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Bilahari Kausikan
Retired Diplomat and Political CommentatorBilahari Kausikan is currently Chairman of the Middle East Institute, an autonomous institute of the National University of Singapore. He has spent his entire career in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During his 37 years in the Ministry, he served in a variety of appointments at home and abroad, including as Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, and as the Permanent Secretary to the Ministry. Raffles Institution, the University of Singapore and Columbia University in New York all attempted to educate him.
Chong Seng Kwa
Former Chairman of SGX and ST EngineeringMr Kwa Chong Seng is currently Chairman of 5-Hour Energy Corporation Private Limited. He is a Director of Smart Energy Systems, Inc., a Delaware USA corporation. In addition, he holds public office appointment as Member of the Judicial Service. He is also Strategic Advisor to Renew Group Private Limited.
Mr Kwa held various non-executive appointments as Chairman of Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd, Singapore Exchange Ltd, Fullerton Fund Management Company Ltd and Olam International Ltd. He was also Deputy Chairman of Public Service Commission, Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd, Board Member of Seatown Holdings Pte Ltd, DBS Group Holdings Ltd and DBS Bank Ltd.
Mr Kwa has more than 40 years’ experience in the petroleum industry. He started his career with Esso Singapore Pte Ltd in 1969, holding various roles in Logistics, Marketing and other parts of the downstream business before becoming Chairman and Managing Director in 1992. He held this post until 1999 when he became Chairman and Managing Director of ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. He retired from this position in 2011.
In 1994, Mr Kwa was awarded the Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award by the National University of Singapore. In 1999, he was conferred the Honorary Ningbo Citizenship. He was also awarded The Public Service Star in 2005, and The Public Service Star (Bar) in 2016, by the Singapore Government.
Mr Kwa graduated from the University of Singapore with a Mechanical Engineering degree. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Engineering Singapore.
Suphachai Chearavanont
Chairman at Digital Council of Thailand (DCT)Mr. Suphachai Chearavanont is the Chairman of The Digital Council of Thailand (DCT), which aims to transform Thailand into a digital innovation hub. DCT has envisioned to elevate the business or Thai digital industry to international level, and to drive toward better economy, society, and quality of life of Thai people.
Mr. Chearavanont has been a member of the Thai Government’s Independent Committee for Educational Reform since May 2017 and President of the United Nations Global Compact Network Thailand (GCNT) since 2017.
Mr. Suphachai Chearavanont is also the Senior Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Charoen Pokphand Group Co., Ltd. (C.P. Group), one of Asia's leading conglomerates that consists of over 100 companies operating in 21 countries across a wide range of sectors, including agri-food, retail, and telecommunications.
In 2015, he was presented with the “Frost & Sullivan Asia Pacific Telecom CEO of the Year” award at the Asia Pacific ICT Awards and elected President of the Telecommunications Association of Thailand. He was appointed a Counselor and Advisory Board Member for the One Young World Summit 2015 and joined One Young World’s Global Advisory Board in 2018.
Mr. Chearavanont graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration focusing on Financial Management from Boston University, and was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree in Mass Communications from Ramkhamhaeng University in March 2016.
Ankur Meattle
Head, Asia Funds & Co-Investments Group, PE at GIC Special Investments Private LimitedAnkur Meattle is Head of Asia Private Equity Funds & Co-Investments at GIC. As part of this role, Ankur oversees our Asian private equity funds programme, as well as co-investment deals alongside GPs. In addition, Ankur co-chairs the ASEAN Business Group (ABG), which helps coordinate overall ASEAN investment strategy across GIC.
Ankur joined GIC in 2004 and has been part of various teams within the GIC Asia Private Equity organisation. Before joining GIC, he was a Manager with Arthur D Little, a strategy consulting firm, in Singapore. He has also worked with PwC and KPMG in India.
Ankur holds a Bachelor of Technology from the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi) and a Master of Business Administration from Duke University.
Gillian Tan
Assistant Managing Director (Development and International) and Co-Chair SFIG of Monetary Authority of SingaporeMs Gillian Tan is the Assistant Managing Director of the Development and International Group and Chief Sustainability Officer, overseeing the development of Singapore as an international financial centre as well as MAS’ sustainability strategies and international relations.
