SPEAKERS

Roland Ros is the founder of Kumu, a Filipino digital entertainment company with 15+ million users. Prior to Kumu, he was a growth marketer, generating millions of customers for clients in the United States. He champions Sinigang Valley, a community supporting the tech ecosystem in the Philippines. In this capacity, he is also an investor in Podcast Network Asia, Pick Up Coffee, Lista PH, Square One Hospitality, DOON Philippines, Rezbin, and Endeavor Catalyst Fund.

Mr. Ricardo (Ricky) Banaag is the Chief Executive Officer for DFNN, a technology company listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange. He is concurrently Chief Operations Officer for IEST Inc.,a wholly owned DFNN subsidiary. Mr. Banaag also sits as a member of the Board of Directors for iWave Inc. and Lucky U, Inc.

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With forty years in the Technology Sector, Mr. Banaag has a depth of corporate experience in developing the ICT Industry in the Philippines. Prior to joining DFNN, Mr. Banaag was President and Country Manager for Intel Microelectronics Philippines, Inc., a position he held or over 16 years. In that role, he was primarily responsible for all of Intel’s sales, marketing, and customer support operations in the Philippines. Previous to joining Intel, Mr. Banaag ran IBM’s PC company, and was managing the entire PC marketing and support operations for IBM Philippines.

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Mr. Banaag was also Country Manager for IBM’s Global Network and was attributed for establishing one of the first ISPs in the country. His IBM career span more than 14 years, with his other roles managing the retail, distribution, and manufacturing industries.

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Mr. Banaag was recognized as one of the Leaders of the New Millennium in the Philippines Yearbook 2000 Edition. In the same year, he was awarded a Plaque of Recognition by the Office of the President of the Philippines for his contribution and support to the ICT industry. In 2004, he was named by the Metro Computer Times as one of the Top 20 Movers and Shakers of the Philippine IT Industry. He was also named one of the Philippines’ Most Influential CEOs for 2008 and in December of 2009, was recognized as the IT Executive of the Year by the IT Journalists Association of the Philippines.

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Mr. Banaag received a BS Industrial Engineering degree from the University of the Philippines in 1982. He was a former president of the University of the Philippines’ Industrial Engineering AlumniAssociation (UPIEAA). In recognition as one of the university’s outstanding alumni, he was accorded the Departmental Award in Industrial Engineering for 2002 by the U.P. Alumni Engineers.

Sarah Perez is a business development executive with passion for driving growth and innovation in the technology industry. She currently serves as the Senior Corporate Partnerships Manager of Plug and Play Tech Center, the world’s largest corporate innovation platform.

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At Plug and Play, she is responsible for driving business growth by identifying and fostering strategic partnerships with corporations, governments, investors and startups. She handles the development and execution of the company’s business development strategies for the Manila office working closely with regional and global teams to ensure successful implementation of programs and services to the Philippine clientele.

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Prior to joining Plug and Play, she held leadership positions with both local and multinational companies handling Supply Chain functions in the energy and petrochemical industries.

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Sarah holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Operations Management from Enderun Colleges where she graduated cum laude in 2016.

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In her free time, Sarah helps out in their family business and has recently ventured in entrepreneurship in partnership with her sister.

Colin Christie is an entrepreneur, global connector, educator, and a frequent speaker on digital topics. His interests are focused on recent advances in Generative AI and how it is reshaping the future of work, education, and life in general.

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Mr. Christie was the Founding President and Trustee of the Analytics & Artificial Intelligence Association of the Philippines and now serves as the Chairman of its Advisory Committee.

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He is an independent director of NOW Corporation (PSE:NOW), a director of Lifetrack Medical Systems Inc., Chairman of Medcode, Inc., and Chairman of US-based Navix Health Inc., an innovator of AI in healthcare. He is the Executive Director of Global Chamber® Manila, and a co-founder of the Health Information Management Association of the Philippines.  

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Mr. Christie began his career in the semiconductor industry in California’s silicon valley and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of California Berkeley.

Patricia is a General Partner at Seedstars International Ventures (SIV), an early-stage VC fund investing in emerging markets in Asia, Africa, LatAm and MENA. SIV backs ventures that solve key societal challenges, focusing on B2B solutions in fintech and commerce. The fund is part of the Seedstars Group, founded in 2012 in Switzerland with a network covering over 90 countries.She has over 15 years of investing and management consulting experience across Asia Pacific and the U.S. Her previous roles include leading growth stage investing for Falcon House Partners, a private equity fund investing in Indonesia consumer space. More recently, she led the portfolio management and value creation functions at AC Ventures, an early-stage VC in Southeast Asia. Earlier in her career, Patricia worked in the private equity arm of Lehman Brothers as well global consulting firms such as Booz Allen Hamilton and L.E.K Consulting. Patricia holds a BA in Economics and International Relations from Tufts University and a M.A in Economic Development from The Fletcher School, Tufts University.

