Confirmed Judges
Ken Miller | ![]() |
President & CEO | |
Ken Miller Capital | |
Mr. Miller is President & CEO of Ken Miller Capital, LLC (“KMC”), a closely held merchant banking firm which invests in early stage companies.
Mr. Miller has served successively as Vice Chairman of Merrill Lynch Capital Markets and Credit Suisse First Boston. At Merrill Lynch, Mr. Miller built and ran the Mergers & Acquisitions Department while forming the first bulge bracket private equity group, Merrill Lynch Capital Partners, as well as the very profitable bridge financing business, each of which reported to him. While there he led the negotiation for the transaction which first brought Merrill Lynch to China, its investment in Sun Hung Kai Securities. Upon leaving Merrill he formed The Lodestar Group, a merchant bank which he sold to Societe Generale. After that sale he joined Credit Suisse First Boston as, then, their only Vice Chairman, charged with acting as financial advisor to wealthy individuals and a number of the world’s largest corporations. Mr. Miller has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Viacom, Inc., Intelsat Corporation, Kinder Care Learning Centers (Board Chair), CNA Surety and, now, Loews Corporation (NYSE: “L”), the company which controls Diamond Offshore Corporation (NYSE: “DO”), CNA Financial Corporation (NYSE: “CNA”), Boardwalk Pipeline Partners, LP (NYSE: “BWP”) and Loews Hotels. Mr. Miller is an active member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the Chairman of the Advisory Board for the NYU-Shanghai Program on Innovation & Creativity. Mr. Miller has a long history of involvement with China including serving as a visiting professor at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management and chairing the Finance Committee for the U.S. Pavilion at the 2010 Shanghai Exposition. Mr. Miller received his B.A. with honors from the University of Michigan (1964), M.A. from Yale University (1965 – Chinese Studies), and J.D. from Harvard University (1969). Publications include articles on China, venture capital, economic development, international relations, and the merger market in Foreign Affairs, Time Magazine, The Harvard Journal of Legislation, The Business Lawyer, The Far Eastern Economic Review, The New Republic, The Deal, The Nation, and Fortune. Mr. Miller speaks French and Chinese. |
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Pascal Bouvier | ![]() |
Partner | |
Santander InnoVentures | |
As the Venture Partner with Santander InnoVentures, Board Member for FINTECH Circle Institute, Co-Founder for RegTech Lab, and Mentor & Advisor for Blockchain Space and Startupbootcamp FinTech, Pascal Bouvier is an outstanding Fintech expert and talented multi-tasker who arranges everything perfectly.
Pascal Bouvier is a reformed executive, entrepreneur and operator with a broad experience in stage venture capital and micro PE investments in fintech small post revenue companies, startups, and turnarounds. He built the fintech investment arm of Route 66 Ventures, which later jumped to the list of top 10 global fintech venture firms. He is now employing his rich experience in helping Santander InnoVentures grow into one of the top 5 global fintech corporate venture firms. Pascal Bouvier graduated from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business with the MBA degree and worked as the vice president at International Business Society, Darden Rugby Team; he got his bachelor’s degree from ISC Paris with the focus on Finance and Venture Capital. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and fluent in Danish, French, and English. |
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Raymond P.Thek | ![]() |
Partner | |
Lowenstein Sandler | |
Mr. Thek is a deal lawyer who focuses on financings and exits for companies whose core assets are intellectual property. From startups to major corporations, he helps companies and investors identify, finance, and monetize the technologies, processes, products, and brands that will create the most value for them.
Mr. Thek is co-founder and COO of GrapeArborVC, an angel investor group that advises and provides financial backing to promising tech startups.He is co-founder of VentureCrushFG, which provides mentoring and peer group networking for high-potential tech entrepreneurs; and he is on the Executive Committee of VentureCrushAV, a networking program that regularly brings together seed-stage investors and entrepreneurs to build the ecosystem in and around New York City. Ray likes to work with investors to spot companies at their earliest possible stage, often when there’s nothing to see but an entrepreneur with a bright idea. From there, he advises the investors or founders on every facet of the development and financing of the business. He helps them build relationships with customers and strategic partners, and when the company matures to the point where it attracts buyers, he helps his clients plan for an orderly and successful exit. He also works on the buy side, helping established companies of all sizes target and acquire other companies that are a good fit with their strategic objectives. He helps them think through the required characteristics and then spots the companies that possess them. |
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Jeff Lam | ![]() |
President | |
Lam Generation | |
Jeffrey Lam is the founder of Lam Generation, a leading hospitality real estate development firm in New York City. Previously, Jeffrey worked with Helmsley-Spear focusing on the Manhattan market as a broker and consultant. He also spent several years directly involved in the hospitality industry as a team member managing and restructuring new hotel startups. Jeffrey specializes in the acquisition and development of real estate and manages new business opportunities for the company.
Lam Generation currently owns five hotels throughout New York City and has an additional two properties under development, each affiliated with Marriott, Starwood, or Hilton. The company’s first hotel development project, the Hampton Inn SoHo, was recognized by Hilton Hotels Corporation as the Deal of the Year in 2007. Their portfolio spans over 1,000,000 square feet of New York City hotel and residential development projects. Jeffrey graduated from Pennsylvania State University, State College with a B.S. in Finance. He speaks English and Cantonese. He currently is involved in PREF a real estate organization. His past board affiliations include Big Apple Greeters and Dollars for Scholars. |
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Sebastien Meunier | ![]() |
Senior Manager | |
Chappuis Halder & Co. | |
Sebastien is currently working as the Head of Digital for North America at Chappuis Halder & Co, a global consulting firm covering main business lines of the financial services industry and offering customized solutions to corporate and investment banks, retail & private banks, and insurance companies. Prior to that, he was a project leader for Boston Consulting Group and a business application manager for Societe Generale, with industry expertise in corporate strategy and business development, IT & operations transformation, organization and governance optimization.
Sebastien strives to bridge the gap between Business and Technology, driving growth and efficiency in Financial Institutions by connecting them with the best innovations from the market. He has rich experience in defining business strategies and leading global transformations in Financial Institutions. He keeps meeting with startups, investors and organizations, and always trying to better understand the potential of the new technologies, such as blockchain, machine learning, and open architectures, which allows him to anticipate their impact and to create opportunities for Financial Institutions. Sebastien obtained his EMBA degree from Harvard Business School, and also his master’s degree in Physics, Computer Science & Industrial Economics from Ecole Polytechnique. He was honored the Top 10 FinTech Influencers and Top 10 InsurTech Influencers, and he is fluent in English, French, Japanese, Mandarin and Spanish. |
The competition will abide by the following judging rules:
Category |
Sub-category | Weight |
Investability | Money |
Future growth potential | 10% |
Market size potential | 5% | |
Market share potential | 5% | |
Progress-and-traction-to-date | 10% | |
Team formation and attractiveness | 10% | |
Competition strategy | 10% | |
Business risk management | 10% | |
Innovation | Merit |
Why better from existing players | 5% |
Key technologies/services novelty | 15% | |
Impact | Value |
Why and how you can make humanity better | 5% |
Implementable plans to attack big problems | 15% |