Prior to this appointment, Ms Tan was Executive Director of the Financial Markets Development Department, focussing on the development of the capital market, asset management and insurance sectors as well as sustainable finance capabilities and solutions in Singapore. She was also tasked with setting up MAS’ Enforcement Department, which is responsible for investigating breaches of anti-money laundering regulations, market misconduct offences and other laws administered by MAS, and served as its Executive Director from 2016-2019.
Ms Tan previously worked in the Supreme Court of Singapore as a Justices’ Law Clerk, Assistant Registrar and Magistrate, and was subsequently appointed as a District Judge of the State Courts of Singapore. She served as a Deputy Public Prosecutor and Deputy Senior State Counsel in the Attorney-General’s Chambers for a number of years.
Ms Tan co-chairs the Private Banking Industry Group, the Singapore Funds Industry Group and the Human Resources Industry Group. She serves on the Steering Committee of the Green Finance Industry Taskforce and the Advisory Boards of the Singapore Green Finance Centre and the Sustainable and Green Finance Institute, which conduct multi-disciplinary research and talent development in sustainability and sustainable finance. Ms Tan is also a Board Member of Infrastructure Asia, which supports Asia’s social and economic growth through infrastructure development. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the International Monetary Fund’s Singapore Regional Training Institute.
Ms Tan graduated from Cambridge University with a First Class Honours in Law. She also holds a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School. She was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2018 in recognition of her contributions to public service.
Hasan Jafri
Founding Managing Director of HJ AdvisoryHasan Jafri is Founding Managing Director of Singapore-based HJ Advisory and helps clients assess and act on political and policy developments in Southeast and South Asia to make better-informed investment and business decisions. Hasan is also Corporate Adviser at Temasek where he worked for nearly a decade and assessed political risk, engaged in global government relations and helped drive Temasek’s investments in Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Temasek, Hasan was an international journalist covering politics, economic, and conflicts for more than a decade. Hasan earned a Masters of Arts in International Affairs from the Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy, Tufts University and is on the School’s international advisory board. Hasan supports causes related to education, and in his free time play cricket at the Padang.
Amanda Yap
Head of ESG at Fullerton Fund ManagementAmanda is Head of ESG at Fullerton Fund Management. She is responsible for developing the firm’s ESG policies. She also works closely with the investment teams on ESG research.
Amanda joined Fullerton in 2020. She was previously at GIC as a portfolio manager for four years and prior to that, as an associate at BlackRock for three years. She also did stints in the impact space, with Planet Finance in China and the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network in Singapore.
Amanda holds a Masters degree of Business Administration from INSEAD and a Bachelor’s degree of Science in Operations Research with a minor in Economics from Columbia University. She holds the Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting credential, awarded by the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst charterholder.
Andy Yap
Partner at Environmental Resources Management (S) Pte LtdAndy is a partner at ERM, the largest global pure play sustainability consultancy, and leads the M&A services and financial sector in Singapore.
With close to 20 years of experience in transaction, corporate and investment banking, Andy advises both listed and private corporate clients, as well as investors and private equities on ESG risk management and mitigation, as well as M&A due diligence and advisory, to help effect secured investments, and crossboundary transactions.
In his prior role as a director in the fixed income, currency, and commodities division of a major global bank, he oversaw a client portfolio of large multinational corporations and financial institutions, providing dealing and risk advisory services.
Andy is passionate about sustainability and marine life, as a dive center owner and instructor in his younger days.
He holds a Masters in Sustainable Development and believes that financial markets can serve as a powerful lever for sustainability when the solutions are designed and implemented proficiently. He is also a GRI Certified Sustainability Professional and a PRI Advanced Responsible Investment Analysis holder.
Avina Sugiarto
Partner at East VenturesAvina Sugiarto is a Partner at East Ventures. She has over 12 years of experience in investing across alternative assets including venture capital, private equity, private credit, and special situations across industries from technology, property, logistics, to financial services and consumers. Prior to joining East Ventures, Avina was a Senior Vice President at an asset management firm. She was responsible for deal sourcing, analysis, execution, and fundraising across the firm’s investment products. She was also a key member of an investment partnership with a global alternative investment firm headquartered in the United States.
