TECH VENTURE Meetup 2024 in Malaysia Unveils Powerhouse Lineup of Speakers and Panelists

Tech Venture Meetup 2024 is delighted to announce the distinguished speakers, and panelists for the highly anticipated panel discussion, titled “Navigating Uncharted Waters: How Deep Tech Startups are Redefining Traditional Industries.”

Keynote Speaker:

YBhg. Datuk Ts. Dr. Mohd Nor Azman bin Hassan, Deputy Secretary General (Technology Development), Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Datuk Dr. Mohd Nor Azman Hassan is currently the Deputy Secretary General (Technology Development) of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. He oversees the development of science, technology and innovation ecosystem as the catalyst for the country’s socio-economic advancement. His previous positions were in the areas of higher education, power sector and technological development including industrial related technologies, such as renewable energy, advanced materials and manufacturing, biotechnology (including vaccine development strategy) and nanotechnology. He had extensive engagements with the industry including the start- ups and SMEs, in particular to communicate government’s policies and programmes relating to STI. Datuk Dr. Azman holds a doctoral degree from Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA in the field of renewable energy technology and is trained in conducting Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). He is also a registered Professional Technologist (Green Technology) with the Malaysian Board of Technologist.

Special Remarks:

YBrs. Prof. Dr. Rofina Yasmin Othman, Chairman, Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology & Innovation (MRANTI)

Dr. Yasmin, recently appointed as the Chairman of MRANTI, holds an honorary professorship at the Institute of Advanced Studies, Universiti Malaya, and serves as an adjunct professor at IUMW and UCSI University Malaysia. With a rich academic background, she received her PhD in Plant Virology from the University of East Anglia, U.K., in 1994, and has been actively involved in academia since 1990. Dr. Yasmin's career at the University of Malaya spanned until her retirement in 2021, holding various positions, including Associate Vice Chancellor and CEO for UM Capital Bhd. She played a pivotal role in launching UM Innovations Sdn Bhd, a tech accelerator for early rollouts of UM research outputs. Dr. Yasmin is committed to fostering innovation, R&D scaling, and building strong university-community ties. She brings extensive experience, having served in key roles at the National Biotechnology Directorate and contributing to national initiatives in biosafety, bioethics, and biopolicies. Currently, she serves on various boards, including Xeraya Capital Sdn. Bhd., and remains affiliated with active biomolecular research groups, emphasizing advancements in plant science through her innovation platform, Leaf Edge Technologies.

Panel Discussion | Navigating Uncharted Waters: How Deep Tech Startups are Redefining Traditional Industries

Moderator:

Mr. Abdul Hakim Sahidi, Managing Director, Leave a Nest Malaysia

Mr. Abdul Hakim Bin Sahidi is one of the pioneer members at Leave A Nest Malaysia when he joined the company in 2016 and now established a strong passionate teams in the country. His passion is in business and technology advancement that could bring greater impacts to the society. He has been mentoring researchers and startups in Malaysia and Indonesia and bridging them with the right partners from local and Japan. His current mission is to nurture more technopreneurs in Malaysia and support the implementation of meaningful technologies to the society.

Featured Panelists:

Mr. Daiki Kumamoto, Growth Manager, Real Tech Holdings Singapore 

Daiki Kumamoto is the growth manager of Real Tech Fund as well as the leader of Global Fund, mainly investing in deep-tech startups in Southeast Asia. He invests in startups that bring solutions to care and welfare, serving as a director of aba; developing sensors for excretion detectors for elderly care. For investments in Southeast Asia, he is in charge of NDR Medical, ProfilePrint, Austrianova, Karana and many more. Before joining Real Tech in 2018, he was the president of the AIESEC, the largest NPO in Japan that commits in supporting young entrepreneurs globally. He graduated from Keio SFC University with a bachelor in management.

Ms. Elizabeth Linli Charles, Executive, Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC)

Elizabeth Linli is a Startup Executive under the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Department of Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC). Her focus is working together with key players and partners within the Ecosystem to further bring the Sarawakian Startup scene to greater heights through curating various Accelerator programs which ranges from Ideation, Growth and Maturity stages. She is also the Project Lead for the Digital Village Accelerator program, a 6-month accelerator targeting local Startups where selected Startups get a chance to receive a grant of up to RM150k.Her biggest aspiration is to see Sarawak become the Hub where people flock to for ideas, inspiration, and innovation.

Ts. Devandran Krishnan, Deputy Vice President, NanoMalaysia 

Devandran is a chemist by qualification who dealt with sustainable food grade research using animals’ exoskeleton as active compound and ‘green or sustainable chemicals’ invention as chemical reactions medium. As research specialist in the University of Minnesota, Devandran expanded his technical skills in spectroscopical advancements for fine chemicals synthesis. Devandran have also been chosen as science communicator in various platforms representing Malaysia, namely 5th Science Conclave, Indian Institute of Information Technology in 2013 and Baku World Forum of Young Scientists in 2014. In NanoMalaysia Berhad, Devandran, a Professional Technologist is the Deputy Vice President of Graphenovation spearheading various Graphene based technology commercialization parallel to Industry 4.0 policies. Devandran’s nanotechnology commercialization efforts include strategic technology roadmaps, intellectual properties licensing, market positioning and technology marketing. He also represents the company for MOSTI’s technical evaluation within private and government ecosystem apart from policies engineering. Devandran is as a panel of evaluation for nanotechnology products under NanoVerify Sdn Bhd from 2022. Devandran is also currently an Enzyme Technology specialist under Researcher Industry Scientific Exchange (RISE) programme. 

Mr. Junady Nawawi, Chief Executive Officer, TERAJU

Junady’s wealth of experience is garnered over 25 years in both private and Government sectors, including financial and banking.  His notable experience also spanned over infrastructure and Islamic banking.  His career started in audit services with a global accounting firm.  He later went into corporate finance capacity with a Malaysian-owned investment bank, further securing his foothold in the financial expertise. He is also no stranger to the creative industry, as he previously helmed MyCreative Ventures, a government investment arm, in-charge of spurring the creative local industry.  He possesses an array of expertise and is poised to lead TERAJU to greater heights.

Tech Venture Meetup 2024:

Tech Venture Meetup 2024 serves as a dynamic platform uniting real-tech startups, corporate partners, venture capitalists, manufacturers, and funding agencies. Its primary objective is to facilitate collaboration and uncover potential funding opportunities.

Date: 17th January 2024 (Wednesday)

Time: 09:00 – 15:00 (MYT)

Venue: Resource Center, MRANTI Park, Bulatan Inovasi, Taman Teknologi Malaysia, 43300 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur (https://maps.app.goo.gl/iwvsVDaFhKXCrMrH9) 

To register for the conference, click the following link: https://global.lne.st/register-tvmmy2024.

For additional details, visit our website at https://en.techplanter.com/tvmmy2024/ or reach out to Ms. Mahirah Basri at [email protected].