FLY ASIA

Margus Mägi is an experienced digital transformation strategist with over 15 years of experience across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. He formerly served as a Digital Society Advisor to the President of Estonia, advising on digital diplomacy, e-government, and digital policy coordination. Margus was honored with the Fourth Class Order of the White Star by the President of the Republic of Estonia.

Margus currently works with the International Telecommunications Union on the GovStack initiative for e-government. Previously, he was the digital policy advisor for the Prime Minister of Estonia, where he developed and coordinated a digital policy agenda for the Estonian Presidency of the Council of the European Union. He also worked on the development of the 3Seas Smart Connectivity initiative blueprint.

Other career highlights include working on Oman's business registry reform to enable online services, coordinating the Tallinn Digital Summit and drafting the EU27 Head of Government summit whitepaper, and helping to re-start the real-time economy initiative in Estonia.

Margus was recognized as a Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2006 by Estonia's Good Deed Foundation. He holds degrees in IT management from Tallinn University and marketing from the Estonian Entrepreneurship University of Applied Sciences.

With his extensive experience driving digital transformation and e-governance initiatives, Margus offers valuable insights on digital strategy and policy development for governments and organizations globally. 

 Jin-Kyu Jung is a Professor at the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences and an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Geography at the University of Washington. He received a PhD in Geography and a M.U.P. in Urban Planning from State University of New York at Buffalo (SUNY-Buffalo) and a BA in Urban Engineering from Pusan National University in South Korea. He is an urban geographer/planner whose interdisciplinary research program contributes to critical, qualitative, and creative possibilities of GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and geographic visualization in understanding socio-spatial processes and politics of urban space in an engaged way (engaged teaching and learning and engaged scholarship).

His research offers urban planners, geographers, and interdisciplinary scholars epistemological and methodological innovation in digital technologies that integrate various forms of data/evidence and representation and analysis often seen as incompatible: qualitative and quantitative, visuality and numeracy, texts and maps, and artistic and scientific. By applying research on a variety of topics, such as people’s perception of community, representation of urban precarity and inequality, and urban regeneration and smart city planning, he is committed to demonstrating how this integrated approach generates deeper and more nuanced urban spatial and geographical insights than are possible within singular epistemological and methodological frameworks and allows us a meaningful community-engaged scholarship. 

정진규 교수는 워싱턴 대학교 (University of Washington) 학제간 예술 및 과학대 정 교수 이자 동 대학 지리학과 겸임 교수입니다.  부산대학교에서 도시 공학 학사 학위를, 뉴욕 주립 대학교 버펄로 캠퍼스 (SUNY-Buffalo)에서 도시 계획 석사 및 지리학 박사 학위를 취득했습니다.  그는 사회 공간적 과정과 도시 공간의 정치를 참여적인 방식으로 이해하는 데 있어 GIS (지리 정보 시스템) 의 비판적, 질적, 창의적 가능성과 지리 시각화에 기여하는 학제간 연구 프로그램을 제공하는 도시 지리학자/계획가입니다.

그의 연구는 도시계획가, 지리학자, 그리고 학제간 학자들에게 다양한 형태의 데이터/증거 및 표현, 그리고 종종 양립할 수 없는 것으로 간주되는 분석(질적 및 양적, 시각성과 수리력, 텍스트 및 지도, 예술적 및 과학)을 통합하는 디지털 기술에 대한 인식론적, 방법론적 혁신을 제공합니다. 그는 지역 사회에 대한 사람들의 인식, 도시의 불안정성과 불평등의 표현, 도시 재생 및 스마트 도시 계획과 같은 다양한 주제에 대한 연구에 적용함으로써 이러한 통합 접근 방식이 어떻게 가능하고, 도시 공간적 통찰력을 생성하는지에 초점을 두고 있습니다. 

Paul Meyers is an Asian digital and start-up pioneer, having spent nearly 30 years building innovative products and companies across Asia. 

He is a serial founder, with 3 exits (NASDAQ plus 2 trade sales) and also has extensive regional TMT experience, holding senior positions with Telstra, Vodafone, Xerox, Dow Jones, MTV and others. 

His work ranges from starting MTVAsia.com, to running Telstra’s start-up accelerator “muru- D” in Asia, to helping to build the Asian Development Bank’s 1st venture fund, ADBVentures. 

He currently focuses on running/supporting impact-related projects, supporting female founders through his volunteer work with SheLovesTech and running a free monthly founder-only mastermind group, Founders Circle, in Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and other Southeast Asian co​untries. 

A father of 3, Paul also runs Asia Founder Coaching, a founder coaching practice, and splits his time between Bangkok and Singapore. 

