC companies, and a corporate financial executive at a USA listed venture. His love for technology pushed him to start MyBrandApp, a company that offers unique mobile innovative solutions in the market.

In addition to his expertise in mobile apps, and marketing & branding strategies, Jin also serves as the CEO of iSmartPhoto & OnGraph technologies in Malaysia. Leading and managing several tech projects, won him several business entrepreneur awards in the fast-paced technology industry.

Currently, he is the Principal Partner at TinkBig Venture, a venture capital fund in Asia.

Koichi SaitoFounder and General Partner

Koichi Saito is Founder & General Partner of KK Fund, a venture capital fund investing in Seed stage internet and mobile startups across Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

He previously worked at IMJ Investment Partners as Director and is responsible for IMJ’s investments throughout Southeast Asia. Prior to IMJ, Koichi worked at Private Equity Fund, founded by George Soros, and Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

Koichi holds an MA degree in Business Administration from IE Business School in Spain.

Kuo-Yi LimManaging Director and Founding Partner

Kuo-Yi is a founding partner at Monk’s Hill Ventures, an early-stage tech venture fund focused on Southeast Asia. Prior to that, Kuo-Yi was the CEO of Infocomm Investments, a USD200 million venture fund based in Singapore, globally investing in technology startups.

At Infocomm Investments, Kuo-Yi led investments in Twilio, Dataxu, Reebonz, Quid, Gengo, DS3 and other leading startups. Kuo-Yi has been a founder, early employee, mentor and angel investor of early-stage technology startups, spanning the USA and Asia.

Previously, he was a senior sales executive at Encentuate by IBM and Reputation Technologies by Security Sources. Kuo-Yi started his career as a strategy consultant at the Boston Consulting Group.

He holds a Bachelor’s, Master’s and doctorate degree in electrical engineering from MIT, where he did pioneering research in nanophotonics.

Kyri AndreouCo-Founder and Director

Kyri, a British national, has resided in Malaysia for over 20 years. He is an entrepreneur with extensive branding, marketing and strategic planning experience in the advertising and IT sectors, nationally and internationally. He has 17 years of experience in marketing and branding for international agencies such as Batey Advertising, Saatchi & Saatchi, Dentsu and Young & Rubicam.

For the past 10 years, Kyri ventured into ICT software development and brand consultancy. He has a special interest in social entrepreneurship, sustainable business ideas & Islamic peer-to-peer micro-financing.

Kyri has a BA in business studies from the University of North London.

Lucy LuoInvestment Analyst

Lucy is on the investment team at Monk’s Hill Ventures, a venture capital fund that invests into technology startups across Southeast Asia. Prior to this, she used to be a corporate lawyer for tech companies in New Zealand.

Lucy’s experiences include co-founding an eco-friendly startup, and doing business development for tech startups at an accelerator. She graduated with double degrees in Law (Hons) and Finance from the University of Auckland.

Mahadhir AzizGeneral Manager

Mahadhir has 18 years of experience in various industries including financial services, energy (Oil & Gas), public sector, information technology (systems integration) and internet & media (Publication). He also spent time in established organisations, such as Deloitte Consulting, Petronas, AmInvestment Bank and Kodak.

Mahadhir, a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) since 2007, joined Cyberview in 2014 as Head of the Technology Hub Development Division. His current role includes the responsibility to formulate, develop and implement strategies to elevate Cyberjaya into a Global Technology Hub through alliances with international and domestic industry players, effectively increasing both FDI and DDI into Malaysia while promoting job creation activities.

He currently chairs the Cyberjaya City Innovation Council to spearhead the implementation of smart city initiatives in Cyberjaya. He holds a BSc in Computer Science with a minor in Business from Lakehead University, Canada.

Manabu “Morgan” MiyazakiPrincipal

Before coming to IMJ Investment Partners, with the desire to support innovation in Japan in 2015, Manabu’s experience primarily was in the field of digital marketing. He joined Dentsu in 2011, where he focused on clients in e-commerce and finance and specialized in delivering marketing strategy utilizing digital media such as PPC, SEO, and SNS. In 2014, Manabu joined the Cool Japan team, where his tasks included business development and event management.

Manabu holds a Master’s degree in Technology Management for Innovation from the Engineering Department at Tokyo University.

Nurfarini DaingChief Executive Officer

Nurfarini is Co-Founder and CEO at myHarapan, a Foundation established in 2010 dedicated to helping youth achieve their true potential by empowering them to make positive social impact. She was previously the General Manager for over a year before assuming her role as CEO.

She has 17 years of startup experience including training and coaching for SMEs and unemployed graduates. She worked with the Multimedia Development Corporation of Malaysia and headed the Project Management & IT services unit under the Technopreneurs Development Department.

She is an Alumni of the INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Program 2011 and has a Certificate in Teaching from Stamford College. In Feb 2015, she won the Social Innovation Leadership Award by World CSR Congress, India. She is also member of the Social Return on Investment Network, SEALA and the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network. In 2015, she was a nominee for the Malaysian Great Women of our Time Award by the Women’s Weekly.

She is a frequent contributor and speaker at social entrepreneurship conferences, such as The International Social Entrepreneurship Affair, Hanoi 2012, Global Social Business Summit (GSBS) Vienna 2012, GSBS Malaysia 2013, The Micro Finance Summit Philippines 2013, IWFCIS Women’s Award Singapore 2013, WIEF Idealab KL 2015, and Case Malaysia 2015 among others.

myHarapan or the Youth Trust Foundation, was established in August 2010 and has since then engaged over 25,000 Malaysian youth and funded over 120 various social initiatives. myHarapan is a social business advocate which also co-organized the Global Social Business Summit 2013, and launched their Social Venture/Business Fund to provide access to funding for startup Youth-Driven Social Businesses and Entrepreneurs.

