Function Room, Level 3, Core E, Cyberport 3
Cherry Chan is Person-in-charge of The Mills, a landmark revitalization project from Nan Fung Group. Scheduled for completion in 2018, it is a celebration of Hong Kong's industrial legacy and a step towards a future of applied creativity and innovation.
The Mills is comprised of 3 building blocks: techstyle startup incubator The Mills Fabrica, the non-profit art and cultural institution MILL6 Foundation, and the experiential retail destination The Mills Shopfloor.
Cherry has 15 years of experience in the fashion industry and was also a management consultant at McKinsey & Co. She received her M.B.A. from INSEAD and holds an A.B. (cum laude) in East Asian Studies from Harvard University.
Edith Yeung is 500 Startups China Partner investing in education, healthcare, entertainment, and artificial intelligence startups. Prior, Edith was the VP of marketing & business development for Dolphin Browser. Dolphin Browser is a Sequoia-backed mobile browser with over 150 million installs worldwide. She also founded RightVentures - seed stage investment firm focusing on mobile and consumer internet companies. Edith is also an enterprise veteran working with companies like Siebel, Oracle, Autodesk, AT&T, etc. Some of her investments include Penrose (Pixar of VR) and Cryworks (by Pixar & Disney Veteran), SIlk Labs, Piper, Apptopia, Mobile Action, Andy OS, Quickly, Powercore, Pack, Fleksy, Ingrain, Hooked, Switch, Bento, DayDayCook, Palantir, etc. She is also the host of the 'Fast Forward with Edith' in partnership with Nasdaq Entrepreneurship Center focuses on interviewing frontier technology startups.
Professor Eric C. Yim, Founder and Chief Designer of POSH Office Systems (HK) Limited, is an UK-registered architect, freelance furniture designer, award-winning industrialist and a Professor of Practice in the School of Design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
In addition to running his own business, Professor Yim serves as Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre, Chairman of Design Council of Hong Kong, Chairman of Hong Kong Furniture & Decoration Trade Association, Chairman of Hong Kong Export Credit Insurance Corporation, Chairman of Hong Kong Technology Voucher Programme Committee, Deputy Chairman of Federation of Hong Kong Industries, Deputy Chairman of Vocational Training Council, Court Member of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Adviser to Hong Kong Design Institute, Board Governor of Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong, Director of Ocean Park Corporation, Member of Consultation Panel of the West Kowloon Cultural District Authority, Member of Museum Advisory Committee of Leisure and Cultural Services Department and Board Member of Zuni Icosahedron.
With his design, academic and industrial backgrounds, Professor Yim shows great interest in the advancement of design, education and economic development in Hong Kong. He has been sponsoring Design Education Fund and a number of student scholarships at Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Hong Kong Design Institute to foster excellence in creativity, design and innovation among young people. In 2012, Professor Yim founded the MING Foundation and established “Eric C. Yim Endowed Professorship in Inclusive Design” at the School of Design of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, with an objective to advance design education and researches as well as other initiatives that would make a better living for society.
Professor Yim graduated with a Master Degree in Architecture at the University of Cambridge. He is a Member of Royal Institute of British Architects and Fellow of Royal Society of Arts. He was not only named “Young Industrialist of Hong Kong 2005” and “Leader of Excellence 2006” but also honored with the “Asia Pacific Outstanding Entrepreneur Award”, “Asia Pacific Culture & Creative Industries Award” and “City Contribution Award” of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Lifestyle Awards in 2009, 2016 and 2017 respectively. Professor Yim was appointed as Justice of the Peace in 2015.
Jason is the founder and CEO of Cherrypicks, a regional leader in mobile technology and eCommerce specializing in smart city, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, eWallet and location intelligence. Jason is an industry icon in Hong Kong well known for his successful entrepreneurial experience in mobile innovation. With disruptive Online-to-Offline (O2O) solutions as well as patent-pending products and technology inventions, Cherrypicks has represented Hong Kong and China in many world stages and won over 100 local and international awards. The early entrepreneurial journey of the company was also featured as a Harvard Business School case study (#N9-807-106). Cherrypicks' solution business and Cherrypicks alpha, another startup spun off with the company’s product business, were strategically merged with NetDragon (HKSE:777) in 2014 and 2016 respectively. Apart from leading both entities, Jason is also a mentor and angel investor for a number of startups, incubators and co-working spaces to give back to startups in Hong Kong and Silicon Valley.