Jong-yoon Kim leads Yanolja Cloud, a global company that leads digital transformation around the world for properties within accommodations, food and beverage, residential, golf, and other leisure facilities. The company offers a full suite of solutions including property management, distribution solutions for inventory sales and management, an automated IoT Hub connecting all hardware, and AI services based on a Yanolja Cloud integrated data lake.

Jong-yoon Kim joined Yanolja Co., Ltd. in 2015 as Chief Strategy Officer and in 2021 was elevated to Chief Executive Officer of Yanolja Co., Ltd. Mr. Kim added to his responsibilities in 2021, becoming the Chief Executive Officer of Yanolja Cloud. Prior to Yanolja Co., Ltd., Mr. Kim held various leadership positions with global organizations including McKinsey & Company, Google, and 3M. He holds a Bachelor in Chemical Engineering (BEng) from Seoul National University, Republic of Korea, and completed his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College, United States of America.

Chandra Firmanto is a distinguished entrepreneur and business leader with a strong background in entrepreneurship and a proven track record in the finance and automotive industries. His journey in the world of business began at the University of Southern California (USC), where he graduated in 2002 with a major in entrepreneurship. Since then, Chandra Firmanto has made significant strides in various sectors, leaving a lasting mark on

the Indonesian business landscape.

Chandra also chairs PT Aneka Makmur Sejahtera, overseeing a diverse portfolio, including BPR Prima Multi Makmur, one of Indonesia's largest local banks, and Fortuna Multifinance. He has extensive experience in automotive businesses, including Yamaha and Chery car dealerships and Dunlop tire distribution under Sumitomo.

Notable achievements include his role as a shareholder at Bussan Auto Finance (BAF), a Joint Venture with Mitsui & Co Japan and ownership of Fortuna Multifinance. Chandra is a certified Multi Finance Director by the Indonesia Financial Service Authority (OJK). He served as Chief Strategic Officer of PT Fortune Food Indonesia, managing the Carl's Jr.burger master franchise in Indonesia from 2010 to 2013. In the corporate world, Chandra has been the Head Commissioner for Venteny (IDX: VTNY). His entrepreneurial journey and leadership continue to shape industries in Indonesia and beyond.

Christopher Fernandez is a visionary leader who has been driving transformative change within the technology sector. Serving as the CEO of Block Gemini, Christopher has demonstrated exce​ptional acumen in revolutionizing digital transformation, blockchain solutions, and fostering new ventures.

Under Christopher's steadfast guidance, Block Gemini has earned its reputation as a trailblazer in digital transformation. Notably, the company's collaborations with Fortune 500 entities have been impactful, introducing solutions that redefine industry landscapes and establish new benchmarks. Christopher's strategic foresight, combined with the company's unwavering dedication to innovation, has been pivotal in navigating the dynamic technological landscape.

Block Gemini's influence extends far beyond the corporate realm. Guided by Christopher's visionary leadership, the company has diversified into various sectors within the B2C segment, successfully incubating million-dollar valuation enterprises. This includes p​ioneering Luxury e-Hailing Services and spearheading Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging platforms. These achievements underscore Christopher's commitment to innovation and his adeptness at identifying and capitalizing on forward-looking opportunities.

Christopher's expertise transcends established solutions. His distinctive ability to identify emerging trends and catalyze novel ventures has been a driving force. Whether through investments in promising startups or nurturing bold ideas/concepts into flourishing companies, Christopher's strategic acumen has been instrumental in shaping Block Gemini's innovative landscape.

In a world characterized by rapid technological advancements, Christopher Fernandez stands as a testament to innovation and forward-thinking 

Jie Lun heads the Ventures team for Plug and Play, headquartered in Silicon Valley with 50+ locations globally. 

He’s in charge of the team that conducts startup sourcing and matchmaking to some of Plug and Play’s 500+ corporate partners globally as well as identifying potential startups for investments within the South East Asia region. Previously managing Singapore operations as well as the SPH Plug and Play joint venture accelerator program, Jie Lun has gained both operational as well as Venture Capital experience over the last 9 years in the South East Asian startup ecosystem overseeing over 90 investments and countless corporate-startup deal-flow sessions​

He started his career in KPMG’s Korean Tax service group since 2007. After 6 years of tax consulting service to Korean/foreign clients, he has been on a secondment to KPMG Almaty office in Kazakhstan for more than 6 years since 2012. He developed KPMG’s Korean practice as a Korea Desk for the Central Asia region and is the in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.