Nurfarini graduated from the University of Warwick, UK, in Accounting and Finance.

Raja Teh Maimunah Raja Abdul AzizManaging Director and Chief Executive Officer

Raja Teh Maimunah has over 20 years of experience in banking and finance, focusing on areas of Islamic and investment banking. Currently she is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hong Leong Islamic Bank Berhad.

Previously, she was the Global Head of Islamic Markets at Bursa Malaysia, Chief Corporate Officer and Head of International Business at Kuwait Finance House Malaysia, CEO of Bank AlKhair Malaysia (previously Unicorn Investment Bank), and Head of Investment Banking at RHB Sakura Merchant Bank (now RHB Investment Bank).

She also served in Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional Berhad (Malaysia’s national asset management and debt recovery agency) during the Asian financial crisis in 1998 and was with CIMB Investment Bank over a period of almost 10 years covering debt and equity origination and equity sales.

Raja Teh is the Adviser on Islamic Banking and Finance to the World Islamic Economic Forum Foundation, a Board Member of IBFIM (Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia), a member of the Islamic Finance Committee for the Malaysian Institute of Accountants, and a member of the Chartered Institute of Islamic Finance Professionals (CIIF). She also sits on the Board of Hong Leong MSIG Takaful, and on the committee of Pertubuhan Tindakan Wanita Islam (PERTIWI)

She holds an LLB (Hons) from the University of East London, United Kingdom and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from the same university.

Awards:

• Best Performance Regional – Southeast Asia (The World Islamic Banking Conference 2015)
• Best Performance Country – Malaysia (The World Islamic Banking Conference 2015)
• Brand Icon – Transformational Corporate Leader Award 2015, the Brand Laureate
• Best Bank for Digital Innovation, Asset Triple A Asian Awards 2015
• Women of Excellence Awards – ‘Outstanding Achievement’ Award under the CEO category, 2014, from the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development
• The most talented woman professional in Islamic banking, 2014, from The Asia Islamic Banking Excellence Awards, Singapore
• Best Islamic Banking in Malaysia, Capital Finance International (CfI.co), 2014
• Islamic Finance Deal of the Year, Global Finance Awards, 2014
• Best Sukuk Deal 2014, Global Islamic Finance Awards (GIFA 2014)

Timothy ClarkChief Technology Officer

Timothy Clark is an Angel Investor and accredited member of the Malaysian Business Angels Network (MBAN). After joing MBAN in April 2016, he has seen investment pitches from more than 25 startups. Tim has been based in Malaysia since 2012, during which he initiated, and has been involved in, a number of start-ups under the Al-Bhukary Group, including ALTEL Communications and NET2ONE. ALTEL has grown into an MVNO/MNO operation with RM5 million in annual revenue and NET2ONE with more than RM20 million. From 2007 to 2010, he invested and raised VC funding to develop a Silicon Valley start-up from scratch which went on to raise more than USD70 million in Series D funding and has recently launched Timing-as-a-Service (TaaS) across several US Metros.

Tim currently serves as Chief Technical Officer for ALTEL Communication Sdn Bhd. His 20 years of experience working in the telecommunications sector has included a two-year stint as a Board Level Director for the Malaysia Technical Standards Forum.

Victor ChuaInvestment Manager

Victor is an investment manager at Gobi MAVCAP, investing in early-stage high-growth tech companies. He is also associated with 500 startups, through their ASEAN extension, 500 Durians.

Prior to that, he had several years of investment consulting experience with a global consulting firm, where his portfolio of clients were sovereign wealth funds, pension funds and other institutional entities in Southeast Asia.

Ahmad SabreeCrowdfunding Consultant

Ahmad Sabree has provided core strategic advisory services to the team behind the Ramadan Legacy App in Scotland, and assisted in the formulation and execution of their crowdfunding campaign which raised 141% of its targeted funding goal.

He currently consults for Business & Shariah Development at EthisCrowd.com and also continues to write and present about crowdfunding at various events.

He completed his BA in Islamic Jurisprudence from the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in 2011 and MSc in Islamic Banking and Finance from IIUM’s Institute of Islamic banking and Finance (IIiBF) in 2015. He specialised in crowdfunding and alternative finance, with his Master’s degree thesis subject “Adapting Crowdfunding for SME Financing in Malaysia”.

Kamarul Bahrin Bin HaronTV journalist, editor and anchor

Kamarul Bahrin Bin Haron is a well established TV journalist, editor and anchor in Malaysia with 20 years of experience in reporting and producing news & current affairs content. Kamarul is currently the Executive Editor in charge of editorial operations for the increasingly popular 24 hours News and Current Affairs channel in Malaysia called Astro Awani.

This bachelor of broadcasting graduate from Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang goes live on prime time TV and web streaming every Monday to Friday discussing the latest and most relevant issues of the day in his own talk show called Agenda Awani. His favorite focus areas include globalisation, sustainability, innovation, social enterprise, human capital and entrepreneurship.

His passion to seek and highlight truth and knowledge through journalism has seen him critically engaging top local and international subject matter experts including more than a dozen Nobel laureates, country leaders like Prime Minister David Cameron and Dr Mahathir Mohamed, business leaders like Las Vegas Sand’s Sheldon Adelson, technopreneurs like Biz Stone (Twitter) and also public intellectuals from civil society like Bunker Roy (India’s Barefoot College) and Dr Muhammad Yunus (Grameen Bank).