Prior to founding Cherrypicks in 2000, Jason was a Director for Global High Tech and Telecom Practice at Deloitte Consulting in Toronto and Hong Kong. Jason holds a Bachelor of Applied Science Degree from the University of Waterloo.
Jason was named “Young Industrialist of Hong Kong 2014” by Federation of Hong Kong Industries (FHKI) and “Outstanding IT Person of the Year 2014” by eZone. He is the Chairman of Group 30 "Innovation and Creative Industries Council" and Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Startup Council of FHKI, the Director of the Hong Kong Crowdfunding Professional Association, the Advisor of Crowdfund Capital Advisors, a member of Innovation and Technology Fund - Small Entrepreneur Research Assistance Programme Project Assessment Panel, a Council member of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, a Board member of the Junior Achievement Hong Kong, a member of the General Committee of FHKI, the Design and Technology Committee of the Hong Kong Young Industrialists Council, the Honorary Advisory Council of Hong Kong Computer Society, the Vetting Committee of the Pilot Information Technology Development Matching Fund Scheme for Travel Agents, Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong, the Faculty of Science Advisory Committee of Hong Kong Baptist University, as well as the Computer Science Departmental Advisory Committee and the Information Systems Departmental Advisory Committee of City University of Hong Kong.
Raymond Wong, Head of Investment, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), manages the HKSTP Corporate Venture Fund and investment & business support teams. He has extensive financial services experience in capital investment, portfolio management, mergers and acquisition as well as strategic investment across different sectors in the Asia Pacific region. Prior to HKSTP, Raymond was the Principal in HPEF Capital Partners which is an ex-HSBC private equity firm. Previously, he had software development experience at IBM Laboratory in Toronto, Canada.
Raymond obtained a Bachelor of Applied Science in Engineering Science (Computer Aided Design and Manufacturing) from University of Toronto and a Master of Business Administration in Finance from Columbia Business School, New York.
Tom is a Managing Partner and co-founder of Gobi Partners, a venture capital firm headquartered in Shanghai and with offices in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Established in 2002, Gobi is a leading investor in digital media, IT and TMT companies in China and ASEAN. To date, Gobi has funded more than 170 companies and is currently investing its eighth fund.
Tom has participated in the development of several leading companies such as Brite Semiconductor (strategic investment from SMIC:0981.HK), Camera360, CiB (acquired by AsiaSoft), CSDN, Line0, Madhouse (acquired by BlueFocus:300058.SZ), MainSpring, Opzoon (acquired by Harbin Gong Da:600701.SH), Tuniu (NASDAQ:TOUR), World Traveller and Yoyi Digital—often times serving on the company’s board of directors. Previously, Tom was also the former CEO and a Director of DMG (acquired by NASDAQ:VISN), the largest operator of passenger information systems and digital media networks inside China’s subways. At DMG, Tom was the executive producer for the company’s award winning A Sunny Day, Dancing Without You, and A Starry Night programs, the world’s first series of subway soap operas sponsored respectively by Starbucks, Nine West and the MDA of Singapore. He also helped create Gobi’s Oasis Program, one of China’s earliest incubation initiatives, whose list of successfully nurtured startups include GoKuai, NetQin (NYSE:NQ), Teambition, and Zhiyoula.com.
Over the years, Tom has been a featured speaker at several influential business and industry events, including those hosted by China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Harvard Business School, IBM, London School of Economics, Shanghai’s Municipal Government, Stanford Business School, the World Bank and the World Islamic Economic Forum. He was named to the Forbes List of “China’s Top Venture Capitalists” in 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Prior to Gobi, Tom was a founder of the Beijing Technology Development Fund, sponsored by Beijing Enterprises and Tsinghua University Enterprise Group, where he facilitated investments into CommerceOne, MyRice and SiRF. In 2001, Tom led the US$72 million merger of Hong Kong-based Asia2B (backed by Beijing Enterprises, Jardine Matheson, New World, Sun Hung Kai, Swire Pacific, and Wharf) and Singapore-based SESAMi (backed by Singapore Telecom), the largest Asian new economy merger at the time. He subsequently worked as Vice Chairman of the combined entity.