 In Joon Hwang is the CGIO (Chief Global Investment Officer) of LY Corporation and CEO of LINE Financial, as well as the Chairman at Z Venture Capital and LINE Bank Taiwan. He has a BA in Economics from Seoul National University and an MBA from New York University. 

Highly regarded as a financial and fiscal expert, Mr. Hwang served as the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of LINE Corporation from 2015 to 2023, and successfully spearheaded LINE's IPO in 2016. In 2008, he joined NHN (now NAVER), leading the company to its first 1 trillion won in annual revenues. In addition to these achievements, he currently serves as the CEO of LINE Financial and Chairman of LINE Bank Taiwan, driving the success of LINE's fintech business.

Before his time at LINE and NAVER, Mr. Hwang started his career in charge of international finance at Samsung Electronics. He also held positions in M&A and international finance at Credit Suisse, Samsung Securities, Woori Financial Holdings, and Woori Investment & Securities.

Lee joined HighLight Capital in May 2019 as Principal.

He has 10 years of investment and financial experience. Prior to HighLight Capital, Lee was employed as a Senior Associate at Ernst & Young

Lee holds a BA in Economics from Shanghai Fudan University.​

Mr Wong is an experienced venture capitalist who is a proactive board member who advises the investees on corporate strategy, international business development, governance and finance. As an appointed mentor of the Hong Kong Life Science Society, he enjoys mentoring students regarding entrepreneurship in the biomedical and healthcare sectors. Besides, he is a guest lecturer at the University of Hong Kong and Awaji Youth Federation (Japan), coaching and teaching students in new venture creation and venture capital investing.

Mr Wong is the Founding Leader of the Hong Kong-based HKSTP Ventures, the corporate venture capital of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation focused on deep-tech investing from early to growth stages. He oversees all the transaction executions, portfolio strategy and strategic partnership development since its inception in September 2015. The AUM of HKSTP Ventures has grown by 20 times throughout his eight-year tenure. With four pillars of investment themes in Life Science, Smart City, Mobility and automation and Semiconductors, half of whom are based in the US (Silicon Valley), China, Singapore, Taiwan and the UK Before joining HKSTPC, Mr Wong led the Greater China Distressed Investment team at Crédit Agricole CIB. Besides, he obtained solid corporate finance exposure from his investment banking experiences at ABN AMRO and BNP Paribas respectively. He has 10+ years of direct investment experience across various sectors in Greater China, Southeast Asia, Silicon Valley and the UK.

He graduated from St. Hugh’s College, Oxford University with distinction and obtained CFA Charterholder.

Edmond is an operating partner of iGlobe Partners. He has over 26 years of hi-tech venture capital experience investing in early stage startups, tech venture funds, and funds of funds in Silicon Valley, the northeastern corridor of United States, Israel, and in Asia. Prior to joining iGlobe, Edmond was the executive vice president of Juniper Capital Ventures, the CVC arm of a Singapore listed company, Accenture Asia, Edmond also sits on the board of several iGlobe portfolio companies.

Having been through multiple business cycles over 3 decades, Edmond brings a unique blend of venture investing, M&A transactions in South Korea, and operating experience.​ 

Luuk is a business leader and entrepreneur with a demonstrated track-record in innovation and technology across multiple industries and continents. Luuk started his career in the Netherlands and was part of the management team of HighTechXL. In his role, he directly coached and supported the creation of multiple HighTechXL deep-tech ventures such as Accerion and Bambi Medical. Subsequently, Luuk was sent to China to serve as HighTechXL’s Asia CEO where he successfully forged a partnership with XNode - China’s leading corporate accelerator and led all incubation and innovation activities for XNode Group. In that role, Luuk grew XNode’s P&L from 8 MLN RMB revenue to 25 MLN RMB within two years. Additionally, Luuk was involved in advising and fundraising for +200 early-stage ventures from inception to launch and growth.

Luuk then went on to become the co-founding managing partner of SDTA, leading the process of building deep-tech ventures from ground up. The inaugural batch of SDTA currently operates at a 10X unrealized MOIC with SDTA holding an equity share of between 10-20% in the three ventures that were created as part of its inaugural batch. Separately, Luuk personally invested in Incooling - a startup focusing on building cooling solutions for data centers. Incooling counts HighTechXL as one of its early investors. Incooling is finalising a negotiation for EUR 5M at a post-money valuation of EUR 16.9M, representing an 8.3X MOIC at the time of writing.

Hyeon-Min Bae received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 1998 and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USA, in 2001 and 2004, respectively. 