James DigbyCo-Founder, Founding Chairman

James Digby is a Founding Partner at the Global Startup Awards, a pan regional startup competition that recognises entrepreneurs and their respective supporting ecosystems in 25 countries around the world. He also co-founded the award-winning startup incubator Rockstart Accelerator in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

As a seasoned board member, most recently with Louisiana State University (LSU), James has also served on the management team and was a personal mentor for a number of startups that have gone on to raise significant funding and global traction, recently with the award-winning AIRTAME wireless HDMI streaming device that became the most publicly backed crowd funded project in Europe on Indiegogo of all time.

James has more than a decade of entrepreneurial experience working with startups and corporations like Samsung, and public organisations such as the Saïd Business School at Oxford University and the Kauffman Foundation to development innovation & strategy workshops as well as lecture on entrepreneurial techniques with a focus on ‘lean’ methodologies and global connections.

Udesh ChaskarCo-Founder and CEO

Chaskar, with entrepreneurship experience over the past 11 years, is a tech expert as well as a known figure in the youth development industry. He has ventured into many areas including the setting up of an Asia TV reality show, and setting up a youth organisation called Osiris International.

Currently he works with several government agencies, he is trailblazing the ASEAN Smart Network Initiative, under AllChat World.

THOMAS TSAOMANAGING DIRECTOR

Tom is a co-founder and the  General Partner. He has  over two decades  of experience in venture  capital, fund management,  and investment  banking in China and the United States.  Tom was the former CEO of DMG and the Exec. Producer for the award-winning subway soap opera, A Sunny Day. Tom was a co-founder of the Beijing Technology Development Fund, one of China’s earliest USD venture funds. Prior to the BTDF, Tom  was a Director of investment banking at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson, covering the TMT  sector. Tom graduated  from Harvard College where he received a B.A. in economics.

MOHIT GULATIVICE PRESIDENT

With a passion to mentor young entrepreneurs and help them create  future- ready businesses,  Gulati co-founded Oliphans Capital, an early stage angel fund. He has represented  Oliphans at several startup  conclaves such as the Dublin Web summit, VCCircle events, FICCI startup meets and etc.

As part of Oliphans Capital’s CSR initiatives, Gulati has also been an active part of FICCI Flo, the women entrepreneurship arm of the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), mentoring emerging women entrepreneurs.

Gulati was  part  of Antique  Finance’s Asia Institutional Equities Sales  Desk, servicing hedge funds based in South East Asia. Some of the key positions held by Gulati include Board Observer of ECOm Express, Board Observer of Localbanya. com, Board Member of Grab In, and Board Member of OnlineRTI.com.

Gulati holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from Pune University, India.

JAMAL NASSARCHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

Jamal is a coach and trainer specialised in inter-cultural communication, financial planning and business strategy. Jamal conducts executive workshops in South East Asia and Middle East, serving MNCs and fortune 500 companies.

Jamal had served as a marketing manager, product and service manager, and a managing director with local, multinational and global corporations in different industries  from telecom, internet,  education  to  micro-finance. He has  also recently worked with Facebook as an online advertising expert and business manager.

Jamal holds an MBA in Strategic Management, a bachelor degree in Advertising. Jamal is also a pursuing a PhD in Islamic Finance.

BIRUNTHA L. MOORUTHIVICE PRESIDENT, COMMERCIALISATION SPECIALIST

Biruntha started her career in IP as a patent specialist with one of the leading IP firms in Malaysia. Succeeding her career in patents, Biru joined British Telecoms as  an  Industry  Partnership  Executive where  she  specialised  in technology transfer  and  commercialisation of BT’s  R&D  in the  South East  Asia region, developing strategic  partnership  channels  for BT  with the  local government based agencies, universities and private organisations. She also had the experience of extracting commercial benefits from R&D and identifying potential licensing opportunities for BT.

Biru was a member judge of the International Panel of Judges for ITEX Malaysia in 2006, 2008 and 2009. She is also a member of the Malaysian Intellectual Property Association (MIPA) and a Registered Patent, Trademark & ID Agent from the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation  (MyIPO).

AZRUL REZACHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Azrul is currently the Chief Operating Officer of Marna Capital Sdn Bhd.

Previously, he was  with Naza Corporation Holdings Sdn Bhd as  the Head of Strategy & Business Development, and was involved in the group re-organisation programme that led to the company’s rapid expansion locally and regionally.

During his banking days, he was responsible in establishing and managing newly setup businesses handled by Kuwait Finance House. He was also responsible in structuring and managing close-ended funds, one of which received “The Most Innovative Islamic Real Estate Financing Award” at 2009 London Sukuk Summit Islamic Finance Award.

Azrul also serves as an advisor to a number of startups and entrepreneurs.  He is the mentor for Watchtower & Friends (an initiative by Ministry of Finance to enhance the startup  ecosystem  in Malaysia), Young Corporate Malaysians and Enactus Malaysia.

JAMALUDIN BUJANGCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Jamaludin is currently the Chief Executive of MAVCAP, a wholly-owned venture capital firm of the Ministry of Finance Inc. He joined MAVCAP in 2011 from another state-owned   VC,   Malaysian Technology Development Corp, specialising  in biotechnology investments.  Prior to that, he was  an Investment Analyst with a number of local and international firms over a period of 15 years, specialising in the  energy  and  telecommunications  sectors.  He graduated  with  BBA  in Economics and Masters in Laws from the Wichita State University, USA and from the International Islamic University, Malaysia. He is currently the Chairman of Malaysian Venture Capital Association and a member of the Malaysian Venture Capital Development Council.

