Host/Welcome:
Sunny Zhang, PhD
Founding Partner, Born Global Ventures
Dr. Sunny Zhang is a Founding Partner at Born Global Ventures, investing in early-stage tech startups led by immigrant founders, a tenured marketing professor at the Cameron School of Business, University of St. Thomas, and a member of the board of advisors at the George H. W. Bush Foundation of US-China Relations. She has focused on tech innovation, digital marketing, and international business for over 20 years as a researcher, educator, entrepreneur, and investor. Dr. Zhang was recognized as the 2022 SBA Small Business Champion of the Year.
Moderator:
Fang Fang
President and CEO of Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce
Fang Fang has a diverse background in journalism, government, entrepreneurship, and non-profit. She has a track record of working on economic development, initiatives to increase civic engagement, and elevating AAPI communities both locally and nationally. Fang Fang is currently the President & CEO of the Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce. She also serves on the City of Austin Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission, as well as on the board of Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Visit Austin, Community Advancement Network (CAN), National Asian American PAC (NAAPAC), and Network of Asian American Organizations (NAAO).
Speaker:
Han Shen
Founding Partner, iFly.vc
iFly.vc embraces investment opportunities in spaces that may appear unglamorous but carry tremendous growth potential. It focuses on technology-enabled transformation across the value chain of traditional industries to address underserved and under appreciated demand. iFly Fund I’s performance is ranked the top-1% among all 2016 vintage VC funds in the US, according to Private Investment Benchmarks by Cambridge Associates.
Han Shen is the Founding Partner of iFly.vc. Han’s career in venture capital started in 2009 and has spanned at VantagePoint and Formation 8, where he was the first hire on the investment team. He led and/or contributed to the investment in Oculus (acquired by Facebook for $2 billion), Fyusion (acquired by Cox), AlertMe (acquired by British Gas),Comfy (acquired by Siemens), Lucid (acquired by Acuity), Motive Drilling (acquired by Helmerich & Payne), and Taxon (acquired by DuPont). Han has served on the board of multiple portfolio companies including SayWeee!, the largest and fastest-growing ethnic e-grocer in North America. (The company closed the Series E round at the valuation of $4.1bn; iFly.vc remained the second-largest shareholder.) Earlier in his career, Han worked for Rohm and Haas Company, the largest US specialty chemical company (acquired by Dow Chemical for over $32 billion),where he was credited as a key inventor of four US patents.
Han earned his bachelor’s degree from Nanjing University, Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, andMBA from The Wharton School of The University of Pennsylvania. In addition, Han holds a private pilot license issued by the US FAA and was the Dignitary Champion of International Cherry Pit Spitting Competition in 2002.
Speaker:
Min Choe
Co-Founder and CEO, Tso Chinese Delivery
Min Choe is a longtime Austinite, proudly boasting our amazing community and our economy. As co-founder, CEO, and Chairman of Tso Chinese Delivery, Min is grateful to call Austin the birthplace of his tech enabled restaurant concept.
He aims to change how Americans think of Chinese food. He has created a “local ecommerce” platform designed to cook and deliver fresh, Chinese-American cuisine to your door. He aims to remove any negative reputation that Chinese-American cuisine may have, by flipping the industry on its head and asking the most basic question, “what do customers want?”
Min also has a deep passion to give back to the very community they serve. Through the #TsoGiving initiative, they have fed over 20,000 people (and counting) in the Austin community. And he will continue to work hard, find success, and give back to those who are less fortunate.