Afiq is an experienced leader with over 15 years in both the public & private sector across Southeast Asia and Kazakhstan, and brings wide experience across venture capital, investments, startups, corporate strategy, and government agencies.

A startup operator. Alvin led the finance and strategy function in his previous tenure in GoQuo - B2B travel-tech venture-backed startup GoQuo (backed by Gobi Partners and Monk’s Hill Ventures) and engineered an exit for the shareholders. 

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He spent his early working career with KPMG and PwC in Assurance services involving in various business industries such as hospitality and casino gaming, manufacturing, FMCG and oil and gas clients. Experienced in consumer travel industry, Alvin spent 4 years with Tune Hotels, heading the finance operations before joining GoQuo. Alvin co-founded SEA-based venture studio Ignition Chamber Academy with Neil in nurturing new startups. He also serves as director and advisor of several companies in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and the UK. At GUIDE, Alvin leads the venture advisory unit where he bridges business needs with specialised services for venture growth continuity.

Chen Chow is Founder of 1% Advisory & Coaching, focusing on management advisory, executive coaching and keynote speaking. He co-founded Fave Group, which was acquired by Pine Labs for USD45 million in 2021.

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He is Independent Non-Executive Chairman of Foodie Media. He was Regional Operations Director for Groupon Asia Pacific, Product Manager of JobStreet.com and Management Consultant of Accenture.

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He is an alumnus of Cornell University, an Ivy League University. He is an Eisenhower Fellow. He is a member of Institute Corporate Directors of Malaysia.

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He is an angel investor, who has invested in more than 30 startups in the region.

Ed recently relocated to Hong Kong from Silicon Valley. He comes from a strong background in strategy, product management, and business development focused on commercializing innovative technologies. For the past ten years Ed has worked as advisor and investor in multiple startups around the world, as a consultant to F500 enterprise technology and security companies, and as an entrepreneur, in the IoT, media and payments spaces. Highlights from Ed’s career in tech include:

• Launched billion-dollar business for Microsoft

• Led first (pre-incorporation) investment in a North African unicorn

• Advised European fintech from first meetings in Silicon Valley to $300M+ exit

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Ed has worked with multiple technology incubators and ecosystems over the past 20 years. At Microsoft he was often called on to help startups integrate into Microsoft programs, at Nokia he worked with Forum Nokia partners to understand Nokia’s M&A strategy. He has also done the reverse- and helped multiple startups leverage larger company ecosystems, including Microsoft Azure, AWS and Intuit. Since 2015 he has been an active mentor at Alchemist Accelerator in Silicon Valley, which focuses on launching B2B technology startups, including multiple CEO and Sales coaching roles.

Erdem was the vice chairman of TOBB (The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye)Istanbul Young Entrepreneurs Board which includes 18-40 aged second and third generations of leading family companies and entrepreneurs in Türkiye, He was elected by votes of under 40 years old delegates of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce. He was also vice chairman of Young MUSIAD(MUSIAD is biggest businesspeople association in Türkiye).He served as vice chairman of DEIK(Foreign Economic Relations Board which is connected to Ministry of Trade) Türkiye- Saudi Arabia Business Council, youngest vice chairman at current time more than 100 business councils, and organized first technology acceleration program with Saudi Arabia in Türkiye, ‘’Startup Expo’’ and ‘’Invest Up’’ cooperated with Investment Office of Presidency and Istanbul Stock Exchange. He was also executive committee member of Portugal and Norway Business Councils at DEIK. He was elected as founding member of ‘’Renewable Energy Council Asia Pacific’’ with the participation of Minister for Climate Change and Energy of Australia, Chris Bowen, and Minister of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability of Malaysia, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmed in the launching ceremony at COP29.

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Erdem got an award named ‘’Best Venture Capitalist’’ at the 7th Edition of the Burj CEO Awards on 23rd October 2024 from CEO Clubs Network(Patron and Chairman of the Board of Governors is HH Sheikh Juma Bin Maktoum Juma Al Maktoum). He was awarded by the Asian Arab Chamber of Commerce on 10th March 2025, Erdem was honoured with the ‘’Excellence in Finance & Investments’’ Award, recognizing his special contributions to the finance and investment sectors. He has 47 registered trademarks(brands). He has also trained young entrepreneurs, changemakers and civil society leaders. He is regularly invited to consult on innovative and creative solutions and events for development of entrepreneurship and investment ecosystem. He gave seminars to more than 60 branches of businesspeople associations all over Türkiye and European cities such as Frankfurt, Rotterdam, London, Paris and Munich and also in chambers of commerce and universities .