JOHAN ISHAKEXCO

Johan is a Chartered Accountant by training from the Institute  of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA). He served over a decade at accounting firms such as PricewaterhouseCoopers  (PwC) and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States of America territories.

His industry  experience  during the  turn  of the  millennium exposed  him to various corporate restructuring in Malaysia. This has helped him shape a unique approach in analysing deals.

His commercial experience includes public listed entities such as Media Prima Berhad and Petronas. Currently, he manages MyCreative Ventures Sdn. Bhd., an investment arm of the Malaysian Minister of Finance Incorporated that focuses on debt and equity financing for the Malaysian creative industry.

TRACY WONGASSOCIATE

Tracy has a background in Dispute Resolution where she has assisted in the preparation and conduct of various legal proceedings, with a particular emphasis in the area of general civil litigation,  shipping and land acquisition. She advises on corporate transactions,  specifically in relation to mergers & acquisition and corporate takeovers. She is also involved in general corporate and commercial transactions where she advises corporations on various matters  ranging from the incorporation of the company to the various regulatory aspects  involved in the operations of a company. Tracy also advises on other areas  such as the personal data protection act and trade laws.

ZACKY ZAINAL HUSEINPARTNER

Zacky is currently a partner in the M&A  practice group of Assegaf Hamzah & Partners  (AHP) law firm.  Prior to AHP, Zacky was Group Head Legal at one of Indonesia’s largest telecommunication companies, PT Indosat TBK, who provided legal support for matters  ranging from corporate, business  development, marketing,  sales   &   new  products,  network,  infrastructures,   and  dispute resolution.

Before PT  Indosat TBK,  Zacky was  a member of the  Legal Review and Law Enforcement Unit of the  Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) Task Force. Prior to that, he practiced law successively in a number of top-tier Jakarta law firms, focusing on banking and finance, structured finance/derivatives, mergers and acquisitions, competition, infrastructure, mining, forestry, and general corporate. Zacky also managed the law programmes of The Asia Foundation in Indonesia, working on legal reform and development efforts in the justice sector.

DEEVYA DESAIREGIONAL POLICY AND RESEARCH MANAGER

Desai is Regional Policy and Research Manager at GrabTaxi (known as MyTeksi in Malaysia),  the  largest  taxi-booking mobile phone application in Southeast Asia with a strong social mission. Her role, which includes research to quantify GrabTaxi’s  social impact  across  the  region, is completely aligned with  her personal passion of driving social impact through entrepreneurship.

Prior to that, she worked as a lawyer in Australia, specialising in giving advice on issues relating to property rights and land access.

Deevya studied  Law and  International  Relations at  The Australian National

University and INSEAD.

RICHARD “D-CAL” DACALOSFOUNDER

Richard “D-cal” Dacalos is an educator, entrepreneur and coach.

His company, the  Social Play and Innovation Network (SPIN)  brings together professionals from different disciplines to solve social problems through business. Through SPIN and its programmes, he has empowered underserved youth  in  areas   like leadership,  communication, project  management   and entrepreneurship.

More recently,  he  created  and  co-organised  “The Collaborative Carnival” – Southeast  Asia’s First Collaboration Festival that  brought 300 change makers and entrepreneurs from around the world to co-create  and collaborate for a better future.

He had served as a coach and mentor for WIEF’s Young Fellows Programme, Hack the Climate, Shaping Davos: Manila and Watson’s Institute. He is also a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum, module developer, writer, certified green building consultant, licensed real estate broker and martial arts teacher.

RAJA TEH MAIMUNAH RAJA ABDUL AZIZCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Raja Teh is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Hong Leong Islamic Bank, and also holds the position of Chief Operating Officer for Digital Innovation & Transactional Banking of Hong Leong Bank.

Prior to her current appointment, she was the Global Head of Islamic Markets at Bursa Malaysia, Chief Corporate Officer and Head of International Business at Kuwait Finance House Malaysia,  CEO of Bank AlKhair Malaysia,  and Head of Investment Banking at RHB Sakura Merchant Bank.

She had also served in Malaysia’s national asset management and debt recovery agency, CIMB Investment Bank and KPMG Peat Marwick Consultants.

Raja Teh is the Advisor on Islamic Banking and Finance to the WIEF Foundation, a Board Member of Islamic Banking and Finance Institute Malaysia, and a member of the Islamic Finance Committee for the Malaysian Institute of Accountants. She also sits on the Board of Hong Leong MSIG Takaful.

MUZAFFAR HISHAMCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Muzaffar is responsible for managing and setting  the key strategies for the Group’s Islamic banking business,  and  overseeing  the  divisions of product management,  global markets,  business  development, Shariah management, strategic management as well as risk management.

Prior to joining Maybank, Muzaffar was the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of CIMB Islamic Bank and a member of the Board of Directors of CIMB Insurance Brokers. He also worked at  CIMB  Investment  Bank, HSBC  Amanah, Amanah Merchant Bank, Amanah Short Deposits and Asian International Merchant Bankers.

Muzaffar is the Chairman of the Standards  Committee, Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM), Member of H.M. Treasury U.K. Global Islamic Finance and Investment Group, Board of Director of ANFAAL Capital, Saudi Arabia, and a member of INCEIF Professional Development Panel.