Jason is an Investment Manager at Kickstart Ventures. As part of the deal team, Jason is involved with sourcing and evaluating new investment opportunities and overseeing Kickstart’s portfolio companies. Before joining Kickstart, Jason was an associate at Molave Capital Management, an industry-agnostic, value-oriented hedge fund, where he invested in public equities across the US, Europe, and Asia. Previously, he was an analyst in the Global Markets division of BNP Paribas, where he helped manage the market risk for equity, derivatives, and fixed-income portfolios of global hedge funds and asset managers. Jason holds a BS in Public Accounting from Fordham University.

Ziheng is an investor at Saison Capital, an early-stage fund that invests across Southeast Asia and India. At Saison Capital, Ziheng spends most of his time supporting portfolio founders and identifying new opportunities in the Philippines and Vietnam. Before joining Saison Capital, Ziheng worked with various banks and insurance companies in Southeast Asia on corporate innovation at Plug and Play.

Pia is the Manager for Strategic Partnerships at Kickstart Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Globe Telecom. With 10+ years at Kickstart, she works on investment portfolio growth and startup ecosystem building by leveraging on her expertise in stakeholder engagement, community relations, and communications.

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Prior to Kickstart, she spent 15+ years working with different communities and organizations for the wider adoption of digital tech for public good and social impact. Through her previous roles, she spearheaded and managed partnerships with various entities at different stages of understanding and practice of Corporate Social Reponsibility and its advanced version —  Sustainability.

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Pia represents Kickstart in the Globe Group Sustainability Council. Recognitions for her work include the “2009 Globe Employee of the Year” for the Corporate Communications Group and business communications awards Gold Quill and Anvil Awards for her Globe social responsibility programs from IABC/Philippines and the Public Relations Society of the Philippines, respectively.Pia holds a BS in Development Studies from the University of the Philippines in Manila.

Bit is the AVP of Portfolio Operations for Kickstart Ventures Inc., the corporate venture capital arm of Globe Telecom, Inc. and advisor to the Ayala ACTIVE fund. He leads Kickstart’s efforts to support its portfolio companies by leveraging the resources, reach, and expertise of the Kickstart team, and of the many business units across Globe and Ayala. He also leads Kickstart’s initiatives in nurturing the local tech start-up ecosystem through collaboration with other startup enablers and the public sector. He has been a software product and technology leader for more than 15 years and is the de-facto “tech guy” of the Kickstart team.  Prior to joining Kickstart, he was the Chief Technology Officer of OLX Philippines, an online classifieds platform company. He was primarily responsible for the product and technology strategy and operations of the Philippine team, and also worked on global and regional initiatives within the OLX Group. Bit holds a Bachelor of Science Degree, Majoring in Computer Science, from Ateneo de Manila University.

As the founder and CEO of Hey Roomie, a virtual HQ for today’s online communities, Ina Flores has created a platform that is supercharging the way people connect and collaborate on their passions online.

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Parallel to her work in Hey Roomie, Ina sits as Head of Innovation for In Circle, a pioneer in the local creator economy and one of the fastest-growing influencer marketing agencies in the Philippines today – serving both multinational and legacy brands alike, as well as advertising agencies. Her work in marketing communications spans over a decade.

Dylan is the CIO and co-founder of A2D Ventures, a SEA angel investing platform based in Thailand. Before A2D, he managed ECG Venture Capital, which is largest independent VC in Thailand, investing in over 30 deals around the world, with some notable startups being Polestar and Lotus Tech.

Calen Martin Legaspi is the visionary CEO and Co-Founder of O&B Software Labs, a journey that began in 2005. Armed with an MBA in Business, Calen's educational background and extensive experience have been instrumental in steering the firm's remarkable growth. A true pioneer, he delved into Agile methodologies as early as 2002 and blazed a trail as the first Agile instructor in the Philippines in 2005. Calen's expertise extends to Test-Driven Development, Domain Driven Design, and various code quality practices, making him a driving force in the software development landscape.

Butch heads IdeaSpace, a technology accelerator for early-stage startups, and QBOInnovation Hub, a public-private partnership to mentor startups. He worked with a financial startup in New York. He played a key role in the bid by TLC Beatrice International, a $2 billion food company headquartered in New York and Paris and the first ever major corporation to be controlled by an African American, to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. He has met with NASDAQ officials on the listing of Philippine companies. He sealed QBO’s partnership with the Philippine Stock Exchange on shepherding startups going public.

