AVCJ Private Equity & Venture Forum Southeast Asia 2023
The Westin Singapore and Online
Confirm cancellation
An error occurred trying to play the stream. Please reload the page and try again.
CloseSign-up to join the ION Analytics Community to:
- Register for events
- Access market insights
- Download reports
Valerie is Assistant VP, Venture Capital at EDB New Ventures, the early-stage venture capital investment and corporate venture building arm of the Economic Development Board (EDB). EDB New Ventures invests across sectors, including in climate and agrifood opportunities. She leads the team’s investments into sustainability and partnerships with corporates that are building new venture spinouts in this domain. Valerie also spends her time working with portfolio companies to accelerate the growth of their ventures and provide value creation support.
Prior to this, Valerie was EDB’s Regional Director for East Americas, based out of New York City. She led engagements with American multinational corporations and high growth startups expanding into new markets in Asia. She has also overseen the technology sector, with a focus on internet and software, while at EDB’s Infocomms and Media division. She was involved in Singapore’s efforts to develop a data analytics ecosystem, through programs for talent development and research.
Valerie holds a master’s degree in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University and bachelor’s degree in Economics from the London School of Economics.
Stefano Ghezzi joined OTPP in 2017 and is member of the Infrastructure and Natural Resources team based in Singapore covering the infrastructure and renewable sectors across Asia Pacific. During his time at OTPP Stefano has been involved in investments globally including the recent acquisitions of Caruna Networks, SGI and IDEAL, amongst others. Prior to joining Ontario Teachers', Stefano worked in the infrastructure and energy group at Citigroup and in derivatives trading at Commerzbank in London.
Stefano holds a M.Sc. in Finance from Warwick Business School and a B.Sc. in Economics from Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan.
Jonathan supports the Primary Investment Team in all aspects of the investment decision-making process, including business due diligence, industry review, document negotiation, and portfolio management.
Prior to joining Adams Street, he worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as an Associate within the M&A Advisory Group. He was part of the Deals Advisory Cross Experience (ACE) program which seeks to provide broad-based learning and holistic exposure to the entire deal spectrum.
Victor Jung is a Managing Director and Head of Digital Assets based in Zug where he leads technology and digital initiatives in relation to products, assets, clients, distribution channels, and applying diverse technologies.
Prior joining Hamilton Lane, Victor was Head of Liquid Private Markets and Distribution Partners APAC and Head of Client Solutions Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan for Partners Group based in Singapore. Victor started his career at KB Asset Management as an investment manager in the Alternative Investment Division. Victor is a thought leader in the fintech/wealth tech industry having led market’s first digitized private markets solutions via partnerships with leading fintechs throughout his career.
Victor holds a B.A. in Politics and International Relations from Korea University. He is a Certified Commercial Investment Member (CCIM).
Geoff joined Khazanah in September 2021 after spending over 30 years in various roles in the finance and investments industries in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. He was previously a partner at Hendale Capital, a private investment vehicle sponsored by a leading global tech entrepreneur, Head of Principal Investments at Korea Development Bank Asia, Head of Asian Investments at HSBC Alternative Proprietary Investments and Managing Director and co-founder of Myo Capital Special Situations Fund.
Prior to moving to the buyside, he spent nearly a decade in investment banking latterly as a Director of Telecommunication, Media and Technology and founding member of the Mergers & Acquisitions team at HSBC Investment Bank Asia. He is a UK Fellow Chartered Accountant and a graduate from the University of Manchester.