In 2013, he received the Asset Triple  A Award Islamic Banker of the Year.

ELAIN LOCKMANDIRECTOR AND CO-FOUNDER

Elain brings a truly impressive array of talents,  experience and energy to Ata Plus. She has earned her stripes in combats in the last 23 years of her career in management and operations of GLCs and startups. Her experience spans across varying sectors,  namely Oil and Gas, ICT, Telecommunications, Finance, Carbon Management,  F&B,  Tourism, Strategic  Consulting, Fashion  and  Franchising. First-hand experiences were gained at Petronas, MDeC, iPerintis, Malaysia Debt Ventures, The Media Shoppe, DiGi Telecommunications, Packet One Networks, Green Science, MSC  Management Services and The IA  Group. Elain is Board Member and  Chairman of the  Internal  Audit Committee of Western  Union Payments Malaysia. She also plays an active role in entrepreneurial nurturing activities, providing advice to entrepreneurs in funding, business and operational strategies.  Elain graduated from the London School of Economics with a BSc in Actuarial Science and MSc in Operational Research.

FRANCIS CHANASSOCIATE

Since being called to  the  Singapore Bar in 2013 after  graduating  from the Singapore Management University, Francis has been developing his speciality in commercial dispute resolution as well as insurance  litigation and advisory work. He has  acted  for clients of different levels ranging from multi-national insurance companies to startups and individual clients. In his first two years of practice, Francis has successfully defended various companies, including one multi-national main-contractor, against fatal and non-fatal personal injury claims by their former employees and former employee’s estate.

Francis is also part of the Rajah & Tann Business Fundamentals Practice Group which provides cost-effective and affordable legal solutions tailored specifically for Small Medium Businesses/Enterprises. To date, the Business Fundamentals Practice Group has  assisted many SMBs/SMEs in various corporate  drafting/ advisory matters  and in dispute  resolution. Despite being a litigation lawyer, Francis is also a strong  advocate  of alternative  dispute  resolution such  as mediation which, through experience, has enabled his clients to achieve not only the best possible outcome, but also to preserve valuable business relationships between the parties.

NATTARAT BOONYATAPPARTNER

Nattarat  is a Partner in the Corporate & Commercial  Practice of Rajah & Tann (Thailand) Limited, the Bangkok Office of Rajah & Tann LLP. Nattarat graduated with a Bachelor of Law from Thammasat University in 1995 and Master of Law from Washington College of Law, American University, in 2001. Nattarat  is a licensed Thai lawyer, and is fluent in Thai and English.

Nattarat  has  more than  18  years  of experience specialising in foreign direct investment and general corporate commercial matters  for foreign companies in Thailand and businesses wishing to invest in Thailand. His experience includes representing clients in the automotive, hospitality and financial services sector, as  well as  industrial manufacturing, chemical, electronic, food and beverage, agriculture products and construction businesses. Nattarat also has substantial experience in contacting and liaising with government authorities and working with litigation lawyers in civil and commercial matters.

IZMIR MUJABCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Izmir Mujab is the Chief Executive Officer of IZI Media  Group  Sdn Bhd. He brings his vast experience in the creation and financing of new businesses to the table. A graduate of Curtin University, Australia, he started  many companies and grew them into commercially successful ventures. Izmir oversees the overall direction, strategy, marketing, and client relationship of the company.

ZALFIAN FUZICHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Zalfian is the Chief Operating Officer of IZI  Media Group Sdn. Bhd. where he specialises  in creating  viral videos for clients.  His company currently runs Malaysia’s number 1  Youtube channel with the most views, maxman.tv. He is responsible  for producing, programming, and acquiring content  to broadcast across web, OTT, mobile, cable, and IPTV platforms to create new niche premium media platforms.

Zalfian is also the Artistic Director/CEO of Theatre Management Associates Sdn. Bhd., which he established to implement plans in arts management education & training, co-production & touring, and infrastructure  development. His company comprises a world-class team of practitioners, arts entrepreneurs,  and creative people with vast experience in, developing, delivering and operating vibrant arts centres, theatres, galleries and music venues.

FADZARUDIN ANUARCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Fadzarudin, 26, co-founded Fashion Valet with his partner,  Vivy Yusof,  while he was working in Deloitte Consulting Malaysia, juggling both jobs for months before finally resigning 8 months after Fashion Valet was fully established. He now heads a team of 25 in Fashion Valet, formulating the company’s strategy, and leading its marketing and business development.

Fashion Valet is now one of Malaysia’s largest online fashion and beauty retailers with an emphasis  on home-grown designer products. Customers are treated to  more than  10,000 unique products  from over two  hundred brands  from Southeast Asia.

Fadza actively speaks about his experiences in universities and entrepreneurship events. He has also given talks on entrepreneurship and e-commerce at industry events such as the Kuala Lumpur International Trade Fair organised by MATRADE.

During his time in Deloitte Consulting Malaysia, Fadza was exposed to C-suite professionals in both the public and private sectors. He worked with clients such as SEGi University, Tradewinds  Bhd. and FELDA for projects involving corporate restructuring and strategy development.

Fadza was born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, and he holds Masters in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College London.

DARHIM HASHIMCHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

As the Chief Financial Officer in Cita Kapital, Darhim is responsible for overseeing a portfolio of companies in various sectors.

Prior to that, he was the Founding Partner of Azka Capital, an independent private equity advisory firm specialising in the fast-growing Halal products and services sector. He also served on the Board of Directors of International Halal Integrity Alliance (IHI Alliance), where he was previously the Chief Executive Officer.

