Speakers

Known as the "Father of the USB Flash Drive," Pua Khein-Seng is the co-founder and CEO of Phison Electronics. At the age of 19, Mr. Pua moved from Malaysia to Taiwan to study at National Chiao Tung University. In 2000, he co-founded Phison Electronics with four partners and focused on the development of flash memory technology, helping drive the global adoption of USB flash drives. From a young student arriving in Taiwan to an entrepreneur building a global technology company, Mr. Pua's journey reflects the transformation of Taiwan's technology industry — from manufacturing to innovation, and from a local industry to a global technology leader. Now, as AI reshapes industries around the world, a new question is emerging: What opportunities can Asia's long-standing strengths in hardware and manufacturing unlock for the next generation of entrepreneurs? At the Day 1 Opening Keynote of Boba Tech Summit 2026, Mr. Pua will share his entrepreneurial journey and perspectives on the opportunities for Asian entrepreneurs in the AI era. Following the keynote, Hank will join Mr. Pua for a panel discussion exploring the unique advantages of Asian founders, particularly those building at the intersection of hardware, manufacturing, and technology, and how these strengths compare with the software-heavy startup ecosystem of Silicon Valley.

Ching-Yao (Hank) Huang is a professor of Electronics Engineering at National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU). He has been deeply involved in the startup ecosystem for many years, with experience spanning academic research, startup acceleration, and serial entrepreneurship. In 2013, Hank founded IAPS, Taiwan's first university-based startup accelerator. Since then, IAPS has supported more than 1,000 startup teams, helping Taiwanese founders and startups reach the global stage. With its strong track record in startup incubation and international development, IAPS was also ranked No. 1 among university-based accelerators in the Asia-Pacific region. Beyond supporting startups through acceleration and mentorship, Hank is also an entrepreneur himself. He has co-founded GoMore, FiduciaEdge, and Locus Connect, bringing his experience beyond academia and directly into the startup ecosystem. From the lab to the entrepreneurial world, Hank has continued to connect academia, industry, and startups, promoting collaboration across different sectors while helping Taiwanese teams expand into international markets. His career reflects a unique combination of academic expertise, startup ecosystem building, and hands-on entrepreneurial experience, giving him a broad perspective on how technology, talent, and innovation can come together to create globally competitive companies.

Caleb Chu is a Partner at Nova Studio, the Initiator of the Boba Tech Summit, and the President of Stanford ASES Taiwan. A serial entrepreneur since high school, he also serves as a member of the government's Youth Advisory Committee. Caleb is passionate about uniting ambitious young talent and connecting Gen Z in Asia with global networks, capital, and resources to cultivate world-class innovators for Taiwan in the AI era.

Kevin Lin is the former co-founder and COO of Twitch and is currently Partner at ikigai Launchpad. After his journey with Twitch, he remains active in the startup ecosystem, having founded Metatheory, Gold House, 886 Studios, and Lifelike Capital. Kevin is currently devoted to fostering excellent Asian startups and helping them expand from local to global.

Jimmy Huang, an alumnus of ikigai Launchpad, is the Founder of PicPet. PicPet is a social app where you raise a digital pet by sending your friends photos to "feed" it. Launched in 2025, it grew quickly out of Taiwan and maintains a strong 54% retention rate even on Day 30. Jimmy raised $1 million from a16z Speedrun, and his journey at ikigai Launchpad undoubtedly gave him a valuable learning experience when expanding PicPet globally.

Peggy Wang is the Founder and CEO of SparkChat by Digipals (YC F25), building at the intersection of Consumer Social and AI. She's a 2x YC founder and was named Forbes 30 Under 30 in Games 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.

Tina is a 6x serial entrepreneur, PE investor, and startup mentor with extensive cross-border experience in the US and Asia. She has built and exited multiple ventures, including a multinational e-commerce platform across APECmarkets (acquired by a NASDAQ-listed company for US$65M), Taiwan's largest postpartum care center, and The Muse, one of Asia's most prominent nightlife brands. As the Founding Partner of GVA Global Venture Accelerator, she specializes in early-stage fundraising, PMF, and GTM strategy for ambitious founders going global. She also leads investments in VC secondaries as a Partner at Bonhope Capital. Tina is an active lecturer and mentor for many flagship Taiwanese government startup programs, including NDC Startup Bloom, SMESA Hi-Po Star, NSTC FITI, Spark Asia, as well as top accelerators like SparkLabs and TACC+. Previously, she managed $1B+ in AUM as a Managing Director at several investment banking firms, including JPMorgan.

Sega Cheng is the Co-Founder and Chairman of iKala, a multinational AI company serving more than 1,000 enterprise clients and 50,000 brands worldwide. With a Master's degree in Computer Science from Stanford University and nearly two decades of experience in AI, he previously worked as a software engineer at Google's Silicon Valley headquarters, where he was among the early engineers applying AI to Google Search. Since co-founding iKala in 2012, Sega has led the company's expansion in AI adoption and AI marketing. Its products include Kolr, an influencer marketing platform that tracks more than 300 million creators globally. Beyond entrepreneurship, Sega is a 2026 Eisenhower Global Fellow and Chairman of TiEA, while also serving on the boards of several technology companies. From Silicon Valley engineering to building a global AI business, he continues to advance Taiwan's role in the international AI ecosystem.

