Speakers

Steve Chen co-founded YouTube in 2005, which was acquired by Google for $1.65B USD in under two years, and is the first recipient of Taiwan's Employment Gold Card, later focusing on Taiwan–Silicon Valley connections.

Kevin Lin is the co-founder and former COO of Twitch. He later founded ikigai Launchpad and Lifelike Capital to invest in early-stage startups in Asia and help them scale globally. Kevin also co-founded Gold House supporting Asian and Asian American representation.

Pua Khein-Seng, CEO and co-founder of Phison Electronics, moved from Malaysia to Taiwan at 19. In 2000, he co-founded Phison and developed the world's first single-chip USB flash drive controller. Phison is now a leading NAND flash controller supplier.

Thomas is the Head of Startups, APAC at OpenAI, responsible for helping startups and ecosystem builders in pursuit of OpenAI's mission of ensuring AGI benefits all of humanity. He previously held leadership roles at 500 Global and Aspire (backed by YC and Lightspeed), helping both firms expand their global presence.

Danielle was the founding director of the Thiel Fellowship. The program backed founders under 22 years old with a 100K USD grant. She later co-founded 1517 Fund, which backs dropout entrepreneurs who are deeptech researchers from angel to seed stages.

Chris Yeh is the co-author of the global bestseller Blitzscaling, an Instructor at Stanford University, and a General Partner at Blitzscaling Ventures. He has founded, advised, and invested in more than 100 technology startups, helping entrepreneurs build and scale high-growth companies.

Jamie began his entrepreneurial journey at 21 and later founded Muse Games in New York. He later founded AppWorks, one of Asia's leading startup accelerators and VC firms. In 2023, he launched Jamie's Gapyear Program to provide young founders with 1 million NTD grants to pursue their passion.

Hank Huang is a professor in Electronics Engineering at NYCU. In 2013, he founded IAPS, Taiwan's first university-based startup accelerator supporting over 1,000 teams and ranked among the top globally. He is also a co-founder of GoMore, FiduciaEdge, and Locus Connect.

Jimmy Huang is the Founder of PicPet. PicPet is an early-stage startup backed by a16z Speedrun and ikigai Launchpad. He explores how technology can strengthen human connections and continues to build next-generation social products.

Johnny Chang is the co-founder of Modo. Modo helps enterprises drive AI adoption by enabling employees to use AI effectively and giving leadership ROI visibility. It was backed by PearX, Stanford StartX, and Plug&Play. Besides Modo, Johnny co-founded Stanford Founders, Stanford's leading graduate founder community.

Rounak is the Founder & CEO of ProjectX. ProjectX is funded by Y Combinator, OpenAI, Pontaq Ventures, Eight Capital Theo Brown etc. He is also a Draper Deeptech Fellow, Founder of Stanford ASES India, and an alum of IIT Bombay Research.

Avery Tsai is the Co-founder and CEO of Konst. Starting in crypto mining in 2017, he grew Konst into one of Taiwan's leading AI compute providers. Konst has raised tens of millions of dollars, led by ADATA Technology for its Series A, and is targeting an IPO in 2027.

Tiffine Wang is Managing Partner of Onsen Global, a Silicon Valley platform focused on cross-border AI investments. Previously a Partner at MS&AD Ventures, she managed $300M+ across AI, fintech, and digital health. Tiffine is a Silicon Valley 40 Under 40 honoree and Woman of Influence.

Sega Cheng is the Co-Founder and CEO of iKala and a 2026 Eisenhower Fellow. He began his career as a Google software engineer. Since co-founding iKala in 2011, he has scaled it into a leading AI company in Asia, helping businesses across Japan, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia adopt AI in digital commerce and cloud services.

Tina Cheng is a Venture Partner at Bonhope Capital. With 6 startup ventures spanning across the globe, she previously led Jigocity to a $65 million exit to a NASDAQ-listed company, holds a CFA designation, and serves as a mentor for multiple startup programs across America and Asia.

Clayton Jacobs is a Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia founder and Founder of CreatorDB, an AI-powered creator marketing platform backed by Acorn Pacific Ventures and 500 Global. CreatorDB helps brands like Bytedance, Surfshark, and Perplexity, discover, evaluate, and activate creators across social media platforms.

Andy Lin is the Founder and CEO of Yo-Kai Express, an autonomous dining platform revolutionizing food service across the US, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore. He is also a serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of tech and engineering leadership, Andy founded multiple ventures before building Yo-Kai Express. Today, the company partners with global transport hubs, universities, and Fortune 500 corporate campuses.

Peggy Wang is the Founder and CEO of SparkChat by Digipals, building at the intersection of Consumer Social and AI. She's a 2x YC founder and was named Forbes 30 Under 30 in Gaming in 2025. Before founding startups, she built AI for AR Avatars at Meta Reality Labs and holds MS and BS degrees in Computer Science from Stanford, specializing in AI.

Jimmy Ho works in Corporate Partnerships at Plug and Play Taiwan, focusing on corporate innovation, startup ecosystems, and cross-border partnerships. He connects corporate needs with emerging startup solutions through strategic matchmaking and market expansion. Leveraging Plug and Play's global network, Jimmy actively facilitates cross-market collaboration between Taiwan and the international innovation ecosystem.

Dorothy Yuan is an Investment Committee member and former Managing Partner at Protégé Ventures, as well as the former President of Stanford ASES Singapore. With experience across software systems, venture capital, and ecosystem development, she actively supports early-stage founders. Dorothy is dedicated to empowering emerging entrepreneurial talent and connecting student founders with global venture networks.