Golden Vision Capital (Singapore) is a new Single Family Office set up in Aug 2021 to make PE and VC direct investments in Southeast Asia, leveraging on the family and team’s strong business connections in the region. It also invests in leading PE Funds, and co-invests alongside them. Its CEO Sean Low, CFA is an industry veteran with 24 years of deal sourcing, investment and business development experience, including 17 years in the PE & Infrastructure department of GIC, Singapore's SWF, where he helps to oversee GIC's PE, Infra, Private Debt & VC investments in US, Europe and Asia at different times, and help led some of GIC’s landmark deals in each region. He played a leading role in expanding GIC’s private debt program, and last served as an active member in GIC Credit Business group which help review GIC’s overall credit investment strategy across public and private markets. Sean is also concurrently senior advisor to Yangzijiang Financial Holdings Limited (ww.YZJFIN.com), an investment management Firm listed on SGX with NAV in excess S$4b. He advises its Investment Committee on PE and Private Credit portfolio construction, funds and deals selection and risk management.
Sean began his career in Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), after he was awarded the EDB Scholarship in 1993. He served first as Assistant Head of InfoComms & Media group, and then as Director of Chicago Centre. Sean currently chairs the Investment Committee at CFA Singapore, and was elected the Treasurer of Singapore's VC & PE Association in 2021. He graduated from Trinity College, University of Cambridge with BA (1st Class Honours), MA and M Eng. (Honours). He completed National Service in Singapore as a commander of a Brigade Reconnaissance Team in the Singapore Army.
Shirley Ma is a Senior Portfolio Manager in the Private Equity team of APG Asset Management, based in Hong Kong. She leads APG’s Private Equity efforts in Asia Pacific.
Prior to joining APG, Shirley was a Director of Private Equity Asia at MetLife. She was a member of the Alternative Investments Unit investment committee and represented MetLife on a number of fund advisory boards. Before relocating to Hong Kong in 2014, Shirley spent seven years in London with MetLife where she focused on sourcing, selection, implementation and monitoring for private equity fund investments in Asia and Europe. Prior to MetLife, Shirley was an auditor in PricewaterhouseCoopers in London and Ernst & Young in Hong Kong.
Shirley holds a master’s degree in International Banking from the University of Birmingham and a bachelor’s degree in Surveying from the University of Hong Kong. She is also a CPA and a CFA charterholder.
Rajeev Natarajan is the Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific for ICONIQ Capital, a privately-held investment firm that serves some of the world’s most influential families and organizations. Prior to ICONIQ, Rajeev spent nine years within the Investment Management and Securities Divisions of Goldman Sachs, across the London, Sydney, and Singaporeoffices. He also spent two years in a raw material and commodity trading business in Hong Kong and four years as a Management Consultant with Accenture in their Melbourne and Atlanta offices. Rajeev holds a Bachelor of Commerce and a Bachelor of Arts from Monash University and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from London Business School.
Saima Rehman is responsible for leading investments in private equity and venture capital funds, and managing portfolio in the East Asia Pacific region. Before joining the Funds group, her experience covered principal investments, syndications and structured finance covering South Asia with IFC and prior to that with IDLC Bangladesh. She has an MBA from INSEAD.
Sam Robinson is Managing Partner of North-East Private Equity Asia, which focuses on Asia private equity funds. Mr. Robinson is based in Singapore and has worked in private equity since 1998, initially joining Schroder Ventures in the UK. In 2001, he was one of the founder members of SVG Advisers, a fund of funds business, where he managed the global investment team. SVG Advisers was acquired by Aberdeen Asset Management in 2013, whereupon Mr. Robinson became Head of Asia Private Equity Fund Investment until his departure in 2015.
Ruchira Shukla is the South Asia Regional Lead for Disruptive Technology Investments at the International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group. She oversees IFC’s investments in early stage technology businesses as well as VC Funds, and represents IFC on the boards of several startups. She has over 25 years of experience across venture capital and private equity investing, strategy consulting, and investment banking across Asia, US and Europe. Her sector focus spans consumer internet, B2B eCommerce, healthcare technology, edutech, elogistics and emerging technologies.
Ruchira studied at IIT Delhi and IIM Ahmedabad in India. She also graduated as Palmer Scholar from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
William is an Investment Principal responsible for origination and execution and is based in the firm’s Hong Kong office.