Andy Lin is the Founder and CEO of Yo-Kai Express, a Silicon Valley-based food tech company, with over 12 years of experience as a senior semiconductor engineer and serial technology entrepreneur. Publicly recognized by Elon Musk, backed by Masayoshi Son's SoftBank, and named an NVIDIA ecosystem partner at Taiwan GTC 2026, he has expanded the brand's footprint to more than 350 locations across 9 countries to transform the autonomous dining industry. Today, Yo-Kai Express partners with major global transit hubs, universities, and Fortune 500 enterprises.

Jimmy Ho works in Corporate Partnerships at Plug and Play Taiwan, focusing on corporate innovation, startup ecosystem development, and cross-border partnerships. He works closely with both corporate partners and startups, helping connect business needs with emerging technologies and entrepreneurial solutions. Through strategic matchmaking, ecosystem engagement, and market expansion initiatives, he supports startups in building relationships with potential partners while helping corporations explore new opportunities for innovation and collaboration. He also connects partners with Plug and Play's global innovation network, facilitating cross-market exchanges and opportunities between Taiwan and the broader international startup ecosystem.

As APAC Head of Startups at OpenAI, Thomas Jeng manages relationships with startups, venture capital firms, and ecosystem partners to ensure artificial general intelligence (AGI) benefits all of humanity. Before joining OpenAI, Thomas had already established his reputation in the global startup ecosystem. He led Aspire's global startups segment and the Singapore market, helping scale YC-, Lightspeed-, and Peak XV-backed fintech across the world. He also invested actively as a Venture Partner with Headline Asia, as a Scout with Iterative, and as an individual angel investor. He even expanded 500 Global's footprint across Asia, North America, and EMEA as Head of Global Business Development.

Avery Tsai is the Co-Founder and CEO of KONST, an AI infrastructure company building high-performance computing capacity for the rapidly growing global demand for artificial intelligence. Avery began his entrepreneurial journey in the cryptocurrency mining industry, where he gained experience in computing infrastructure and large-scale operations. Recognizing the growing demand for AI computing resources, he co-founded Konst in 2024 to build scalable AI computing infrastructure. In 2026, KONST recorded 20x year-over-year revenue growth and began planning for an IPO after just two years. The company is also expanding across Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, other Asian markets, Europe, and the United States, building a cross-regional AI computing network. From cryptocurrency mining to AI infrastructure, Avery represents a new generation of founders turning emerging technology shifts into global business opportunities.

Chris Yeh is the co-author of the Amazon bestseller, Blitzscaling: The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies. The book was published in 2018 and is now part of the entrepreneurship curriculum at universities and business schools around the world. In 2020, he co-founded Blitzscaling Ventures and served as a General Partner. Blitzscaling Ventures uses the principles of "Blitzscaling" to identify early-stage startups that can leverage viral growth and distribution advantages to outgrow their competition. He is also an active instructor at Stanford University.

Steve Chen launched YouTube in 2005 and transformed the global video industry forever. The platform scaled rapidly and was acquired by Google for $1.65 billion in under two years. He later co-founded AVOS Systems and served as an Entrepreneur in Residence at Google Ventures. In 2018, Steve became the first recipient of Taiwan's Employment Gold Card and relocated to Taipei. Having gone from Taiwan to the global stage and back, he now works to connect US hardware companies with Taiwan's semiconductor supply chain.

Johnny Chang is the co-founder and CEO of Modo, an AI adoption platform that helps enterprises turn AI investments into measurable business impact and ROI. Modo is backed by Plug and Play, Pear VC, and many other investors, and is part of Stanford's StartX community. Born and raised in Taiwan, Johnny began his entrepreneurial journey in high school. He holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a master's degree in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from Stanford, where he taught graduate-level AI courses and conducted research on multimodal AI and LLMs. As a young Taiwanese entrepreneur, Johnny is dedicated to scaling AI technologies globally and mentoring Taiwanese founders.

Tiffine Wang is the CEO and Managing Partner of Onsen Global, a Silicon Valley venture platform focused on next-generation AI and deep tech. As a global venture capitalist, she specializes in cross-border investing, AI, and international strategy. Throughout her career, she has managed over $300M in investments across AI, fintech, insurtech, security, and digital health, most notably as a Partner at MS&AD (Mitsui Sumitomo & Aioi Nissay Dowa) Ventures. Recognized as a Silicon Valley 40 Under 40 honoree, Woman of Influence, and Global Corporate Venturing (GCV) Top Emerging Leader, Tiffine has been featured in major international media for her insights on venture capital, including Nikkei Woman, Modern Insurance, CommonWealth, and Global Views Monthly.