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Butch is President of Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation, a private-sector disaster management organization that includes major business groups. Philippine Long-Distance Telephone, his parent company, received the 2016 Prince of Wales Business in Community UPS International Disaster Relief Prize for work mobilizing PDRF during Super Typhoon Haiyan.

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Previously, Butch was First Vice President and Special Assistant to PLDT’s chairman and president of PLDT Smart Foundation. Prior to PLDT, he served as Vice President, Communications for TLC Beatrice International, a food company in New York and Paris.

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Butch has an M.A. from University of Florida, receiving its Most Distinguished Alumnus award in 2000 and becoming Freedom Forum Distinguished Visiting Professor in 2003. Butch is a graduate of Ateneo De Manila University. His book, “From Manila to WallStreet” will be published by Heliotrope Books in 2025.

Ankit is the Founder & CEO of A2D Ventures - a fast growing platform that serves the growing needs of angel investors, family offices and startup founders alike; acting as a bridge between visionary founders and passionate investors looking to access venture capital while enabling acceleration of Southeast Asia’s fast growing startup led economy. Ankit brings a wealth of experience and passion in building, scaling and operating businesses. His journey has taken him from California to Asia, where he has delved into various sectors, including management consulting at McKinsey & Company, CxO roles at Shopee (e-commerce arm of SEA group), and advanced technologies like semiconductors manufacturing. He advocates for providing visionary founders with the necessary support in terms of capital, mentorship, network access, thought partnership, and management skills. Recognizing the practical impact of these resources, Ankit actively promotes the invaluable role of angel investors in shaping the success of promising ventures and their outsized impact in value creation.

Jason Gaisano is managing partner of Gobi-Core Philippines, the pioneering Philippine VC arm of Gobi Partners. He focuses on tech investments, providing funding, ecosystem insights and innovation development for the country. Prior to Gobi, Jason led business development for his family's real estate firm. He has finance experience from his PE career, family fund, and as an entrepreneur. Founded in 2018, Gobi-Core has invested in startups like Tier One, kumu, and Cloudeats. In 2023, it became a Co-Investment Partner for the government’s Startup Venture Fund. Jason graduated from Ateneo de Manila and got his MBA from Baruch College.

Mark Deutsch and the Happy Garage Team are a talented group of designers, artists, and storytellers in Cebu, Philippines. They collaborate with locals, Asian organizations, and global brands like Disney. Happy Garaje crafts spaces, objects, and experiences that share stories and build connections, drawing inspiration from everyday life, heroes, dreams, and intriguing spaces.

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Mark worked with the GOAB founders to come up with the spectacular and unforgettable vision of GOAB and its adorable mascots, Ondoy, Inday and friends. We firmly believe that Mark's comprehensive expertise in communication design, spanning visuals, content, branding, and positioning, is what sets GOAB apart from the rest. The GOAB brand came to life in 2013, and even after 10 years, people still eagerly anticipate GOAB without any advertising. Mark's work is grounded in real people and real challenges, yet somehow he manages to transport us to the most enjoyable and productive conference where dreams are believed to come true. And indeed, we have tangible proof that many dreams have become a reality at GOAB. Thank you Mark and team!

Neriah De Guzman Ato is an experienced Python Developer, specializing in Backend Web Development, Machine Learning, Data Visualization, and System Administration.

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He is passionate about delivering well-documented and maintainable code and systems, and enjoys leading development teams. Beyond his technical expertise, Neriah actively contributes to nation-building through his leadership in Technical Communities  such as Python Users Community, as well as other social enterprise initiatives.

Marie Ariessa Lane Ko is an experienced Software Engineer, is dedicated to driving innovation and consistently delivering exceptional results.

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Her expertise in Product Management, Product Research, PHP, Software System Analysis, Public Speaking, and Cisco solutions brings a unique blend of technical proficiency and business acumen to her projects. Currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Computer Science, she's a lifelong learner who actively seeks out self-growth through online courses. Whether leading teams or working independently in fast-paced environments, Ariessa collaborates effectively and is committed to achieving excellence and making a significant impact in the industry.

Andrew Garcia is a self-taught programmer with over a decade of experience. He is a Senior Web Developer and a dedicated advocate for continuous learning. He's passionate about coding and enjoys working with technologies like Bootstrap, JavaScript, CSS3, PHP, HTML5, and WordPress. As a volunteer organizer and speaker, he shares his expertise and motivates others on their coding journey, while actively contributing to the tech community in the Philippines.