Prior to joining Coller Capital in 2011, William was a Financial Accountant at Thames Water.
William has a BA (Hons) from the University of Manchester, an MSc in Finance from London Business School, and an MBA from the University of Oxford. He is a Chartered Management Accountant.
Cate Ambrose is CEO and Board Member of the Global Private Capital Association (formerly EMPEA), the global industry association for private capital investors across Asia, Latin America, Africa, Central & Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Members include 300+ fund and institutional investors including private equity, growth equity, venture capital, private credit, real assets, pension plans and sovereign wealth funds, who manage more than USD2 trillion in assets across 130 countries.
Cate is a Steering Committee Member of the United Nations Institutional Investor Partnership for Sustainable Development (IIPSD) and holds board seats at the Association for Private Capital Investment in Latin America (LAVCA) and Girls Write Now, a non-profit that mentors underserved young women in New York City.
Sachin Bhanot leads investment efforts in Southeast Asia for Prosus Ventures, based in Singapore. Prior to joining Prosus, Sachin was a member of the investment team at B Capital Group, where he focused on venture investments in Southeast Asia across a range of sectors including consumer & retail, logistics, education, and more. Before that, he was an investment professional at the Abraaj Group and spent time as an analyst at Credit Suisse and the KRA Group. Sachin received a Masters of Engineering in Engineering Science at the University of Oxford.
Craig Blair is a co-founder and managing partner at AirTree Ventures, an early and growth stage venture firm that is backing world-class entrepreneurs who are building the exceptional companies of tomorrow. Mr. Blair has been a principle in two venture capital funds for over 10 years and he has been involved in building some of the leading software businesses in Australia and the UK.
Mr. Blair’s experience includes five years as Executive Director of netus, a Venture Fund that delivered top decile returns to investors, two years as founding CEO & Executive Chairman of Beamly, four years as Chairman of PetCircle and four years as Founder/Director of Travelselect, one of the early online travel companies in the UK that successfully exited to Lastminute.com
Mr. Blair’s earlier career involved management consultancy, investment banking and civil engineering. Mr. Blair holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Sydney and an MBA from INSEAD.
Utsav Garg is a Managing Director and Head of the Southeast Asia and Australia Business unit of Alvarez & Marsal. The Alvarez & Marsal businesses includes Private Equity services (CDDs, ODDs, FDDs and post-deal value creation, carveouts and PMI support), Corporate Performance improvement (with high results orientation and interim management services) and Restructuring and Turnarounds.
He brings more than 20 years of experience in large scale transformation programs, focused on sustained growth and profitability improvement across various industries, including consumer goods and retail, telecommunications, information and communications technology (ICT), healthcare, logistics and process industries.
Prior to joining Alvarez and Marsal, Utsav led Kearney’s ASEAN business across four offices of Singapore, KL, Jakarta and Bangkok, expanding the company’s business in the region. Prior to that, he worked with Unilever in sales and brand leadership roles across South Asia and Southeast Asia. Mr. Garg began his career at STMicroelectronics as a Semiconductor Design engineer.
Utsav earned an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He is a frequent speaker and fundraiser for charitable giving.
Amit Gupta is a founding Partner of TPG NewQuest based in Singapore and oversees the India and Southeast Asia businesses. Amit has more than 20 years of industry experience.
Prior to co-founding TPG NewQuest, he was a Director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s (BAML) Asia Private Equity group where he led the India business and oversaw investments in the energy and financial services sectors across the Asia Pacific region. Amit has also served in other roles in BAML, including Corporate Principal Investments based in Hong Kong and Investment Banking based in Mumbai.
Prior to working at BAML, Amit was a software engineer based in Mumbai and the United States. Amit has an MBA from Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Bangalore, where he was placed on the Director’s Merit List for his performance, and an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering from REC Kurukshetra, where he received the University gold medal. Amit is fluent in English and Hindi.