Avina leverages her extensive experiences to invest in seed to growth stage technology companies and drive sustainability and integration of ESG practices in East Ventures’ investments.
Brian Lim
Partner and Head at Pantheon VenturesBrian is a Partner and Head of Pantheon’s Asia and Emerging Markets Investment teams. Brian is a member of Pantheon’s International Investment Committee. Prior to joining Pantheon, Brian was a Portfolio Director at CDC Group where he helped build their Asia and Emerging Markets portfolio, and before that worked at Watson Wyatt. Brian is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries, holds an MBA from the London Business School, and a BSc in Actuarial Science from City, University of London. Brian is a member of the GPCA Board of Directors and the Chair of its Asia Council.
Pantheon is a leading global private equity, infrastructure, real assets and debt fund investor that currently invests on behalf of over 1,000 investors, including public and private pension plans, insurance companies, endowments and foundations. Founded in 1982, Pantheon has developed an established reputation in primary, co-investment and secondary private asset solutions across all stages and geographies. Pantheon has four decades’ experience of investing in private markets. As at September 30th, 2022 Pantheon had $88.9 billion of total AUM/AUA. The firm currently has around 450 employees located across its offices in London, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Hong Kong, Seoul, Bogotá, Tokyo, Dublin and Berlin, over 140 of which are investment professionals.
David Low
Partner at Albourne Partners (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.David Low is a Partner at Albourne and the Head of Private Markets in Asia. Based in Singapore, he leads Albourne’s Investment Due Diligence coverage of private equity, venture capital, private credit, real estate and real asset funds in the region and also supports clients on the management of their Private Markets portfolio. Before joining Albourne in 2014, David spent five years managing the direct investment portfolio for an Asian family office. Prior to that, David was an entrepreneur for several years and co-founded multiple companies in the consumer services and FMCG space. David began his career at Arthur Andersen Business Consulting before joining General Electric in a variety of finance roles. David holds an MBA from the Melbourne Business School, a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance), from Monash University in Melbourne and the CPA Australia designation. He is also a Board member of the Singapore Venture and Private Capital Association.
Divya Thakur
Partner at Morgan LewisDivya Thakur is a partner at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and the leader of the firm’s investment management practice in Singapore. Divya has an extensive background in advising both established and first-time fund sponsors and managers in the formation of a broad range of investment funds, including impact funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds, and other structured fund products. She is also highly skilled in advising institutional investors on their fund investments. Her practice includes counseling clients on carried interest plans, co-investment arrangements, structuring business and ongoing operational, management, and compliance issues. Divya is also a member of the firm’s India Initiative Leadership Committee and is qualified in New York and England and Wales. She brings her deep knowledge of international fund offerings and market terms to her representation of an array of clients, including sovereign wealth funds, financial institutions, investment banks, multinational companies, and US, European, and Asian companies. Divya has long represented sponsors and managers focused on emerging markets, including in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Clients describe her as “client-oriented,” “good at problem solving,” and “technically strong.”
En Lee
MD, Head of Sustainable and Impact Investments at LGT Capital Partners (Asia-Pacific) LimitedEn Lee is Managing Director, Head of Sustainable and Impact Investments in Asia at LGT, the world’s largest family-owned private banking and asset management group with over USD 300Bn in assets under management. He leads and manages the regional impact investment portfolio in Southeast Asia and China. En was a Partner and is currently a Senior Advisor of Lightrock, LGT's global impact investing platform and serves on the Board of LGT Bank (Singapore). Prior to LGT, he was an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong advising investment funds and previously a Corporate Solicitor at Freshfields in London specializing in private equity, M&A, and capital market transactions.
A recognized industry leader, En has served on the World Economic Forum ESG Advisory Group, Asia Investor Group on Climate Change, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore Sustainable Finance Steering Group. He is a member of the Advisory Committee of Triple P Financial Inclusion Fund and the Boards of UN Global Compact Singapore, Asian Venture Philanthropy Network, and the Singapore Venture & Private Capital Association where he co-chairs the ESG Committee. En graduated from the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School and is a CAIA charterholder. He was selected as an Aspen Institute Finance Leaders Fellow and is a member of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and the Young Presidents' Organization.