Martin Cu is a distinguished partner representing Southeast Asia for the renowned Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm, 500 Global (formerly known as 500 Startups). His prior role was as the Philippine country head at Ninja Van, a prominent tech-enabled logistics giant in Southeast Asia. During his tenure, Cu orchestrated the remarkable growth of Ninja Van's Philippine team, expanding it from ground zero to a formidable force of 5,000 employees. He masterminded the creation of a nationwide network, extending its reach to serve an impressive 97% of the country. Before his impactful stint at Ninja Van, Cu excelled as the Head of Acquisition Marketing at the on-demand streaming service HOOQ and as the Marketing Director for Zalora Philippines.

Manny Ayala, a notable entrepreneur and venture capitalist, co-founded Endeavor Philippines and Hatchd. His finance expertise fuels support for high-impact entrepreneurs and early-stage Southeast Asian startups, fostering regional innovation and growth.

John Paul Madulid is the founder and product owner of LessonPlannerPH, an AI-powered tool designed to create lesson plans for K-12 educators, a product developed by Symph. Skilled in both technology and leadership, he passionately advocates for the transformative impact of AI in the education sector.

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Arup is a tech entrepreneur behind AI-powered startups, Steer and Xamun, which transform construction project monitoring and accelerate software development. With over two decades of experience in software engineering at BlastAsia, he actively shares his knowledge as a board member of the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA) and as an adjunct faculty at the Asian Institute of Management (AIM).

Adriel Yong is currently the Head of Investments at Ascend Angels and also part of the Orvel Ventures investments team. Prior to joining Ascend Angels and Orvel Ventures, Adriel was part of the founding team of a SG-based education non-profit, Access Singapore. He has angel invested in over 10 early stage startups across Southeast Asia and works on the BRAVE Southeast Asia Tech Podcast in his free time.

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P.S. he loves scuba diving in Siargao and Malapascua

Joon is a Co-founder and Partner at Abound Capital, a venture debt fund focused on Southeast Asia with a mission to expand access to alternative sources of capital with minimal dilution.

Sohun is a Principal at AVV, an early stage generalist VC based in Vietnam. AVV has backed strong teams throughout Southeast Asia and the US, having backed unicorns like Sky Mavis, ApplyBoard, and Turing and primarily leads seed stage deals with an initial investment of $1-2M. At AVV, Sohun is focused on finding and investing in the strongest teams in Southeast Asia looking to solve audacious problems using technology, and spends time coaching and advising founders to build the foundations of a world class organization. Prior to AVV, Sohun spent over a decade in Silicon Valley working across operations, sales, product, and organization development, with an 8 year stint at Google. Sohun is a trained executive coach.

In his day job, Joseph de Leon is the Director of Venture Strategy for Gravitas Prime. He leads M&A advisory, capital raises, and market entry partnerships for clients in Asia. They were recently selected to be the buy-side advisor for a Japanese government backed South East Asia fund.

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For fun, he does the same thing for startups as a founding member of Manila Angel Investors Network (MAIN). MAIN is the country's largest active angel investor network, winner of Start-up Investor of the Year for the Philippines' 2019 RiceBowl Awards and partnered with Investing In Women, an initiative of the Australian Government, to nurture more female founders and funders.

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He has the privilege of being the Philippines Ambassador for Seedstars SA, selected as the Philippines' first Amazon AWS Scout, and as a mentor for institutions such as the German Accelerator, Impact Hub, UNDP, Plug & Play and Founders Institute.

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In 2022, JdL was selected by Founder Institute as one of the top Global Startup Mentors. He has covered Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, Samoa, and Switzerland.

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JdL is a certified Six Sigma Blackbelt, and an MBA from Emory University. He's also pursued further studies in Finance at UP Diliman, and has a BS Legal Management from Ateneo de Manila.

Diane’s joy comes from enabling others, especially young entrepreneurs. Through her work with tech startups, she has mentored close to 500 entrepreneurs. She was executive director of IdeaSpace, a tech startup accelerator from 2012 to 2021. Still very much engaged in the Philippine startup ecosystem, she chairs several technical panels at the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), is 1 of 2 private sector representatives to the Innovative Startup Act Steering Committee, and conducts training on customer discovery through several Philippine universities.

Sophie Soliven is the Director of Operations for Edamama. She has over 9 years of experience in e-commerce, fintech, and retail in the Philippines. Over the years, she has built her expertise on process management, risk management, and everything else in between. She has also been sharing her knowledge in operations in both the local and the international logistics scene.

Ismael is the CEO and Founder of OWNLY, an onchain game studio building onchain playing card games. He is the Head Organizer of Albay Multimedia Arts Convention (AMAC), the biggest event celebrating creativity in south luzon with over 57,000+ attendees last September 2023. He is also a Community Manager and the General Secretary of Bicol IT Org. Inc., the largest and most active IT advocacy non-profit organization in the Southern Luzon with over 5000+ online community members.

Julie is a Software Development Manager in Digital and AI Products at Qritive, a Singapore-based healthcare company that develops AI-powered solutions scaling histopathologic diagnosis of cancer.