Andrew Harline represents both public and privately-held companies in a wide range of corporate and securities matters, including private financings, mergers and acquisitions and public offerings. He also represents venture capital and private equity funds in connection with financings and other transactions. Andrew is counsel to companies across a broad range of industries and ranging from start-ups to well established companies.
Prior to joining Cooley, Andrew was a corporate associate at a leading law firm in Southern California. Prior to attending law school, he held various positions in the investment and finance industries, including as an equity trader and an investment banking analyst.
While attending Vanderbilt University Law School, he was a member of the Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment & Technology Law.
Education
Vanderbilt University Law School
JD, 2012
Brigham Young University
BA, 2007
Admissions & Credentials
California
Amit Kunal is the Managing Partner at Growtheum Capital Partners (GCP, https://GrowtheumCapital.com/). GCP is a private equity firm targeting investment opportunities primarily in Southeast Asia. Previously, Amit was a Managing Director at GIC where he led Private Equity Direct Investments in SE Asia. Amit also served as a Vice President in the Investment Banking Group of Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Singapore and in New York.
Sean Murphy is a fund formation partner in Cooley’s Singapore office. Sean’s practice focuses on the formation and operation of private funds across venture capital, growth equity, buy-out, special situations, real estate and infrastructure strategies. First resident in Singapore in 2004, he has advised fund sponsors and investors for more than a decade from offices in Singapore, Hong Kong and New York. Sean also regularly advises clients on co-investments, managed accounts, feeder funds for HNWIs, carried interest plans, strategic partnerships and US securities and investment advisory laws.
Education
George Washington University Law School
JD, with honors
University of Pennsylvania
BA, International Relations, magna cum laude
Admissions & Credentials
New York
Sandeep Naik is a Managing Director and Head of India & Southeast Asia at General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm with $73 billion in assets under management. He is also a member of the firm’s Management and Portfolio Committees. Sandeep serves as a board member at General Atlantic portfolio companies BillDesk, Biofourmis, KFin Technologies Private Limited, PT MAP Boga Adiperkasa (MBA), Rubicon Research, and Mable, as well as serves as a board observer at BYJU’S. He also sits on the Monetary Authority of Singapore’s Financial Centre Advisory Panel and serves as a board member at EDB Singapore.
Before joining General Atlantic in 2012, Sandeep served as a Partner and Co-Head of India for Apax, leading investments in the healthcare, financial and business services, and retail and consumer sectors. Earlier in his career, he was Global Marketing Manager at Medtronic Inc., a scientist at Mayo Clinic, and a management consultant with McKinsey & Company. He is also the Co-Founder of InfraScan Inc., a medical device business focused on detecting bleeding inside the brain using a handheld device. Sandeep was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and has served on the Global Agenda Council of the New Order of Economic Thinking.
Sandeep holds a B.Tech in Instrumentation Engineering from the University of Mumbai, an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the Medical College of Virginia, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Steve Okun has served as GPCA’s Southeast Asia Senior Advisor since 2017. Steve is Founder and CEO of Singapore-based APAC Advisors and is a seasoned private equity professional. Steve supports member relations and expanding GPCA’s industry stakeholder network in the region. He is also responsible for establishing GPCA’s Singapore and regional presence as well as training the local team. As KKR’s former Director of Asia Public Affairs, Steve also advises GPCA on public affairs and industry advocacy in Southeast Asia.
Managing Partner, joined CVC in 2010. Siddharth was based in the London office for seven years in the global TMT team and, as of 2017, is based in Singapore where his responsibilities include CVC India and Asia TMT. Prior to joining CVC, he was with Apax Partners where he spent nine years in the technology and telecommunications team leading or co-leading transactions across the sector. Siddharth holds first class MA and BA degrees from the University of Oxford.