Darhim brought the Halal agenda to the global stage  as  the Chief Executive Officer of IHI Alliance. Through a strategic collaboration with the Islamic Chamber of Commerce & Industry, he secured a mandate to develop an international Halal standard  and regulatory framework under the  auspices  of the  Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).  He has been invited to share  his knowledge and experience on various media and was also interviewed for leading publications namely  Time, Forbes and The New York Times. Darhim has been a regular speaker at numerous Halal-related conferences and events covering 23 countries.

Darhim holds a Bachelor’s Degree with Honours in A.C.A.

JUMAATUN AZMIFOUNDER AND MANAGING DIRECTOR

Jumaatun  is  the  Founder and  Managing Director of the  KasehDia Group of Companies, which are active in the areas  of communication, advisory and halal assurance  systems since 1999. Under her leadership, KasehDia provided strategic consultations for businesses and governments, and has created game changing global forums and media products that sparked the worldwide paradigm shift on the term ‘halal’.

KasehDia became the world pioneer in concept-based  (halal) communication and developmental systems. In 2003, it launched an integrated global initiative on the ‘halal industry’, a term which it coined. In 2014, she founded KasehDia Capital to provide private equity advisory and to bridge the halal and ethical sectors  with Islamic finance.

Jumaatun’s key halal Initiatives include the World Halal Forum Global Initiatives and the Global Halal Lead Auditor Training and Consultation for the Government of Malaysia for the Halal Chapter in Malaysia’s 3rd Industrial Master Plan (2006-2020). Her media products include The Halal Journal, Halal Food Guide Series, Muslim Travel Guide Series.

Jumaatun is also the Founder and Executive Director of the International Halal Integrity Alliance (IHI), a not-for-profit international organisation set up to develop and implement world-class halal standards, assurance systems and developmental programmes.

As an Associate Fellow of the New York-based  Asia Society, her other interests involve Islamic art, values-based entertainment,  natural wellness, environmental technology, sustainable agriculture and education.

Due to Jumaatun’s prolific and cutting edge ideas, her companies have been featured on the cover of TIME magazine and in The New York Times,  Asia Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Forbes, Guardian UK, Bloomberg and The Economist among others.

YUSUF JAFFARMANAGING DIRECTOR

Yusuf Jaffar is the head of Social Enterprise Ventures (SEV) at the Youth Trust Foundation, also known as  myHarapan. SEV  is building Malaysia’s first social impact fund whose investees  will be made up exclusively of social enterprises and  businesses.   He also  leads  the  investment  team  at  IdeasGate.Biz, an online platform that  brings together  venture  capitalists,  angel investors  and corporations from around the world to invest in innovative ideas within Asia. Previously, he worked in the field of corporate finance and held a position with the Securities Commission Malaysia.

RANI WEMELCO-FOUNDER

Rani Wemel, COO and co-founder of LTT Global, a global pioneer in mobile learning started  from her dining table with a vision to make learning accessible  and affordable for all. Her years of experience and diverse background in finance, PR, branding and law contributed much to her present success. MyMobileUniversity, her global initiative is a free holistic learning site. She is the co-founder of Mobile Industry Group (MOBIG)  and the  Asia Pacific Mobile  Learning &  Edutainment Advisory Panel (APACMLEAP).  A proud finalist of “teleworking mums” she is also a nominee for the Prime Minister’s Woman Entrepreneur 2011 Award  and Woman Social Activist 2011 Award. She is a member of the United Nations Global Alliance for ICT and Development (UN-GAID) and Open Education Europa and a selected mentee  for the  Cherie Blair Foundation. She serves  as  a  mentor, speaker, panelists, honorary advisor for global companies and sits on committees driving the mobile sector.

EDMOND YAPFOUNDER

Edmond left engineering, a career of 5 years, to pursue a lifelong dedication for educating people. In 2008, he became a consultant  for Dale Carnegie training, consulting for major corporations  on people development. In 2009 he began his  journey  in entrepreneurship   by starting  Education Republic, a  training organisation focused on people performance. In 2012, he co-founded EduNation in order to give free online tuition to all Malaysian school children.

Now with 2000 videos online, 20,000 users a month and doubling to 40,000 users in 2015, EduNation  is beginning to make an impact to Malaysian education. Now with EduNation well on its way, Edmond is expanding his focus to assisting teachers in their professional development.

Education is all Edmond thinks about and he will not stop till Malaysia becomes a regional example of excellence in education.

ARIZ RAMLIFOUNDER

Ariz  is  the  Founder  of  Classruum.com, an  e-learning  platform  that  allows educators to share innovative teaching materials and interact with the students, making learning more enjoyable yet efficient. Classruum.com aims to create  a new generation of Edu-preneurs and revitalise the spirit of learning among the youth.

MIKE MICHALECMANAGING DIRECTOR

Mike has  a keen interest  in the use  of mobile and Internet  technologies for improved social and economic development outcomes coupled with a strong passion for innovation and entrepreneurship within the education sector. He has extensive experience working with multilateral organisations  and the private sector as an international development consultant on education and technology initiatives. Mike is currently the managing director of EdTech Asia, a consultancy, research, and event company that fosters  a community of edtech enthusiasts with member groups in a dozen cities throughout Asia.