Prior to that, Tom was a director at Dresdner Kleinwort Benson (China) covering the TMT sectors. In 1999, Tom served as the Independent Advisor to First Pacific on its US$285 million acquisition of Indofood. From 1996 to 1998, Tom worked for Seapower Financial Services in Hong Kong where he was the head of Corporate Strategy and set up the firm’s Asset Management department. He also helped run the top rated Asian Smaller Companies Fund as ranked by Lipper. Tom started his career as an investment banker in the Financial Institutions Group with Merrill Lynch in New York and Hong Kong. He worked on numerous M&A transactions and developed relationships with banks in Hong Kong, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Tom is a graduate of Harvard College where he received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.
In addition to his work at Gobi Partners, Tom is the founder of Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) China, a non-profit organization aimed at providing internship opportunities for underserved college students which is modeled after SEO in the US. He also serves as a board member of the Presidential Scholars Foundation which cultivates, connects and celebrates U.S. Presidential Scholars (161 of the nation’s top high school graduates who are selected annually and honored by the White House). He was elected as a Vice Chairman of the Pudong Venture Capital Association in March 2010 and served as a member of the Development Committee for Zhangjiang High-Tech Park. Of note, Tom was the inspiration behind Seinfeld’s popular “Movie Phone” TV episode.
Dr Toa Charm, DBA MA, BSc, MHKCS, CBIP, joined Cyberport Hong Kong as the Chief Public Mission Officer in June 2016. As the CPMO of Cyberport, Dr Charm reports to the CEO of Cyberport and serves as a strategic partner in developing strategies and related initiatives to deliver Cyberport’s public mission.
With more than 25 years of leadership and extensive experience in FinTech, big data, business intelligence, and enterprise solutions, Dr Charm brings with him a wealth of experience from private consultancy, public administration, and academic sectors. He has built strong connections with the tech industry and served on a number of advisory boards of universities, start-up communities, NGOs, and other trade organisations including Hong Kong Computer Society, Tung Wah Hospital Group, City University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Trade Development Council. He is the EXCO member and Vice President (Innovation and Technology Application) of Hong Kong Computer Society, Founder and Chairperson of Business Intelligence and Big Data, and Founder and Chairperson of FinTech SIG of Hong Kong Computer Society. Dr Charm also served at widely-recognised tech industry players, such as being the associate partner of IBM Global Business Services Greater China, general manager of Oracle, general manager of Kingdee, and regional head of BI Competence Centre for HSBC Asia Pacific.
Ms. Alice So has been dedicated to provide supports to Hong Kong start-ups more than 9 years. She joined Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited in 2011. Currently she is the lead of Cyberport Entrepreneurs Team offering the Cyberport Creative Micro Fund and the Cyberport Incubation Programme with funding support and professional services, to nurture talents and assist start-ups at different life stages to accelerate in the digital tech industry.
She is a Project Management Professional of Project Management Institute and a Senior Member of Hong Kong Institute of Marketing.
Manav Gupta is a technology visionary, strategist and serial entrepreneur. Having spent the past decade to developing tech and startup ecosystems in China, he is familiar with the hurdles hardware companies face in getting products that drive deep consumer engagement to market. Prior to Brinc, Manav was CEO and co-founder of FabriQate, an award-winning mobile innovation company based in London.
Based primarily in Asia for most of his life, Manav has been deeply committed the past decade to growing tech and startup ecosystems in South China. An early proponent of IoT with a deep understanding of smart devices and their integration with the digital world to meaningfully transform how consumers live and interact, Manav works with startups, corporates and manufacturers from all over the world to meet market demand for connected devices and is familiar with the hurdles hardware companies face in getting products that drive deep consumer engagement to market.
Manav is active in the tech ecosystem in South China and has organized a number of TEDx events, helping launch Guangzhou’s first Mobile Monday and Hong Kong’s first consumer IoT summit, LAUNCH in 2016. He has been covered by Bloomberg, CNN, FT, Forbes.com, China Daily, and a variety of other media outlets. Manav is also a regular speaker at events including most recently at Web Summit’s RISE, 4YFN at Mobile World Congress, Shenzhen Maker Faire and AVCJ Forum.