Gabriel Ho
Partner at Dymon Asia Private Equity (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.Gabriel is a Partner at Dymon Asia Private Equity, focusing on mid-market buyouts and growth equity deals in Southeast Asia. Gabriel previously worked at Baring Private Equity Asia, Morgan Stanley, and the Singapore Government. In his 15 years in private equity, he has successfully led investments and divestments totaling more than $1 billion across Southeast Asia and China, in healthcare, consumer, education, and business services.
Gabriel led the buyouts of German engineering firm RAM Spreaders, Asia Medical Enviro (formerly Sembcorp’s medical waste division), Rudi’s Fine Foods, UEMS and the privatization of SGX-listed Select Group. At Dymon, he also oversaw the successful divestments of Rudi’s, Nurture Education and UEMS. At Baring, Gabriel was involved in Baring’s investments in Hsu Fu Chi (and its exit to Nestlé SA), PSB Academy and PT Cardig Aero Services.
Gabriel currently serves as Chairman of RAM Spreaders and Asia Medical Enviro Services. His other Board directorships include Select Group, Rudi’s Fine Food, Continental Deli, UEMS and Asia Facility Solutions. He is also co-Chair of the ASEAN Connect Committee at the Singapore Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SVCA).
Gabriel received his M.A. from Harvard University, and a B.A. in Economics (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Chicago. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA).
Helen Wong
Managing Partner at ACV Capital Pte. Ltd.Helen Wong is a Managing Partner at AC Ventures (ACV), an early-stage, Indonesia- focused technology venture capital fund. ACV manages five funds with an AUM of over US$500M and a portfolio of more than 120 businesses invested in the past eight years. The firm has led investments into Stockbit, Xendit, Shipper, Carsome and more.
She was ranked one of China’s top 25 female VCs and top 100 investors by Forbes magazine. Helen is a venture capitalist with a strong track record (over 20 years of experience), as she was part of the founding team at GGV Capital, and served as a Partner at Qiming Ventures.
Helen started her career in Silicon Valley/US, then moved to China, and now covers Southeast Asia. She led investments in Akulaku and Reddoorz in SE Asia, and has served the boards of high-profile Chinese internet companies. She has had 10 exits (7 IPOs and 3 M&As) among her portfolio companies including Tudou and QuantaSing on NASDAQ, Buchang on the Shanghai stock exchange, and Mobike (acquired by Meituan).
Helen graduated from the University of Oxford with a BA in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics, obtained her MBA from INSEAD, and is also a Kauffman Fellow. She also has an EMBA degree from Cheung Kong GSB.
Specialties: Leadership, Startup Operations, Strategy, China & Indonesia tech, Internet and Technology.
Hemal Mirani
Managing Director of HarbourVest Partners (Singapore) Pte LtdHemal Mirani rejoined HarbourVest's senior management team in Asia in 2015 to focus on investments and investor relations across the Asia Pacific region.
Hemal first joined HarbourVest in 1997 and spent eleven years developing relationships with leading Asian private equity managers and working with our investors and consultants across the region to advance and optimize their private market investment programs. She rejoined HarbourVest after six years with CVC Capital Partners in Hong Kong, where she was head of investor relations in Asia and Chief Administrative Officer.
Hemal received a BA in Commerce from Sydenham College (Bombay) in 1989, an MA in International Studies with a Japanese language concentration from the Joseph H. Lauder Institute, and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School in 1997. The latter two were part of a joint degree program at the University of Pennsylvania. Hemal speaks fluent Japanese.
Iesan Tsai
Managing Director & Head of Private Investment, MD at Kiri Capital (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.Iesan Tsai is Managing Director and Head of Private Investments at Kiri Capital, an Asia-based private investment firm that manages capital globally on behalf of strategic shareholders. Prior to this, Iesan was the regional Head of Asia at Hermes GPE, a UK-headquartered asset management firm, where she led all of the firm’s private equity investments across the Asia Pacific Region. Iesan began her career in private equity and investment banking in the United States, with various firms including UBS Investment Bank and JP Morgan. She holds a B.A. from Stanford University and an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Jason Norman Lee
Managing Director of Temasek Holdings (Private) LimitedJason is currently Managing Director, Head of Regulatory & Compliance in Temasek and based in Singapore. He has more than 20 years of experience providing legal and regulatory advice in global financial markets.