NGUYEN PHUONG NGANFOREIGN LEGAL ADVISOR

Ngan is a member of the Vietnam Group. Her practice spans  a wide range of corporate  and commercial legal areas,  focused  primarily on the  Vietnamese market. Ngan’s graduate degree in corporate and financial services law from the National University of Singapore, and her time working in Singapore, assists her to provide keen insight into the issues facing foreign investors seeking to invest in and carry out business in Vietnam.

Ngan has been active in advising clients, foreign and Vietnamese, on investment and business related activities in Vietnam. She has also been exposed to a variety of local and cross-border transactions,  mergers and acquisitions. Furthermore, Ngan worked as an in-house lawyer for one of the largest foreign-owned retail companies operating in Vietnam, which provided her with keen insight into the trading and distribution sector in Vietnam.

FLORESITA GANFOREIGN LEGAL ADVISOR

Prior to joining the Firm, Floresita was one of the members of the management team  as  a Partner  at  one of Makati City, Philippines’  well-known law firms. Floresita was  also often called upon as  a regular guest  from 2005-2013 as an on-camera TV expert resource person on areas  of law in matters  of public interest. She also served as a Board Director and Corporate Secretary for several corporations.

As part of KCP’s Corporate and Commercial Department and a key member of its Thailand Practice Group, coupled with her demonstrated  strong background and wide-ranging knowledge practicing in a mixed civil and common law jurisdiction, Floresita is well-positioned to assist  clients in a wide range of corporate and commercial matters relating to the Philippines, Thailand and other jurisdictions.

Floresita graduated  from the  University of the  Philippines with a Bachelor’s

Degree in Law.

MARLON WUIPARTNER (FOREIGN LAWYER)

Marlon is actively involved and assists in a variety of corporate and commercial transactions in Southeast  Asia, including Myanmar, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and  Cambodia. Marlon’s diverse  practice  portfolio currently  spans mergers  and  acquisitions, joint ventures,  mining, oil and  gas,  investments, corporate restructurings, and the establishment of offshore private equity funds.

Before joining the  firm, Marlon practiced  as  an  associate  at  SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan Law Offices and thereafter  as a partner at a general law partnership based in Makati City, Philippines. He also acted as special legal counsel to a Philippine government agency. In 2003-2005, he was also part of the delegation that  represented  the Philippines in treaty  negotiations  at  the United Nations Offices in Vienna, Austria, for the  United Nations Convention Against Corruption as well as related agreements  involving the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime.

JAY FAJARDOCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Jay is a serial tech entrepreneur, a coder, and a soccer player.

He is  currently  the  Founder  and  Chief Executive Officer of  a  Ruby web development company Proudcloud, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of a health and tech startup Medifi, and the Founder of Launchgarage, an innovation hub based in Manila.

In 2002, he founded Wi-Fi hotspot network Airborne Access, which was acquired by PLDT in 2008. Holding roles as director, advisor, and mentor in various tech startups in Manila, Jay is considered to be one of the pioneers and thought leaders of the Philippines’ tech startup scene.

Jay regularly speaks  at local and international forums on the South East Asian startup  ecosystem  such as the Harvard Asia Business Conference in Boston, with the  Global  Innovation Gathering at  the  annual re:publica conference  in Berlin, and the annual Echelon conferences in Singapore and Malaysia.

ROSALIND TANVICE PRESIDENT

Rosalind is a Partner at Expara IDM Ventures II (EIDMV II), an incubation fund, and Expara Ventures III, a recently launched early-stage venture capital fund. Since joining Expara in 2011, Rosalind has coached and mentored 35 potential spin-offs from A*STAR in industries such as ICT, advanced materials and biotechnology, of which more than half has since spun-off or received follow-on funding. EIDMV II has invested in 15 startups since October 2012 to which Rosalind is the Investor Director to four of EIDMVII’s most successful portfolio investments.

ASHRAN GHAZICHAIRMAN

Apart from being a Chairman at the New Entrepreneurs Foundation, Ashran is also Chairman of myHarapan, President of Malaysian Association of Bumiputera ICT Industry & Entrepreneurs (NEF), and Deputy Chairman of Global Innovation  & Entrepreneurship Foundation. He also serves as a Board Member for SME Corp and as  an Advisory Board Member to Malaysian SME  Development Academy (MASMED).

Ashran started  his career  in the Oil  &  Gas sector  via Petronas  MITCO  before moving into the construction industry. He started  his entrepreneurial journey in early 2000, gaining experience in various fields before establishing Asiastream Group. In 2011, he co-founded a startup  called Joota that disrupted conventional social networking by connecting people around content.

His latest  initiatives include creating an accelerator for the creative sector via ComicXcel and a new ASEAN regional award for startups – Rice Bowl Startup Awards, which will debut in November 2015.

DR SIVAPALANCHIEF EVANGELIST

Dr Sivapalan is the Co-Founder and Chief Evangelist of Proficeo Consultants, a  coaching and  mentoring  company for entrepreneurs,  which had  coached about 1,000 companies in Malaysia over the last 15 years, including the highly successful  “Coach  & Grow Programme” under Cradle Fund and the Ministry of Finance. He is also the Chief Investor of Proficeo Ventures Sdn Bhd, an angel investment company.

Dr Sivapalan  was the Founder and Past President of TeAM, the Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia, and is currently the Director of TeAM’s Policy  Institute. In his role as a Founder and Advisor to TeAM, he had written White Papers and submitted many policy recommendations to the Government of Malaysia.