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With over 10 years of experience in software engineering, Julie has helped Qritive build a clinical-decision support system for pathologists that unlocks efficiency and quality gains in diagnosis, leading to better patient outcomes. The system includes the Pantheon Image Management System platform, AI Modules for identification and grading of cancer, and a network of pathologists on-demand for services. In early 2023, Qritive raised $7.5M in funding led by MassMutual Ventures, with participation from SEEDS Capital and Exfinity Venture Partners.

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Julie is also part of Singapore's 100 Women in Tech 2023.

Stephanie Caragos is the Founder, President & CEO of the 23-year running IT Company, Syntactics, Inc. and is the founder of letIThelp.org, a social enterprise that envisions in helping young Filipinos hone their skills in IT and increase their chances of getting stable and profitable jobs. She founded the Syntactics PINK (Promoting InnovationNetworking & Knowledge for women), a community ran by her female developers to train women in coding and IT skills.

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She is a speaker and mentor in various Startup, Online Marketing, Web, ICT and ICT businesses related seminars and talks and works tirelessly in finding innovative ways of marketing online for clients. She is also a staunch supporter of Filipino Small andMedium Enterprises as she continues to develop products and services that would benefit SMEs as well as help them increase their success rate in using technology in business.

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Stephanie is an Eisenhower Fellow, a Young Social Entrepreneur Initiative Fellow and has been featured in the Microsoft Executive Leadership Series Book, Young World Rising.

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Stephanie is currently the president of the CDO ICT Business Council and works with the members and stakeholders in the city in promoting ICT to support more startups and create more jobs in the city. She is a past president for the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines (NICP), is the board secretary of the board of directors for the Eisenhower Fellows Association of the Philippines (EFAP) and Director for Youth Services at the Rotary Club of Cagayan de Oro East Urban.

Victor Seunglee Lim is a Korean-American tech entrepreneur, currently residing in Manila, who has made a significant impact in the culinary and e-commerce sectors. In 2021, he was recognized as one of Tatler Asia's Gen T Leaders of Tomorrow and featured in Esquire's Startup Movers and Shakers. In 2022, Victor earned a place on Forbes Asia's prestigious "30 Under 30 - Retail & eCommerce" list, highlighting his influential role in these industries. His co-founded venture, Kraver's Canteen, was also acknowledged by Forbes Asia in 2023 as one of the "100 Companies to Watch." Victor's journey is a testament to his entrepreneurial vision and exceptional leadership, merging technology and culinary excellence.

Jessica de Mesa-Lim, Kindred’s Co-Founder & CEO, is a trailblazer in femtech, drawing on 15+ years of experience spanning healthcare, e-commerce, and strategic partnerships. She began her academic journey with a B.S. in Computer Science before transitioning to nursing. After years as a Registered Nurse, she excelled in e-commerce, notably with Zalora Philippines. Her impressive ascent led her to orchestrate teams globally within Zalora’s parent company. Inspired by her Filipino roots, Jessica established Kindred to democratize healthcare and wellness access for Filipinas through technology, hospitality, and holistic care. Her pioneering spirit earned her accolades, including recognition by Tatler and Forbes, as well as a runner-up position at the Femtech Asia Awards.

Nel Laygo, CEO and Founder of Peddlr Philippines Inc., hails from Eastern Visayas and leads a startup that's revolutionizing MSMEs (Micro, Small, Medium-size Enterprises). Peddlr's mobile app simplifies inventory management and bookkeeping with digital ledgers and virtual storefronts, making it a valuable asset for both online and brick-and-mortar businesses. Even more impressively, Peddlr functions seamlessly offline. Earlier this year, it raised an impressive US$4.3 million in seed funding from key investors, including Crestone Venture Capital and Patamar Capital, alongside ongoing support from Kaya Founders and Foxmont Capital Partners.

ER is the Co-Founder and CEO of GrowSari. He holds a BS in Business Administration from UP College of Business Administration (2006). With a background in retail distribution and a deep understanding of sari-sari stores' importance in the Philippines, ER co-founded GrowSari in 2016. Prior to that, he gained experience at Proctor & Gamble SG, Boston Consulting Group, and Unilever, where he led brand development for the ice cream business in Southeast Asia and Australasia.

Péter Kovács is a serial entrepreneur and angel investor from Budapest. He co-founded the Global Startup Awards, covering over 120 countries, and IseeQ, an international tech recruitment agency. He also co-founded XO.company, which links governments and corporations with startup ecosystems.