Jason’s focus areas are in complex derivatives, financial regulation, technology and data, commodities, FDI regimes and private equity. He has also led and managed restructurings and workouts, regulatory investigations and compliance programs across diverse business areas and geographies. Jason is an active participant in various industry bodies and initiatives and speaks regularly at industry events. His current focus includes regulation impacting digital assets.
Jason is qualified in four different jurisdictions has practiced in a variety of in-house and practice roles in London, Singapore, and Sydney. Prior to joining Temasek, Jason spent 13 at a global investment bank where he held senior leadership functions in APAC.
Jonathan Pentzien
Singapore Managing Partner at Gunderson Dettmer Singapore, LLPJon is the managing and founding partner of Gunderson Dettmer’s Singapore office. Previously based in the firm’s New York office, Jon has over 15 years of experience advising global emerging growth technology companies throughout their lifecycle as well as acting for venture and growth equity investors on some of the largest financing rounds and M&A transactions in India and Southeast Asia. Jon’s investor clients include Accel, Antler, Asia Partners, Cathay Innovation, Lightspeed India, Prosus Ventures, Sequoia Capital, SIG, Tanglin Venture Partners and Tiger Global. His company clients include 2C2P, Aspire, Erudifi, Flipkart, FreshtoHome, HealthifyMe, Orange Health, Pintu, Super and Yellow.ai. Jon is recognized as a Leading Individual for Start-Up and Venture Capital by The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2023, a Band 1 Leading Individual for Startups & Emerging Companies by Chambers Asia-Pacific since 2021, and named to India Business Law Journal’s A-List since 2020.
Justin Ferrier
Managing Partner at Navis Capital Partners (Singapore) Pte LtdJustin Ferrier is the Managing Partner of Navis’ Asian private credit business.
Mr. Ferrier has more than 30 years of experience, which includes more than 20 years as a credit investor, portfolio manager and business leader.
Previously, he was a Managing Director at BlackRock where he played a pivotal role in building BlackRock’s Asia-Pacific private credit business, growing AUM to $700m and developing a successful regional private credit strategy focusing on Southeast Asia and Australia.
Prior to BlackRock, he was the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Myo Capital, which focused on investing in pan-Asian private credit. Prior to founding Myo Capital, he was a Director and Investment Committee member with ADM Capital and a corporate finance executive with Peregrine Capital and SG Warburg Group.
Mr. Ferrier holds an MBA, majoring in Finance and Accounting from Monash University and a Bachelor in Science from the University of South Australia.
Keith Toh
Partner at Novo Tellus Capital Partners Pte LtdKeith is a Partner with Novo Tellus Capital Partners. Keith has served as a technology investor, partner and board director for global companies for the last 17 years, partnering to build businesses including ISDN Holdings (industrial automation), SP Manufacturing (electronics manufacturing), AEM Holdings (semiconductor equipment), Novo Tellus Alpha Acquisition (SPAC), Aconex Inc (enterprise software), Source Photonics Inc (communications), Numonyx BV (semiconductors), Mincom Pty Ltd (enterprise software), and FX Solutions (financial technology).
Prior to joining Novo Tellus, Keith was a Principal investor with Francisco Partners, a leading global technology-focused private equity fund, where he invested in sectors including advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, enterprise software, communications, and internet platforms. Earlier in his career, Keith was a software product lead at Trilogy, and held engineering research roles at Stanford University and at the Ministry of Defense of Singapore in the fields of optics, artificial intelligence and operations research.
Keith holds a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering degree from Stanford University, where he enrolled at age 16 and graduated winning the combined faculty Deans’ Award for Academic Achievement.
