Corporates and startups have long been thought of as unlikely allies. In fact, many ‘David and Goliath’ partnerships have often resulted in mutually beneficial outcomes. This rich panel with novel insights from Ravel, Google, and BCG Digital Ventures discussed the need for more corporate-startup engagements and pilots - one led by progressive corporate innovators and trailblazing startup and scaleup founders.
The panel was followed by an Information Session on the Southeast Asia Open Innovation Challenge, which closed on 28 February 2021.
This event was held as part of the inaugural SEAOIC organised by Enterprise Singapore, supported by EDB and IMDA, powered by Open Innovation Network and Ravel Innovation.
Paul Hunyor | Managing Director and Partner, BCG Digital Ventures
Paul is a former investment manager at Archer Capital, one of Australia’s leading private-equity firms and an established market leader in leveraged buyouts in both Australia and New Zealand. He is also a cofounder and a former CEO and director of One Big Switch, the fastest-growing consumer network in Ireland and Australia. An experienced venture capital investor and successful entrepreneur, Paul Hunyor is the regional head of BCGDV Asia. He leads teams of digital business builders in Shanghai, Sydney, and Tokyo to incubate game-changing businesses with the world’s most important corporations.
Bok Thye Yeow | Head of Startup Ecosystem SEA, Google
Bok leads Google's startup ecosystem building initiatives and programs such as the Google for Startups Southeast Asia Accelerator, Google for Startups Partners program, and The Developer Space@Google Singapore. Prior to joining Google, Bok had decades of software engineering experience spanning across various industries such as finance, digital advertising, and telecommunications. During his free time, he enjoys reading, experimenting with electronics, and playing dad to 3 cats and a dog.
Grace Sai | Founder and CEO, Ravel Innovation (Moderator)
Grace and her team at Ravel Innovation (formerly Found8 Innovation) pioneer ways to build innovation ecosystems from the ground up, growing entrepreneurs through the curation of communities, spaces, funds, mentorship, and access to corporates. Grace is a Kauffman Fellow and Managing Partner of Found. Ventures, a seed fund investing in early-stage tech companies. She is widely regarded as a node of the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Asia and speaks extensively on her experience in ecosystem building and policy development for startups and governments. Grace has been nominated as Gen T by Singapore Tatler (2018), Great Women of our Times by Women's Weekly (2017), 40 Under 40 by Prestige Singapore (2014), and is a UN Women Entrepreneurship Day Ambassador. She holds two Masters degrees from Oxford and INSEAD, and has published a thesis on Startup-Driven Corporate Innovation.