Jamie Lin is Chairman & Partner at AppWorks and President of Taiwan Mobile. His entrepreneurial journey began in 1999 while studying at National Taiwan University, followed by diverse venture experience in both Taipei and New York. He later founded AppWorks, building it into one of East Asia's most active startup accelerators and supporting generations of founders as they develop and scale their companies. Beyond investing in and supporting startups, Jamie has also continued to create opportunities for the next generation of entrepreneurs. He launched Jamie's Gapyear Program, providing young founders with NT$1 million in grants to pursue their passions and turn their ideas into action. With experience spanning entrepreneurship, startup acceleration, investment, and corporate leadership, Jamie has spent years working closely with founders and helping build Taiwan's startup ecosystem. His journey offers a unique perspective on how entrepreneurs can grow from Taiwan and Asia while building companies with global ambitions. At Boba Tech Summit 2026, Jamie will share his entrepreneurial journey, investment perspectives, and insights into what investors look for in world-class startups.

Danielle Strachman is Co-Founder and General Partner at 1517 Fund and was the founding director of the Thiel Fellowship. Throughout her career, she has focused on identifyingoutstanding young founders who often take unconventional paths outside of traditional education and career systems. At 1517 Fund, she supports dropout entrepreneurs and deep-tech researchers from angel to seed stage. Drawing on years of experience discovering founders at the earliest stages, Danielle will share how world-class investors recognize exceptional talents, and what qualities matter most in founders in the age of AI.

Clayton Jacobs is a Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia honoree and the Founder & CEO of CreatorDB, an AI-powered creator marketing platform reshaping how brands connect with digital creators. Backed by Acorn Pacific Ventures and 500 Global, CreatorDB combines data and AI to help companies find the right influencers for their brand. Today, CreatorDB helps global brands like Surfshark, Perplexity, and AirAsia discover, evaluate, and activate creators across platforms.

Rounak Adhikary is the Founder & CEO of ProjectX, a Y Combinator-backed startup with investment from OpenAI, Pontaq Ventures, Eight Capital, and Theo Brown. As an entrepreneur, he has been actively building at the intersection of technology, innovation, and the global startup ecosystem. Beyond ProjectX, Rounak is also a Draper Deeptech Fellow and an alum of IIT Bombay Research, with experience spanning deep tech, research, and entrepreneurship. His journey reflects a strong focus on turning ambitious technological ideas into ventures with global potential. Rounak is also the Founder of Stanford ASES India, where he works to connect and empower the next generation of technology entrepreneurs. From building startups to fostering entrepreneurial communities, he continues to contribute to a new generation of globally minded founders.

Yusan Lin is the Founder and CEO of Mirror Mirror AI. Mirror Mirror AI is building the portrait licensing infrastructure for the AI era through the world's first AI portrait licensing marketplace, enabling fashion models to securely license their likeness while helping brands rapidly generate AI-powered fashion imagery — all while ensuring that human creators continue to receive rights and revenue from their portraits. The company has been selected for the a16z Speedrun accelerator and is backed by several prominent Silicon Valley tech leaders. Yusan was formerly a professional fashion model before earning her Ph.D. in Information Sciences and Technology from Pennsylvania State University. She went on to work as an AI Research Scientist at Amazon Fashion, focusing on the intersection of AI and fashion technology. She is the recipient of the RecSys 2022 Best Paper Award, holds multiple U.S. patents, and has been featured in media outlets including Vogue, InStyle, and TechOrange. She is one of few entrepreneurs who bring together deep experience in both the fashion industry and AI research and development.

Dorothy Yuan serves on the Investment Committee at Protégé Ventures, Southeast Asia's first student-led venture capital fund, where she previously served as Managing Partner. She was also President of Stanford ASES Singapore. With experience spanning software systems, venture capital, and ecosystem building, Dorothy has been actively involved in supporting early-stage founders and emerging entrepreneurial talent. She is passionate about empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs and connecting promising founders and student talent with global venture networks.

Joni studied at ETH Zurich and has experience in investor relations and entrepreneurship, including serving as President of the ETH Entrepreneur Club and as an Investor Connect Program Manager at ETH Zurich. He previously worked in Digital Innovation Lab Operations at Roche.

Previously at Hive Ventures; held GTM/Operations roles at startups including GoFreight and Phase; early employee at a YC startup; currently at UK startup Magic AI.

A Gen Z founder from National Taiwan University with experience building and growing consumer social products.

Previously exited founder of an AI-therapy startup. Currently a Machine Learning Engineer at an AI mental health company. Studied psychology at UCL.

Has completed 2 exits, including an AI legal system sold to China's 5th-largest law firm. He leads the company's global expansion.

Founder and CEO of Alpenglow Tek with experience in AI SoC architecture, NPU design, and semiconductor product development, including prior experience at leading IC design and AI chip companies. He leads the company's ultra-low-power AI architecture and ANIX platform for Micro Edge AI applications.