Kanchan Jain
Head at BPEA Credit GroupMs. Kanchan Jain has 29 years of experience across corporate and structured finance, private credit, loan markets and debt capital markets across Europe and Asia. She has worked across origination, structuring, underwriting and risk. As Head of BPEA Credit Group, Ms. Jain is responsible for the overall business across all its investment & non-investment functions. Over the last 11 years, Ms. Jain, along with leadership team, has led the creation and build-out of BPEA Credit into one of the leading private credit management groups in Asia, focused on the fast growing mid-market corporate sector. Before moving to India in 2008, Ms. Jain worked for 10 years in London as Managing Director at HSBC, and before that as Director at Barclays Capital in the Structured Credit business. Prior to that, Ms. Jain worked in the Asian debt capital markets across debt syndication, loan trading & risk, based out of Hong Kong and in project finance based out of India. Ms. Jain has lived and worked in India, Asia & the UK and holds a Bachelor's degree in Electronics Engineering from VNIT and MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata.
Kerrine Koh
Managing Director, Head of Southeast Asia at Hamilton LaneKerrine is a Managing Director the Client Solutions Group, where she heads the firm’s Singapore office. She is primarily responsible for business development, as well as coverage of client relationships in Southeast Asia.
Prior to this, Kerrine was the Head of Alternatives Distribution for Southeast Asia at BlackRock, where she was responsible for distribution strategy and client engagements on BlackRock’s alternative investment product suite, across client segments. Previously, she was the head of Institutional Client Business for Southeast Asia. Kerrine first joined BlackRock in 2010 as a member of the iShares Global Client Group, where she was responsible for ETF distribution.
Before joining BlackRock, Kerrine was responsible for business and product development for Alternative Investments at UOB Asset Management and held credit analysis and strategic investment roles within United Overseas Bank.
Kerrine received a M.Sc. in Applied Finance from Singapore Management University and a B.A. in Economics with first-class Honours from the National University of Singapore. Kerrine is a Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst charter holder.
Naina Subberwal Batra
CEO of Asian Venture Philanthropy NetworkNaina Subberwal Batra is the CEO of AVPN, a regional social investment network that aims to increase the flow of financial, human and intellectual capital for impact.
Naina’s leadership since 2013 has nurtured the AVPN community, growing the membership base by more than four times and elevating the organisation into a truly regional force for good. Under her direction, AVPN has grown from focusing only on venture philanthropy to supporting the entire ecosystem of social investors, from catalytic philanthropists to impact investors and corporate CSR professionals.
Naina is Board Member of the Global Resilient Cities Network, Chair at the International Venture Philanthropy Center (IVPC) and Trustee at Bridge Institute.
In 2021, Naina was featured on the list of Asia's Most Influential by Tatler Asia and in 2019, she was awarded one of Asia's Top Sustainability Superwomen by CSRWorks.
Paul Robine
Founder and CEO of TR Capital Advisors (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.Paul Robine is the Founder and CEO of TR Capital. He is responsible for all investment and divestment decisions made at the firm, as well as its strategic direction. Mr. Robine has been responsible for the investment activity of TR Capital since 2007. Mr. Robine currently serves as a board member in a number of TR Capital's investee companies. Prior to founding TR Capital, Mr. Robine was Founder and CEO of the Link Group in Asia.
Mr. Robine holds a Master's degree from EDHEC Business School.
Rohit Agarwal
Principal at Sequoia Southeast AsiaRohit Agarwal is a Principal at Sequoia Southeast Asia, focusing on venture and growth stage investments in the region. He joined Sequoia in 2015 and is currently based in Singapore. Rohit advises on investments in fintech, SaaS and digital commerce. He currently serves on the board of companies including Tonik, Bibit, Kopi Kenangan, Multiplier, Shift among others. Prior to joining Sequoia, Rohit has led teams at Housing.com and been a founder himself. Rohit has a Bachelor’s degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.
Sanjay Gujral
Chief Business Officer at Everstone Capital Asia Pte. Ltd.Sanjay is a business leader with close to three decades of experience across private capital investment management (2006 onwards) and corporate finance advisory (1995-2006).
As Chief Business Officer at the Everstone Group, Sanjay has worked across various facets of the business at this Singapore-headquartered private capital group, with ~US$ 8 billion in assets under management across Private Equity, Logistics, Digital, Climate Investing and Venture Capital, investing across India and South East Asia. He is currently focused on growing the Climate Investing business, Eversource Capital.