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Erdem graduated with a bachelor degree in Economics from Bogazici University. Erdem Dereli is an advisory board member of Marmara University Innovation and Technology Transfer Application and Research Center and Istanbul Technical University Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center(GINOVA).

Gareth Tan is a Senior Associate Director at APCO’s Southeast Asia office in Singapore and leads its technology practice, playing a coordinating role on regional technology accounts. Gareth brings to bear nearly a decade of experience with topics such as data governance, digital trade, and emergent technology to advise clients. Alongside this, Gareth is Regional Lead for the Digital Prosperity for Asia Coalition, an alliance of digital small businesses seeking ways to navigate the Asia-Pacific region’s changing policy landscape. 

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In these roles, Gareth has represented APCO and the DPA to government agencies across the region, and at major events and meetings hosted by organizations like the World Trade Organization, ASEAN Secretariat, and APEC. 

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Gareth is also a respected voice on technology issues and regularly contributes perspectives on digital trade, social media, and emergent technologies in Singaporean and regional news outlets such as TODAY Online, The Straits Times and Channel NewsAsia.

As Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Accredify, Jing Yi leads the International Partnerships division and the Corporate Services team to ensure operational excellence at Accredify.

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As head of International Partnerships, Jing Yi spearheads the company's efforts in building a global partner ecosystem focused on accelerating digital trust, through establishing strategic partnerships with corporate and government stakeholders. A key partner that Jing Yi has onboarded to the ecosystem includes the Chinese Ministry of Education. To date, Accredify's partner network stretches across China, India, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore.

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As the Corporate Services lead, Jing Yi has built robust operating processes across Human Resources and Customer Support to enhance productivity and accountability. Some of her key achievements include leading the onboarding and support of over 400 clients in three months, and nurturing key client accounts to secure Accredify’s position as the region's leading verifiable credentials platform.

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With an interest in both business and technology, Jing Yi has worked as a Business Analyst at Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, developing business requirements and bridging the business and technology teams. Jing Yi later joined Aste Global Pte Ltd, a marine supplies company with offices across Asia and Europe, as Chief of Staff. At Aste Global, she redesigned and implemented technology solutions and standard operating procedures across all branches to improve productivity and ensure conformity to company policy and local regulations.

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Jing Yi graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Science in Business Analytics (Honours).

With a background in a digital solution provider (Macnica, Inc), Kengo Suzuki has led business development and cross-border projects, including investment execution. He has extensive experience launching and scaling overseas startups (Silicon Valley, Israel, Taiwan, SEA) in Japan and Asia, as well as accelerating startup deals. Kengo also led a new business division, where he invested in digital tech startups through CVC while overseeing portfolio companies.

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In 2019, he founded NEOLIZE, operating in Japan and Malaysia, supporting Japanese companies' expansion into ASEAN and assisting overseas firms entering Japan. Additionally, as a Venture Partner at Gobi Partners, he facilitates cross-border (Japan-SEA) opportunities.

𝐇𝐢, 𝐈’𝐦 𝐍𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐫𝐤𝐞 — 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐞𝐱-𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐫, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐦𝐬, 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐈, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐞.

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I cut my teeth in global competitions and research labs.

🧠 Gold @ Eurasian Coding Contest, ICPC World Semifinalist

🤖 Published ML & robotics research (IEEE in the US, Japan, Singapore)

🚀 Built and sold a startup

📈 Now backing early-stage founders who defy gravity in emerging markets @ Sturgeon Capital

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Fluent in C++, pitch decks, and pattern recognition — human or algorithmic.

I back founders who ask “𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵?” — and mean it.

Neil is a seasoned startup operator who transitioned into entrepreneurial development programmes, venture education, and community building—accumulating nearly 10 years of experience supporting entrepreneurship growth and bridging operational knowledge and network gaps across Southeast Asia. As the Founding Managing Director of GUIDE, he oversees learning experience design and materials development across all venture programmes and ecosystem initiatives led by GUIDE and its partners.

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Neil has served as a mentor and judge for several innovation programmes, including Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund initiative—the Khazanah Innovation Impact Challenge—for which he led the design of the inaugural programme in 2021. He is also the founder of a regionally based venture studio and one of the creators of the Chief of Staff School. Previously, Neil founded a boutique digital marketing agency and held turnaround leadership roles in two local startups before joining the global entrepreneurial network Endeavor, and subsequently establishing GUIDE.

Vykintas Mineikis is the Regional Senior Operations Director at ZALORA, overseeing operations across multiple countries in Southeast Asia. He has helped to scale ZALORA operations from ground zero and monetize on its fulfillment infrastructure. He has a strong background in e-commerce, start-ups, operations, strategy, lean management, operational excellence, WMS and tech.