CEO at Unisol

Twwo is an investment manager at Seedstars, leading the efforts in Asia. Previously, Twwo worked at 500 Startups (Thailand) as an Investment Director helping to lead a large number of investments (30+) across 3 funds, working with a variety of startups in different verticals and stages. Prior to that, Twwo was the #1 employee at ImpacTech, an impact-driven accelerator based out of Singapore, helping to kick-start and build the operations of the accelerator from the ground-up in Thailand. Twwo also previously completed the Venture Unlock program at UC Berkeley School of Law.

Deirdre is the Chief Operating Officer at Edukasyon.ph, the Philippines’ leading EdTech platform that allows Filipino youth to explore schools, courses, and scholarships while giving them opportunities to empower themselves through holistic learning programs. In 2022, Deirdre was recognized by WISE Qatar as one of 14 emerging leaders in education worldwide.

E-commerce Pioneer | President | Founder & CEO, Great Deals E-commerce Corp

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Steve Sy is an accomplished entrepreneur and a visionary with expertise in e-commerce, negotiation, sales, and strategic planning. Steve has received numerous accolades, including the EY Technology Entrepreneur of the Year and being named a Top 100 Filipino to follow on LinkedIn. He actively shares insights on e-commerce, digital marketing, and team building. Based in Metro Manila, he is known for his innovation and leadership in the industry.

Mark has led the Gentree investment team since late 2020, overseeing investments exceeding USD 40M in 17 actively managed portfolio companies. Gentree focuses on supporting early-stage Philippines startups and assisting Southeast Asian startups in expanding into the Philippines. Mark's previous roles include launching Go-Ventures' Singapore office, contributing to Gojek's corporate development, and gaining experience in growth equity transactions with TAEL Partners in Southeast Asian markets.

Carlo Calimon, a champion of entrepreneurship, currently directs the Let's Go Foundation, a nonprofit supporting entrepreneurship, and co-owns multiple innovative companies. Carlo has won prestigious awards and is a dedicated educator, mentor, and global mentor for Google Launchpad and AMEN. He also plays a key role in StartUp Village, an incubator/accelerator he co-founded, where he develops impactful programs for MSMEs and startups, fostering growth and digitization.

Luis F. Gonzalez is the COO for Power at Aboitiz Data Innovation (ADI) and Chief Data Officer at Aboitiz Power Corporation (AboitizPower) He spearheads the development and implementation of Data Science & AI solutions to boost operational efficiency, revenue generation, risk management, and ESG initiatives at AboitizPower. Luis's expertise spans across diverse regions, with engagements in Asia Pacific, North & South America, Europe, and the Middle East. He co-founded the AI Asia Pacific Institute, a non-profit research institute focused on ethical AI deployment, and shares his knowledge as a guest lecturer at Nanyang Technological University and through advisory roles with startups applying machine learning in various domains.

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We look forward to having Luis speak about Symbiotic AI, "where AI and deep learning technologies augment human abilities, rather than replace them." Luis will also be speaking in a GOAB Masterclass session to discuss ADI's project with Connected Women, training rural women to learn AI data annotation skills, work from home and participate in the tech industry.

Chris McCann is one of the partners and co-founders of Race Capital, a venture capital firm based in Silicon Valley. Race Capital is an early stage VC fund that leads primarily seed stage companies, typically with a first check of $1M-$4M. They were early seed investors in Databricks, Solana, Lightning Labs, Zeet, Opaque Systems, Sematic, and many other great companies. Chris is an award-winning artist, and was the National Geographic Photographer of the Year in 2016 which led to many exhibitions, showings, and commissions in the traditional art world.

Jeremy Au is COO of Lucence, a leading biotech AI startup focused on precision oncology. He also hosts BRAVE Southeast Asia, the region’s #1 tech podcast with 60,000+ monthly listeners. Angel in 24 startups. Exited founder, former Bain consultant and Harvard MBA. Recognized by Forbes 30 Under 30 and Prestige 40 Under 40.

Jen Bilango is the Country Manager of Coins.ph. She is a dynamic leader with extensive experience in fundraising, team management, and strategic program development within the Web3 and blockchain sectors. She has successfully raised over $170M, managed global teams, and organized major industry conferences and tournaments. Passionate about fostering growth and innovation, Jen excels in translating complex organizational needs into actionable solutions.

Leah Rasay is a creative worker and advocate who engages the use of artistic talents for social change, effective visual and service design for good governance, and events and communications initiative for grassroots policy feedback and experience. She is the founder of Husay.co, an upskilling and outsourcing platform designed to bring out the very best in Filipino creatives to provide high-quality creative services for businesses.

Vince Loremia is Founder/CEO of two startups - Tudlo.co in Philippines and Cleaningly.com.au in Australia. He is a tech entrepreneur with a unique ability to combine leadership & management skills with technical expertise. He helped create software applications for UNDP, World Bank and Silicon Valley-based startups. Investors for his startups include Smart Communications Inc, Ideaspace Foundation, ITU World Telecom, JFDI.ASIA, HotDesq - Advance Queensland and BlueStartups. Vince is from Cebu, Philippines and is currently based in Melbourne, Australia.

