At SGInnovate, We Launch, Prove and Scale Deep Tech Products Borne Out of Science Research

Ms Yong is a career public servant who has served in many Ministries in the Singapore Public Service, and was Permanent Secretary of 6 of them, namely Manpower, Health, Public Service Division (PMO), National Research Foundation (PMO), Cybersecurity (PMO), and Communications & Information.

An economist and MBA, Ms Yong has served as Principal Private Secretary to then-Deputy Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Her past Chairmanships included the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore, Workforce Development Agency, Civil Service College and MOH Holdings. She is presently Chairman of Central Provident Fund Board, Chairman of SG Innovate and Deputy Chairman of the Singapore Symphony Group. She remains as Senior Adviser to Ministry of Communications & Information.

During her tenure as Permanent Secretary to MOH, NRF and MCI, and now as Senior Adviser at MCI, Ms Yong has been closely involved in growing Singapore’s national scientific and technology capabilities to meet future needs and develop new economic opportunities. This includes helming SG Innovate to nurture deep-tech start-ups and talent, and building a vibrant tech community in Singapore.

Mr Lee is presently Deputy Chairman of Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd (VVH), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited engaged in the venture capital direct investment and fund management business. Mr Lee is also Venture Partner of GGV Capital and Chairman of Advantec Pte Ltd, an investment holding company.

Mr Lee was General Manager (1988 to February 1995) and subsequently President of Vertex Management Pte Ltd (VMPL), and executive Director of VVH from March 1995 to February 2004. Prior to this, he was with the NatSteel group of companies as the Senior Manager of the Project Development Department and the Ministry of National Development where he was Deputy Director of Planning.

Mr Lee sits on the board Creative Technology Ltd, a public-listed company in Singapore. He is also a board member of several private companies including Thunes, Structo3D and Zero 2.5. He had served as Chairman of Heptagon Micro Optics Pte Ltd (acquired by ams AG) and was also on the boards of China Finance Online, Gemplus International S.A. (merged into Gemalto) and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd.

Mr Lee holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering (First Class Honours) from Queen's University, Canada and a Master of Science degree (with distinction) in Operations Research and Systems Analysis from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, and a Diploma in Business Admin from the National University of Singapore.

Mr Foo Jixun is currently the Managing Partner at GGV Capital, having joined the firm in 2006. He has more than 15 years of experience in venture capital investing focusing on the online travel, mobile transportation, and on-demand service sectors. Mr Foo has led key GGV's investments such as Qunar, Youku-Tudou and UCWeb. Prior to joining GGV Capital, Mr Foo was a Director at Draper Fisher Jurvetson ePlanet Ventures, where he led investment efforts in Asian companies such as Baidu.

Mr Beh Kian Teik is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Research Foundation (NRF) from 6 August 2022. He joined NRF as the Deputy Chief Executive Officer since 1 July 2020, and is responsible for reviewing, developing and implementing the national RIE strategies and governance frameworks, to grow and sustain a vibrant RIE ecosystem in Singapore.

Prior to joining NRF, Mr Beh held roles of increasing responsibilities in Economic Development Board for over 22 years. His last role was Executive Vice President of EDB and oversaw EDB New Ventures. He worked with corporate entrepreneurs with the passion and drive to create early-stage ventures in Singapore. He has over twenty years’ experience of promoting foreign direct investment and building industries in the manufacturing and internationally tradeable services sectors.

Previously, he was responsible for EDB’s activities in innovation & industry incubation and led efforts to foster industry-science linkages. In 2010, he was also the founding director of the Singapore Biomedical Sciences Industry Partnership Office, a unique inter-agency government organisation. In this role, he worked with senior Singapore scientists to partner industry to translate science to medicine, and with industry partners that undertook R&D projects requiring the capabilities of multiple Singapore agencies in basic sciences and clinical research.

Mr Beh is a Sundstrand-EDB and Glaxo-EDB scholar who graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with an MSc in Electrical Engineering, as well as a BSc in Electrical & Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Mr Jeremy Kranz was the Senior Vice President & Head of GIC's Technology Investment Group, a specialised team that executes private and public investments across the global technology market. He was responsible for venture capital and growth stage investments in over 40 leading technology companies such as Alibaba, Airbnb, Snapchat, Momo, JD.com & Flipkart. Mr Kranz is based in San Francisco, focusing on next generation e-commerce, decision sciences, fintech for investment management, drones and having fun. Prior to GIC, Mr Kranz was a Strategic Investment Manager at Intel Capital and also served as a Strategic Planner for Intel's semiconductor factories. Prior to Intel, he worked as a Process Innovation Analyst at Harley Davidson. Mr Kranz currently serves on the boards of several technology companies, universities and non-profits.

Mr Lim was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Trade and Industry in April 2019. Mr Lim is responsible for formulating policies to grow Singapore’s economy, strengthen its enterprises, and create better jobs for Singaporeans.

Prior to his current appointment, Mr Lim was Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Communications and Information. Mr Lim had previously also served as Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, and held appointments at the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Health, the Public Service Division and Infocommunications Media Development Authority.

Dr Robert JT Morris is Chief Technology Strategist, Ministry of Health Office for Healthcare Transformation, and Professor, School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. In these roles, he works closely with Singapore's Ministry of Health and has an advisory role at the National Research Foundation in the Prime Minister's Office. His current focus is on the application of computer and information sciences, including AI, to transform healthcare.

Dr Morris' previous roles include leading all of IBM Research's Global Laboratories, and various R&D roles at IBM including Director of the IBM Almaden Research Center, Silicon Valley. Originally from Australia, he began his career at Bell Laboratories, New Jersey, USA.

Dilhan joined Temasek in September 2010 and is currently the Chief Executive Officer, Temasek International Pte. Ltd. He oversees the operations of the firm, and the organisation of its talent and resources to deliver sustainable long term returns for Temasek.

Dilhan also contributes actively to the public domain. These include his membership in the Future Economy Council, an initiative by the Singapore Government to oversee future skills and innovation efforts. He also sits on the Financial Centre Advisory Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and the boards of the National Research Foundation and Enterprise Singapore.

Prior to Temasek, Dilhan was the Managing Partner of Singapore law firm Wong Partnership LLP.

He graduated from the National University of Singapore with a Bachelor of Laws degree and obtained a Master of Law degree from the University of Cambridge.

Mr Jeffrey Siow is the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Enterprise Singapore, which champions enterprise development and works with committed companies to build capabilities, innovate and internationalise. Mr Siow leads the agency to support the growth of Singapore as a hub for global trading and startups and build trust in Singapore’s products and services through quality and standards.

Prior to his current appointment, Mr Siow was Principal Private Secretary to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. He has also served in other capacities at the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Manpower, Prime Minister’s Office, and Ministry of Education.

Mr Siow graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan Fellows Program with an MBA. He also holds a BA in Economics & Government and a BSc in Urban & Regional Studies from Cornell University.