Prior to rejoining Everstone in 2018, Sanjay was Regional Managing Director at L Catterton Asia. He had joined the firm in 2011 to lead its business in India and moved to Singapore in 2012 to take on a pan-regional role. Sanjay started his investing career with Everstone Capital in 2006, where he was an Executive Director in its private equity business in India. Before moving to the buy-side in 2006, Sanjay spent 11 years in corporate finance advisory with Arthur Andersen (1995-2002), Ernst & Young (2002-2004) and Ambit Corporate Finance (2004-2006) in India.
Sanjay obtained a post-graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (1995) and is a commerce graduate from the Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi University (1993).
Sanjay serves on the Board of the Singapore Venture & Private Capital Association (SVCA) and Co-chairs its Climate Solutions Committee. He has been associated with SVCA since 2015, including as Chairman of the Board (2021-2023), Hon. Treasurer (2019-2021) and Board member (2015-2019). As Chairman of SVCA, he also served on the Executive Committee of the Singapore Funds Industry Group, a public-private initiative of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Seok Hui Lim
Chief Executive Officer, Philanthropy Asia Alliance at Temasek Trust Asset Management Pte. Ltd.Seok Hui is Chief Executive Officer of the Philanthropy Asia Alliance (PAA), a Temasek Trust initiative focused on collaborative philanthropy. PAA aims to catalyse collective action for a better world, and prime Asia as a force for the greater good.
Prior to joining Temasek Trust, she was Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). During part of her tenure at SIAC, Seok Hui served concurrently as the first Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC). She is a former member of the Board of SIMC.
Over the years, Seok Hui has worked in Singapore and Hong Kong with local and international law firms as a corporate, mergers and acquisitions, and securities lawyer, and has also served as General Counsel at multinational corporations. She is a graduate of the London School of Economics, qualified as a barrister, and is admitted as a solicitor in Singapore, Hong Kong SAR and England and Wales.
Shane Chesson
Founding Partner at Openspace Ventures Pte LtdShane Chesson is a Founding Partner of Openspace Ventures and has over 21 years of experience in venture capital investing and technology banking. Openspace is a leading investor in Southeast Asia technology companies with 40 team members across a Singapore HQ and offices in Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila and Ho Chi Minh City. It has invested in over 50 companies and deployed more than US$500m in the region since inception. Shane has served on the board or as an observer for GoJek, FinAccel, Biofourmis, Whispir, TradeGecko, Halodoc, Finnomena, Pluang, Octopus, Neuroglee, Validus, CXA, BeautyMNL, Topica, among others.
Prior to co-founding Openspace, Shane spent fourteen years in investment banking, with roles including Managing Director and Co-Head, Technology Investment Banking at Citigroup Asia-Pacific. During this time, he worked closely with Asian technology companies, completing over $10bn of transactions with deal sizes from $30mn-$3bn. Before his career in investment banking, Shane was a strategy consultant with Bain & Company, and GEM Consulting in Australia.
Shane holds a Bachelor’s of Law and a Bachelor’s of Commerce from the University of Western Australia and an MBA with Distinction from INSEAD Singapore, where he was a recipient of the IAA Asian Campus scholarship.
Shane has been a board member of SVCA and co-chair of the VC sub-committee since 2021. Shane acts as the Chairman of the Investment Committee for Aidha, offering entrepreneurship opportunities for female migrant workers.
Sunil Mishra
Partner at Adams Street Partners Singapore Pte LtdSunil specializes in the sourcing and execution of Asian investments ex-China, specifically in India, Australia, Japan,
Southeast Asia, and Korea. He manages relationships with several of Adams Street’s managers and sits on advisory
boards of more than a dozen private equity firms within the Adams Street Partners portfolio. Sunil is a member of
Adams Street’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee.
Sui Ling Cheah
Venture Partner at Wavemaker Pacific Partners Pte LtdMs Cheah is Chairperson of a circular packaging startup for the wine and spirits industry called ecoSPIRITS as well as Venture Partner with Wavemaker Partners, a VC firm in Singapore focusing on early stage tech investments in ASEAN. In addition, she holds board directorships at ParkwayLife REIT, CDL Hospitality REIT, Telechoice International and Pathology Asia Holdings. Ms Cheah has 20 years of global investment banking experience across Merrill Lynch, JPMorgan and BNP Paribas.