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Mohan Belani is the Co-Founder and CEO of e27, as well as a Partner at Orvel Ventures. He is an early-stage investor with a focus on startups and funds in Southeast Asia. Mohan actively connects startups, investors, and corporates in the region.

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Unconventional Entrepreneur. Community Builder. Inclusive Innovation. VentureBeat Women in AI Awards Finalist, The Outstanding Women in the Nations Service (TOWNS) Winner

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Paulo Campos is the Founding Managing General Partner of Kaya Founders, an early-stage venture capital firm investing in high-impact entrepreneurs across Southeast Asia. He co-founded ZALORA Philippines and played a key role in spinning off its logistics arm, ENTREGO, in partnership with Ayala Corp. Paulo holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University.

Founder/CTO at Symph.co | Google Developer Expert for Cloud & Machine Learning | Co-Host of Geeks On A Beach

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Jason has been leading software engineering teams for more than a decade and successfully co-founded and launched Series-A startups and companies in London, Melbourne, San Francisco, and Manila. He's currently based in London and runs Mashup Garage, an engineering startup that focuses on high-end product development and technical leadership with offices in Manila & London.

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Franco Varona is Managing Partner at Foxmont Capital Partners, an early-stage venture capital fund dedicated to supporting entrepreneurs. The firm operates on the belief that if a startup can thrive in the Philippines, it can succeed globally. Franco focuses on funding and guiding startups to tackle significant problems and achieve success.

Kat concurrently serves as the Executive Director of QBO Innovation Hub, a public-private initiative which she launched in 2016 to develop the Philippines' startup ecosystem; and IdeaSpace, a pioneering corporate accelerator and early stage fund backed by the MVP Group. In this capacity, she leads one of the most active startup enablers in the country, and has worked with over 150 partners to accelerate the growth of a combined network of over 500 Filipino startup ventures across various stages and industries.

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Kat completed her B.Sc in Materials Science and Engineering, with a double major inBusiness Administration at Carnegie Mellon University in the US.

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Kat is a Filipina millennial that advocates for spurring innovation and technopreneurship as an engine for driving economic growth and competitiveness. She also leads theStartup Pinay program at QBO and hopes to support the advancement of fellow women in the tech space.

Paul Pajo is the Director for Benilde HIFI DOST TBI and co-founder for Embiggen Group & SmartDevNet and Chairman of Plentina, Inc. (Philippines). He helped convene AngelHack Manila and Davao, Geeks On A Beach and was the Co-Lead for Meta (Formerly Facebook) Developer Circles Manila, Startup Advisor for Cognity Labs and co-host for Sinigang Valley on Clubhouse and also a startup evangelist for QBO and Ideaspace as well as LP for Backend Capital and Behind Genius Ventures.

Jay Fajardo is a serial tech entrepreneur and advocate for grassroots innovation. He is the Executive Director at IDEASPACE/QBO and the founder and CEO of PROUDCLOUD, which provides agile development teams to tech startups. As a prominent speaker and mentor, Jay is a key figure in shaping the Philippine tech startup ecosystem.

Chris the CTO of Shoppable and founder of Startup PH. He created a technology firm on 2011 and the first cross border commerce platform on 2013 in the Philippines with his amazing friends and partners. Both were acquired by the Sterling Group of Companies in 2017.

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Chris is an experienced Open Source Programmer, detail-oriented UX Product Designer, and an expert in driving mass traffic through organic growth strategies. He has held leadership roles as a CEO, CTO, and Tech Entrepreneur in Southeast Asia. With three ventures that didn’t succeed, two successful acquisitions, and one ongoing project, Chris is also a startup supporter and a new Angel Investor.

Ron Baetiong is the Founder & CEO of Podcast Network Asia and Podmachine, as well as the host of the Hustleshare podcast. With a proven track record in the startup world, Ron established Southeast Asia's largest Podcast Network and led it to success. He also founded the Philippines' premier chatbot development agency, which was acquired within a year. Additionally, Ron launched Partyphile, Asia's largest nightlife app, which quickly gained over 120,000 users.

Haifa Carina is a tech community builder with 12+ years professional experience in the IT industry. By day, she does business development as ASEAN Alliances and Programs Manager for eCloudvalley, by night she volunteers for DEVCON Philippines.

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Driven by growth and impact, Haifa has evolving roles throughout her career starting in software engineering as an iOS developer to project management shifting to marketing, partnerships and sales giving her a unique perspective on how success is achieved.

