Tech in Gangnam! We’re off to Seoul next week for our first ever event in South Korea

In just eight days, Tech in Asia Tour will be touching down in Seoul. The fireside chat with investors and pitch contest, featuring a group of the capital’s up-and-coming startups, marks Tech in Asia’s first official event in South Korea. If you’re an entrepreneur hoping to spread the word about your product or service to a global audience, we’ve extended the deadline for submissions until March 14 – so hurry up and apply while you still can!

If you need some motivation to apply, well, here it is: the grand prize winner of Tech in Asia Tour Seoul’s pitch contest will receive round-trip airfare to our flagship conference, Tech in Asia Singapore, scheduled for May 6 and 7. We’ll also provide the champ with accommodation, event passes, and a free exhibition booth.

Even if you’re not pitching, Tech in Asia Tour Seoul promises to be a great opportunity to learn about the country’s burgeoning startup ecosystem, hear expert advice from a panel of seasoned investors, and network with like-minded individuals in the local tech and venture capital scene. Who knows, maybe you’ll even meet your future CTO or the angel that puts your startup on the map.

Speaking of our guest speakers (who will also judge the pitch contest), you’re probably wondering who they are. First up is Mark Tetto, managing partner at TheVentures Co., a seed-stage VC that helps domestic startups go global. Tetto is more than an investor, though – he’s also the CFO of Seoul-based social networking startup Vingle.

Michael Hong, the president and CEO of private investment firm Red Herring Inc., will also be in attendance. Hong previously served as CFO of Pandora.tv, which he saw grow from a small startup to a company that earns US$10 million a year. He also acts as an angel investor for startups in Korea, China, Japan, the US, and the UK.

Peter Kennedy, the executive chairman for Asia at Hubert Burda Media, will round out the panel with his combined 27 years of experience in the magazine and digital media business. He currently focuses on investments and acquisitions related to online media.

See you in Gangnam next Thursday! NO PSY JOKES!

Submission deadline: March 14
Results announced: March 15
Pitch Day: March 19

Location

D.CAMP
551 Seolleung-ro, Gangnam-gu
Saerom Building 2nd, 4F
Seoul, South Korea

From Seonjeongneung Station (Bundang Line): from Exit 4, walk three minutes toward Seolleung Station.

From Seolleung Station (Line 2, Bundang Line): from Exit 7, walk five minutes toward Seonjeongneung Station.

Time: 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM

Judges

Mark Tetto, managing partner, TheVentures Co.

Mark Tetto is managing partner of TheVentures, a seed stage micro VC founded by Changseong Ho and Jiwon Moon, which partners with early companies looking to succeed globally. TheVentures is a hands-on, value-added investor bringing deep experience in building global businesses, and works actively with companies to build success cases – it is a “company building company.” Concurrently, Mark also serves as the CFO of Vingle, the global interest-based community platform.

Since graduating with honors from top-ranked Princeton University in 2002, Mark has built a career in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate finance, corporate strategy, investment, and technology. Mark received his MBA from the Wharton School (University of Pennsylvania) in 2007, with a concentration in finance, after which he practiced M&A and corporate finance in Morgan Stanley’s investment banking division, working both in New York and London. Mark left Wall Street in 2010 to join Samsung Electronics at its headquarters in Korea, taking a position in the corporate strategic planning team to cover corporate development and M&A. Mark speaks Korean and has a passion for Korea and Korean culture. He is excited to help grow and develop the Korean tech startup community.

Michael Hong, president and CEO, Red Herring Inc.

Michael Hong, currently based in Seoul, Korea, has a wealth of experience after having held senior leadership positions in both Western and Asian companies spanning a broad range of industries over the period of 25 years. He has developed expertise and experience in global financial markets, including cross border M&As and international management from large-sized, multi-billion dollar companies to small startups.

Educated at Harvard College (BA) and Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania (MBA), he started his professional career at Thomas H. Lee Company, a premier private equity firm based in Boston, focusing on leveraged buyouts. As one of the early pioneers in LBOs, Thomas H. Lee Company has done a number of very successful buyouts, including Snapple and Playtex. As an analyst, Mr. Hong was responsible for preparing key financial analysis, conducting due diligence while managing lawyers and accountants and monitoring the financial performance of investee companies during the post-acquisition period.

He started his own private investment firm, Red Herring, in 2012 to invest his own capital in selected emerging technology companies. He also advised a few notable M&A deals in Korea at that time, including a sale of cable TV operation, a sale of TGIF Korea, and a sale of significant minority stake in Korea’s leading call center outsourcing company to a US-based private equity group. He was also involved as a financial advisor in several other cross-border M&A deals and investments representing sellers or buyers. He then decided to join Pandora.tv as one of the early senior management members and played a key role in growing the nascent startup with less than 20 employees to a company with annual sales of US$10 million as well as a market leader in Web 2.0 in Korea with over 100 employees. As the CFO of the startup, he helped raise close to US$30 million from Silicon Valley investors, the first time ever for a Korean startup to raise three consecutive rounds of financing from Silicon Valley. He left Pandora.tv after he completed the restructuring of its business and paring down its cost structure.

He is actively involved in helping and mentoring young entrepreneurs and startups. As an angel investor, he has invested in a number of early-stage mobile app, internet of things, and fintech companies, both inside and outside Korea (such as China, Japan, the US, and the UK). His key focus is to figure out ways to expand the service coverage of selected mobile/Internet service providers to international markets outside their current home base. He’s also a representative in Korea for a Beijing-based Sky Sage Capital, a venture capital fund focusing on early stage deals.

Peter Kennedy, Executive Chairman (Asia), Hubert Burda Media

After some 20 years of experience in magazine business in US and Asia, and dabbling in the digital space for past seven years, Peter is now fully involved in the “digital space.” He’s responsible for investments and acquisitions. His main takeaway so far, “no matter what business you’re in, at the end of the day, are they buying what you’re selling?” If you can’t prove that, no matter how many acronyms you throw around, no matter how many times you pivot, then forget about it.

Peter’s specialties include investments in the digital space, negotiating license and joint venture agreements, and managing startups and acquisitions.