Since 2009, he has been on the faculty of the electrical engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Korea. He has served on the wireline subcommittee of International Solid-State Circuit Conference (ISSCC) from 2014 to 2019 and has served as a Distinguished lecturer of IEEE Solid-State Circuit Society from 2017 to 2019. Dr. Bae received the Excellence Award from the National Academy of Engineering of Korea and KAIST Top 10 research award in 2013 and the 2006 IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits Best Paper Award.

From 2021 to 2022, he served as a director for intellectual property and technology transfer center at KAIST and currently Dr. Bae serves as the vice president of institute for startup KAIST since 2023.

Dr. Bae is a serial entrepreneur who founded Intersymbol communications and Point2 technology in the US and Terasquare, OBELAB and Barreleye in Korea. 

Jung-hee is an inventor, entrepreneur and investor with 28 years of experience in business and academia. He was a co-founder and CTO of Iconlab Inc., and invented “InterCode” which is a 2D barcode system optimized for mobile camera phone scanning and is the de-facto standard today for Korean operators. He founded Olaworks Inc. in 2006 and worked as CEO and CSO until Intel’s acquisition in 2012. He created “ScanSearch” in Olaworks, the mega-hit mobile augmented reality service with over 2mil users. He worked as Strategic Planner in PEG-IPG-ICG, Intel Corp after the acquisition until 2014. Currently he is Partner and CEO of FuturePlay Inc., which builds and invests in innovative deep-tech startups around the world. FuturePlay is the leading accelerator and VC of Korea and has invested 225+ startups since 2013. He received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejon, in 1996 and 1998 and Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from KAIST in 2002, respectively.

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Thoo Wee Meng is senior partner responsible for investment strategy in Private Markets focusing on Private Equity and Venture Capital at Leonie Hill Capital, a Singapore based family office with presence in Singapore, Switzerland and in the US. Wee Meng spent many years in Switzerland operating in Wealth Management and Family Office management roles in Europe. He is also an active investor collaborating with the UN and related Non-profit organizations in Switzerland and European countries.With a Technology Engineering background, Mr. Thoo had previously held several management positions in global technology firms like HP, Oracle, Vmware and NEC. He has used his experience in M&A and IPO to invest in PE/VC funds, direct investments with Family Offices, institutional funds and corporations towards successful exits.

•Proponent of transhumanism.

•Producer of Vir tual Humans. 

• Super vision of the YouTube drama series'DAMN GOOD COMPA NY' (Total Director)

• Successfully produced 'DAMN GOOD COMPANY' up to Season 3 and secured investment from Watcha.

• Received an Excellence Award at the New Media Content Awards

• Directed the Wavve original series 'King of the Desert' with writer Kim Bo-tong from Netflix's 'D.P.'

• Production of the YouTube series 'No Movie' with YouTuber Jin Yong-jin and preparation for commercial film production

• CEO of a talent planning company specializing in nurturing startup-oriented talents

• Introduced startups to over 100,000 youths,teachers and parents through the A ntship School

• Facilitated career matches for 730 individuals through JoinStartup

He is a strategic advisor and head of Cannes Next, the innovation platform of the world's leading film market and festival, Marché du Film - Festival de Cannes. With over 20 years of experience in the innovation, technology, conontent industry, and public policy, He is a MA with honors and PhD candidate in Media, Science, Technology and Society from the University of Tokyo, and have a deep expertise in bridging the gap between creativity, tech, and venture capital.

As a passionate ecosystem builder and visionary, He curates, advises, and supports various initiatives and organizations that foster innovation, collaboration, and diversity in the media and tech sectors. He has a global track record of delivering high-impact projects, policy missjins, events, and strategies for startups, governments, and A-list media and content platforms. His mission is to empower creators, entrepreneurs, and audiences with the tools, skills, and opportunities to shape the future of content and media and our public sphere. 

Rain Rannu has an unique background in filmmaking, entrepreneurship and investments. Formerly founder & CEO of mobile payments company Fortumo (exited in 2020), he is managing partner of Estonia-based venture capital fund Superangel, an early investor in unicorn companies Bolt and Pipedrive. As a film director, he is recently finished his third and fourth narrative features “Child Machine” and “Free Money” with his debut feature “Chasing Unicorns” available on VOD-platforms worldwide. His production company Tallifornia produces and finances films by talented indie filmmakers and his fund Tallifornia Film Fund finances exciting creative projects.​

• Outstanding Citizen Award in the South Korean Green Climate Awards.

• Climate Action Ambassador for the European Union.

• Operation of the zero-waste shop "NoNoShop."

• Establishment of the foreign entertainment agency "Tyler & Julian."