Ms Cheah graduated from the all women’s Wellesley College in the US.
Valerie Mantot-Groene
Regional Managing Director of Apex Fund Services (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.Valerie is a Regional Managing Director at Apex Group, with over 20 years of experience in managing alternative assets servicing teams across Europe, Middle East and Asia.
Having been a qualified and practicing alternative funds lawyer for more than a decade, she has dedicated much of her career advising and supporting financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds, asset managers, and family offices with respect to structuring and managing their cross-border alternative investments.
In her current role at Apex Group, she is leading the charge on growth strategy as well as operational and digital transformation of Apex in ASEAN. She also has a focus on driving ESG and D&I initiatives and is responsible for designing and implementing Apex's ESG and D&I strategy in Asia, partnering with regulators and industry leaders.
Valerie has been an active contributor to the industry throughout her career, serving on the board of various professional organizations and committees. Currently, she is the Chair of the Association of Luxembourg Funds (ALFI) in South East Asia, as well as member of the D&I committee of the Singapore Fund Directors Association (SFDA) and the Singapore Venture Capital Association (SVCA).
Her efforts have been recognized by her peers, and she is often called upon to speak on these topics at industry conferences and events. She is also regularly invited to mentor professionals in the funds industry.
Valerie Chua
Principal - New Ventures at EDBIValerie is Principal of New Ventures at EDBI, the dedicated investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB). EDBI is a Singapore-based global investor that focuses on select high-growth technology sectors ranging from Information & Communication Technology (ICT), Emerging Technology (ET), Healthcare (HC) and promising Singapore SMEs in strategic industries. Valerie leads the team’s early-stage investments pertaining to sustainability and establishes partnerships with corporates that are involved in building new venture spinouts in this domain. She also works closely with portfolio companies, accelerating the growth of their ventures and providing value creation support.
Prior to this, Valerie was EDB’s Regional Director for East Americas, based out of New York City, where she led engagements with American multinational corporations and high growth startups seeking to expand into new Asian markets. She also played a role in the development of the nation’s data analytics ecosystem at EDB’s Infocomms and Media division in the areas of talent development and research.
Valerie holds a master’s degree in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University and bachelor’s degree in Economics from the London School of Economics.
Weiyu Tan
Head of Debt Capital Markets (Asia Pacific) at KKRWeiyu Tan joined KKR in 2007 and is currently the Head of Debt Capital Markets (Asia Pacific). He is responsible for the growth of the KKR Capital Markets business across Asia, and leads a team of executives focusing on debt-raising transactions for KKR, KKR Portfolio companies and other leading PE sponsors or corporates in the region. Mr. Tan was previously a senior member of the KKR PE team in Asia covering SEA, Korea and China.
His selected transaction experience in Asia for both private equity and KKR Capital Markets includes Qingdao Haier, Oriental Brewery, Unisteel, Far Eastern Horizon, Yageo, United Envirotech, Goodpack, Pioneer DJ, Masan, Sunner, NVC, China Modern Dairy and MMI.
Yuan Lee Chung
Partner at SIG SE Asia Investments Pte LtdYuan Lee is an investment partner leading venture capital investments in Indonesia and Southeast Asia for SIG Venture Capital. She has over 17 years’ experience in finance and deep knowledge of Southeast Asia. Prior to SIG, Yuan Lee set up and built the first Burda Principal Investments office in Asia and began her career in finance at UBS and Capital Group. Her investment focus is on high growth B2C and B2B opportunities in emerging Asia. Yuan Lee sits on the board of Paxel, eurosensum, Accredify and is a board observer of SwipeRx and Pluang.
Yiling Ong
Head of Investments at Oppenheimer Generations Asia Pte. Ltd.Yiling is the Head of Investment at Oppenheimer Generations Asia (OGA), a single family office, representing the interests of Nicky and Jonathan Oppenheimer in the region. Yiling has over 12 years of experience investing in companies across their life cycle and was responsible for end to end deal execution from origination through to divestment. In her current role at OGA, she invests in early and growth stage funds / companies, building partnerships for the long term. Prior to joining OGA, Yiling was at Temasek International doing direct investments in the Consumer sector.
Yiling earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she was a Amy and Richard Wallman Scholar.