Kyle is the Founder and Managing Partner of ShawKwei & Partners, a private equity investment firm established in 1998. ShawKwei & Partners has offices in Hongkong, Singapore, Shanghai and San Francisco managing investments in Asia, Europe, and the USA. Kyle’s private equity experience before ShawKwei & Partners included managing Asian private equity businesses for Security Pacific National Bank and then the Tudor Group. Kyle has served as a director of several Asian and European industrial and service companies including as founder and director of Flex Ltd. (formerly known as Flextronics International Ltd).
Kyle received an MBA from the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, a BS in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, as well as studied Mandarin Chinese at Taiwan’s National Normal University.
Sharad leads the Infrastructure & Project Finance practice of KPMG Corporate Finance based in Singapore.
Sharad leads the Infrastructure practice of KPMG in Singapore and has over 20 years of experience in power including renewable energy, water, waste to energy, transport, broadband and urban / industrial infrastructure with focus on Project Finance. His skill set includes bid advisory, business planning, financial modeling, contract structuring, regulatory advisory, risk mitigation, project appraisal and fund syndication.
Sharad has been advising various government and private sector clients in the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa. He was previous with Enron and worked on power , transport and LNG projects in South Asia. He has worked on infrastructure projects in Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa. He has also advised clients on gas regulations and transportation issues in the SE Asian market. Sharad’s main thrust has been on privatization advisory, PPP structuring, transaction process management, contract structuring and arranging financing for Water & waste, power, and info comm projects in the region.
Herbert Suen is a Senior Managing Director in the Private Wealth Solutions group and is based in Singapore.
Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Suen worked at Barclays Wealth as Head of Managed Products in Asia. Prior to Barclays, Mr. Suen worked at Credit Suisse overseeing Fund-based advisory portfolio solutions for private wealth clients. Before that he also worked at Societe Generale Corporate & Investment Bank, Franklin Templeton and Mitsubishi Corporation in various capacities including financial engineering and business development.
Mr. Suen received a Master of Science (with Distinction) in Mathematics for Finance & Actuarial Science jointly from Paris Dauphine University and City University of Hong Kong. He graduated from Curtin University of Technology with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Arts (with Distinction) in Asian Studies. He is a CFA charter holder and a certified FRM. He speaks fluent English, Cantonese, Japanese and Mandarin.
Background
Andrew has 23 years of experience with KPMG principally focused on major IPO and corporate M&A transaction deal execution and project management in multiple major locations including London, New York, Sydney and Singapore.
His principal sector experience is on transactions in the Private Equity and Services sectors.
Andrew has acted as Lead Partner for KPMG on more than 350 significant transactions with an aggregate deal value of more than $150 billion. He has led many of the more complex and demanding projects KPMG has been involved with in Asia over the last ten years.
Professional and industry experience
Private Equity: As Head of Private Equity, Andrew has led projects with most leading financial sponsors including KKR, Blackstone, CVC, Carlyle, TPG, Northstar, CHAMP, CHAMP Ventures, L Capital, Catalyst, TA Associates, Goldman Sachs PIA, TH Lee, and Macquarie Bank Principal Investments.
Complex transactions: Andrew has led the project management and due diligence for many landmark public and private transactions including KKR’s acquisition of Goodpack (SGX), the Seven / Westrac Merger, KKRs acquisition of GenesisCare, the CPPIB acquisition of Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group, Macquarie Media Group IPO, DUET’s IPO, AUSTAR’s refinancing, the global consortium acquisition and listing of Dyno Nobel, the global consortium acquisition of Boart Longyear, the consortium acquisition of the DBNGP, the acquisition by AGL of both Southern Hydro and Powerdirect.
Direct / co-investments: Andrew has assisted SWF, major pension funds and fund of funds on direct or co-investments including CPPIB, Temasek, GIC, Ontario Teachers, CalPERS, CalSTRS and HarbourVest.
