Courses & Events
Tech Startups and VC: How Cross-Pacific Collaboration Works IRL
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
04:30 pm - 05:50 pm
The President of Philippine’s Kickstart Ventures, Minette Navarrete, and her colleague Joan Yao, VP of Kickstart’s investments, join a few of their US-based portfolio companies to discuss new patterns of international relationships between Asia and the U.S. Kickstart manages the Philippines’ largest technology venture capital funds, investing globally in early- to growth-stage tech startups via three funds, including the Ayala Corporation Technology Innovation Venture Fund. They have funded startups in major innovation hubs in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Canada, USA, and Israel.
These sessions are open to the public to attend in-person or by Zoom.
To attend by Zoom, please register at <https://stanford.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJUvdOqgrTooEte626Net4f5iuR7jUH63I2p>. This will register you for the entire 8-week series and the same link will be used for all sessions. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting series. You may cancel at anytime.
To attend in-person, please visit <https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tech-startups-and-vc-how-cross-pacific-collaboration-works-irl-tickets-623972357117>.
Details
Venue:
- Stanford University, Paul G. Allen Building, Allen 101X Auditorium, 330 Jane Stanford Way, Stanford, CA 94305 [Google Map]
Parking options:
- Via Ortega Garage, 498 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA 94305 [Google Map]
- Parking Structure 5, 295 Campus Drive, Stanford, CA 94305 [Google Map]
- Please check parking signs carefully to ensure that permitted parking and metered spaces are free after 4:00 pm.
Session Recordings are typically posted within 3 business days after each session on our Youtube Channel and the course page here.
Speakers
Minette Navarrete
President and Co-Founder, Kickstart Ventures, Inc.
Minette Navarrete is President and Co-Founder of Kickstart Ventures, Inc. She is a member of the Ayala Corporation’s Innovation Advisory Council, and of Globe’s Innovation Advisory Board. She is a Senior Vice President at Globe Telecom, focusing on New Business, and a member of the Board of Directors of AdSpark, Globe’s digital advertising subsidiary. Minette has held CEO/COO positions in various industries, ranging from scrappy Philippine startups to iconic global companies.
Minette Navarrete joined Globe Telecom Inc. in July 2006 to start Business Development in what was then a pure-play mobile operator. Under Minette’s leadership, the team created Globe’s first digital strategy blueprint and put in place the foundation of Globe’s digital media, content, and mobile advertising businesses.
In 2012, Minette led her team to found Kickstart Ventures, Inc. (www.kickstart.ph) and spun it out as a wholly-owned Globe subsidiary. As a corporate venture capital firm, Kickstart invests globally, providing capital, mentoring, and market access to early- to early-growth stage tech startups. Its portfolio consists of 45 companies in eight countries around the world, investing out of its two early (2012 and 2015) funds. In 2020, Kickstart closed the ACTIVE Fund, anchored by the Philippines’ first business house, the Ayala Corporation, and subsidiaries of the conglomerate – leaders across a wide range of industries. The ACTIVE Fund tracks four investment theses; and will invest in early- and early-growth tech companies around the world.
Joan Yao
Vice President of Investments, Kickstart Ventures, Inc.
Joan is currently Vice President overseeing investments at Kickstart Ventures, Inc., the corporate venture capital arm of Globe Telecom, the Philippines’ leading telco. She is a member of the Kickstart Deal Team.
Prior to Kickstart, Joan 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, Joan also served as a consultant to the Department of Trade and Industry of the Republic of the Philippines, advising the Office of the Secretary on matters related to MSME development, tech startups, innovation, inclusive business, and social enterprise.
Joan holds a BSc in Management Engineering with a minor in English Literature, cum laude, from the Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines.
Ian Chan
Co-Founder, CloserContact
I
an Chan is the Co-Founder of CloserContact, a platform that helps integrate favorite messaging channels and reclaims them to become actual sales generators. Ian received his B.A. in International Relations, as well as an MBA from Stanford University, and is currently the President of the Stanford Alumni Association.
Sam Gadodia
CEO & Co-founder, LotusFlare
Sam Gadodia is the CEO and Co-Founder of LotusFlare. Prior to this, he served as COO and CFO of TeleSign, and Co-founder, EVP, and Head of Intl Operations at GEP Worldwide. He has also held positions at Citysearch.com, CIBC Oppenheimer, and Avery Dennison. Mr. Gadodia began their career as a Senior Development Engineer at Johnson & Johnson.
Mr. Gadodia has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Master of Science in Chemistry from Missouri University of Science and Technology.
David Lu
Co-Founder and CEO, Clarity Movement Co.
David Lu is the Co-Founder and CEO of Clarity Movement Co, an environmental tech startup focused on changing how we understand the environment by deploying dense networks for real-time air quality monitoring. Prior to starting Clarity, David was a key leader in the University of California’s Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign and worked alongside the
Arctic Campaign Director at Greenpeace. Fueled by his everlasting passion for improving our environment, namely mitigating climate change, David believes in using data driven approaches to address the issues arising in global environmental crises. David earned his BS in Atmospheric Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