He is also the  President  of the  Malaysian Business  Angels Network (MBAN), the Association that  represents high net worth angel investors. He is part of the Management Committee of the Malaysian Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (MVCA).  As an entrepreneur  and angel investor for more than  30 years, he has  made several investments  in companies from the technology, education and medical industry.

He has  authored  a  book titled “Blue Sky Innovation: Killer  Innovations that Changed the World of Business”.

Dr Sivapalan holds a PhD in Venture Capital from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

EDDY LEE, PhDCONSULTING PROFESSOR

Eddy Lee, PhD has invested in more than 50 startups predominately in the US, Singapore and Indonesia. Investment areas include mobile health, big data and marketplaces. A current focus is the intersection of mobile technology, healthcare and consumer especially for emerging markets. At Deft Intelligence, he works alongside entrepreneurs in product development, enterprise  partnership, M&A exit, and entering international markets such as the US, Japan, Singapore and Indonesia.

At Stanford University, Eddy concurrently serves  as a Consulting Professor at the School of Medicine, where he connects academic projects with commercial opportunities. During his research  career at Stanford, Singapore and Australia, he devised medical imaging technology for visualising stem cell migration and therapy. And while at Marvell and Lucent, he designed semiconductor circuits for high speed communications.

PARMEET KAURPARTNERSHIP LEAD

Parmeet joined Google Malaysia in May 2013, after having spent  7 years in the finance and investment industry. She drives overall digital strategy with travel and e-commerce clients across  their regional efforts in digital account optimisation, expansion into new markets and building online brand presence.

She had worked at Citigroup London in the Corporate Risk Management team, a family owned investment company, and Usaha Tegas. She holds a Degree in Actuarial Science from City University London.

IVAN TEHMANAGING DIRECTOR

Ivan is the Managing Director of Fusionex. He has over 16 years of experience in the ICT industry. He is frequently invited to give talks, present his views and share insights in forums and events  globally, especially on how technology can help businesses.

Prior to founding Fusionex, Ivan managed teams  in HP, Intel and Accenture. He has  led the  Fusionex team  to the  creation  of global award-winning software and solutions. Ivan is also the only ASEAN representative  at the Global Business Intelligence Advisory Council where top leaders gather in the United States. Ivan is a highly respected leader in the information technology space and has a strong network of world-renowned partners and affiliates worldwide.

Recently, Ivan was  declared  as  winner  of  the  Ernst  &   Young Technology Entrepreneur of the Year award, as well as the award for being Asia Pacific’s Most Outstanding Entrepreneur.

HEISLYC LOHDIRECTOR

Heislyc Loh is a community builder and thought leader in technology startups in the Southeast Asia.

Heislyc is the  Co-Director of the  Malaysian chapter  of Founder Institute,  the world’s largest training ground and launch pad for startup  entrepreneurs in 100 cities. He also founded StartupMamak, a community group for technology startup entrepreneurs in 2011.

In addition to the portfolios mentioned above, Heislyc serves as the Malaysian Brand Ambassador for AngelHack, a global hackathon movement, and manages his  own  start-up  project,  Corate, a  mobile application that  organises  and summarises articles based on the interests of the users.

NURFARINI DAINGCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Nurfarini is the Co-Founder and CEO of the Youth Trust Foundation, better known as ‘myHarapan’, a foundation dedicated to developing independent and positive youth by empowering them through social impact initiatives. She served as the General Manager for one and a half years before assuming her role as CEO.

She was previously with the Multimedia Development Corporation, the guardian of Malaysia’s Super Corridor, and headed the Project Management and IT Services unit under the Technopreneurs Development Department.

Nurfarini has 14 years of startup experience, and also did training and coaching for unemployed graduates and entrepreneurs in SMEs.

Nurfarini graduated from the University of Warwick, UK in Accounting and Finance. She is also an alumnus of INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Program and has a certificate in Teaching from Stamford College.

She holds a Degree in Actuarial Science from City University London.

DR SHARIHA KHALIDCO-FOUNDER

Shariha is a social designer, impact strategist and investor with over 15 years of experience, holding various roles in the public, private and non-profit sectors around  the  world. She specialises  in designing platforms  and  programmes that  support entrepreneurs,  change leaders and social innovators, as well as connecting them with supporters  and enablers to create partnerships, policies and innovations.

Shariha is a Global Good Fund Ambassador and +SocialGood Connector at the UN  Foundation initiative, PlusSocialGood together  with partners  such  as  the Rockefeller Foundation, Bill & Melinda  Gates Foundation and UNDP. She is also a social entrepreneur  in residence at Sunway University Social Enterprise Centre and  INSEAD  Singapore. Shariha is also  involved in Google Business  Groups Women Kuala Lumpur, Social Value International as  well as  Social Progress Malaysia Malaysian chapter as part of her commitment to build communities of practitioners connected to causes.

SHAHIRA AHMED BAZARIMANAGING DIRECTOR

Shahira is the Managing Director of Yayasan Hasanah, and also a Director in the Managing Director’s Office in Khazanah Nasional Berhad, which she joined in November 2006.

Prior to that, Shahira worked with Procter & Gamble Malaysia from 2000 to 2006, specialising in strategic  communications and reputation  management,  public affairs, and corporate responsibility for Malaysia and Singapore. Before Procter

& Gamble,   Shahira had a short  stint  at Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute from 1997 to 2000, working on special projects, and overseeing the US-Malaysia bilateral and business advocacy initiatives.

Shahira holds a Bachelor of Arts from International Islamic University Malaysia and M.A. in Public Communication from American University, Washington, D.C.  She is also an accredited Business Communicator.