Location experience: His major location experience include: London (5 Years), Sydney (13 Years) , New York (2 Years) and Singapore. In addition he has led transaction teams in across South East Asia, China, Japan, India, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Hong Kong
Dr. Amit Varma is a critical care physician having practiced for almost 30 years in the United States and Asia. He has been on the founding team of large Asian healthcare companies like Narayana Hrudayalaya and Fortis healthcare. He has served on the board of various companies around asia in healthcare delivery, life sciences, medical tech and consumer healthcare including Parkway healthcare in Singapore. He currently co-manages Quadria Capital the largest healthcare focused private equity firm with almost 2 Billion USD in AUM. In addition he has sponsored a dedicated venture healthcare firm HealthQuad with a 200 million USD AUM to work with start ups and early stage companies. He continues to be involved in academics and research and works hard to demystify problems in healthcare.
Dr. Varma is currently the founding managing co-founder of Quadria capital one of the largest healthcare dedicated private equity funds in Asia.
Liam leads Apex’s sales team in Asia Pacific, he is also the regional team lead for Apex’s ESG Solutions in APAC. He has worked in fund services for over a decade, in Europe, the US and now Asia. He has previously held sales leadership positions with SS&C and Apex Group having started his career with SunGard (now FIS). He is a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) and holds a Masters Degree in Engineering.
Joan is the Vice President of Investments at Kickstart Ventures Inc., the corporate venture capital arm of Globe Telecom. Prior to Kickstart, she was Investment Manager for Southeast Asia at LGT Venture Philanthropy, a global impact investing firm headquartered in Europe. For six years, Joan was primarily responsible for the sourcing, screening, execution, and management of LGT VP’s deals in the region.In 2015, she served as a consultant to the Secretary of Trade and Industry of the Republic of the Philippines, advising on policies and programs related to MSME development, tech startups, inclusive business, and social enterprise
Heath Zarin is the Founder, Chair and CEO of EmergeVest, a global investment firm that seeks to build great businesses, provide innovative capital solutions and generate sustainable value for all stakeholders. Mr. Zarin is also the Founder, Chair and CEO of EV Cargo, an EmergeVest company with more than $1.5 billion of annual revenues and global operations.
Mr. Zarin began his career as a corporate lawyer with Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP in New York, where he formed and advised hedge funds and private equity funds. In 2000, he joined DLJ Merchant Banking, which was subsequently acquired by Credit Suisse. At DLJ / Credit Suisse, which had more than $100 billion in assets under management during his tenure, Mr. Zarin had broad experience across LBOs, mezzanine, growth capital and other investment strategies. Mr. Zarin relocated to Hong Kong in 2006 to form Credit Suisse’s Asian private equity business, where growth equity investments spanned China, India and Southeast Asia, and included several successful IPOs. In 2008, Mr. Zarin left Credit Suisse to form Emergent Investment Group, a Hong Kong-based private investment firm, where he completed private equity investments and advised on special situations. In 2010, Mr. Zarin joined HSBC in Hong Kong as a Managing Director and Head of Principal Investments, Asia-Pacific, with responsibility for all Asian proprietary private investment activities. In 2013, Mr. Zarin formed EmergeVest, with a vision of building a new style of global investment firm.
Mr. Zarin’s current and previous board service includes companies across Asia, Europe and North America, in diverse manufacturing and service industries.
Mr. Zarin received his JD from the Fordham University School of Law in 1998 and his BA from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 1995. He has been admitted to practice law in the State of New York. Mr. Zarin is also a CFA, CMT and CAIA charterholder, and has completed Certificate programs from Harvard Business School (Investment Management, Strategy). Mr. Zarin has served as an Executive Committee Member of CAIA Hong Kong, as well as on the board of several non-profit organizations.
EmergeVest, through its Hong Kong-based subsidiary, is a licensed asset manager, regulated by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (HK SFC). Mr. Zarin is also licensed and regulated by the HK SFC as a responsible officer of EmergeVest. Certain EmergeVest investment funds are regulated by the United States Securities Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.