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When not working or volunteering, she enjoys sports like wall climbing, Spartan races and more recently, badminton.

Jojo Flores is Co-Founder of Plug and Play Tech Center, which accelerates over 2,000 tech startups globally each year. He also co-founded Launchgarage in 2016, an ASEAN-focused tech startup accelerator. Jojo advises startups and serves on boards such as the Science and Technology Advisory Council and Animo Labs-ICAST.

Ashley is a Senior Product Owner at Synacy Inc. and is the Founder of Sprout Up Philippines Inc. She is passionate about technology startups and has focused on the industry for the last 7 years. Apart from finding growth and personal alignment with roles in Product Management, she is excited to share her expertise in the industry to rural startup communities like her hometown in Bohol, Philippines. She established a non-profit organization that is aimed towards not only providing accessible networking and training opportunities for digital workers residing in non-metro areas of the country, but also defining an ecosystem building model better fit for these cities.

John Naranjo, a software engineer turned tech entrepreneur, has a knack for building software products and tech startups. He currently ignites software innovation at his venture builder firm, Bayanihan Ventures.

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He's the force behind Ingenuity, a global award-winning software engineering firm catering to industries as diverse as FinTech, Healthcare, and eCommerce. John is also the founder of Hackademy, a coding school on a mission to help turn the Philippines into the global "coding capital" by training world-class software engineers.

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Over his 20-year career, he has partnered with tech startups, digital agencies, and industry giants like Google, Microsoft, and AWS.

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Presently, John advises the Google Developers Group in Davao, presides over the Davao Software Industry and ICT Davao (Trustee), and champions young entrepreneurship as the Founding President of the Davao City Young Entrepreneurs Association. He also sits on the board of the Philippine Science High School - Southern Mindanao Campus, Foundation Inc.

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John is an alumnus of the Philippine Science High School, finished a bachelor’s degree in Electronics Engineering from the Ateneo, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in “Innovation and Creative Entrepreneurship” from Thames International. He completed “Innovation Leadership and Global Entrepreneurship” and “Data Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning” at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). 

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In his free time, John can be found either spending quality time with his wife and kids, or in the golf course tirelessly digging patches of grass and dirt under the scorching heat of the sun.

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Jack is seasoned business leader with 25+ years experience in leading strategy, digital innovation and business transformation initiatives in various industries and organizations in Southeast Asia and Canada.

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Jack is a firm believer in shaping corporate culture around the customer with a proven track record of developing meaningful customer experience strategies with swift execution and sustainable results. His varied work experience includes senior leadership roles in Citicorp, Ayala Corporation, Dell, Yahoo! and MTV Asia.

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Jack is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Jack is also cofounder and Managing Director of Cascadia Fine Wines, the leading Asian distributor of premium wines from the Pacific Northwest. Jack is a WSET Diploma candidate, French Wine Scholar (FWS), Italian Wine Scholar (IWS) and hosts a regular wine podcast on Clubhouse.

Raphael is a proud Cebuano Technopreneur. Raphael is presently the Head of Product for Broadcast of Media:Track, the fastest growing International media monitoring outsourcing hub. He has served multiple roles such as CTO & COO of Edukasyon.ph, the largest Ed-Tech Platform in the Philippines. He has also served as founding and Senior IT management of startups Upteamco (renamed to Luxclusif) and AvaPH, Fashion B2B and B2C E-commerce respectively, both funded by various global capital ventures.

Brian Vasay has been in the information, communication & technology industry for more than 10+ years and has assumed numerous roles such as Software Developer, DevOps Engineer, Solutions Architect and Educator. Currently, he is working for Crawford & Company helping multiple teams successfully implement well-architected solutions in AWS. He is also an Amazon Accredited Instructor (AAI) and active volunteer in the AWSUG tutor study group and is committed to sharing his knowledge of building cutting-edge solutions as well as providing effective mentorship to the AWS community.

Bryan Yap is the CEO and Founder of the Republiq Group of Companies (RGC.) RGC also runs BAI TV, a Facebook new media platform that produces quality Bisaya content. His team also organized the biggest digital conference in Cebu, Bai City Conference: Digital Uprising in 2018 & BaiCon Infest in 2019.

Paul is the Chief of Business Development at Aqwire, an international payments company for businesses. He played a key role in building systems in place to bring the company from ground zero all the way to Pre-Series B. From fundraising, building compliance frameworks, and expanding the international payments infrastructures Paul continues to help bring the mission forward of building a global payments system.

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In addition, Paul also serves as an adviser and angel investor in early stage startups. He is currently an adviser to Chatgenie, helping with fundraising and strategy.

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His first journey into startups started in college, where he built a startup-focused student organization and built his first startup, where he made his first exit.