OUR TEAM
CHRISTOPHER QUEK, CAIA
FOUNDING AND GENERAL PARTNER
Christopher is Founder and Managing Partner of TRIVE. Being a third generation entrepreneur and involved in running multiple businesses, Chris has built his expertise and network in various verticals including manufacturing, deep technology, education, and food and beverage.
Prior to VC work, Chris focused on business development for various companies and started an startup incubator in Singapore. Chris has also mentored over 1,200 startup founders since 2011 and advised over 800 startups in Southeast Asia. In 2020, his advisories aided early-stage companies to raise an aggregated US$28m.
Christopher holds a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designation and is an active member of Innovatifplus, an association of next generation business owners. He writes regularly on Medium on topics related to family generational wealth and startup advisories.
LECK TING YAN
GENERAL PARTNER
Ting Yan has managed funds for the past 5 years, having covered a spectrum from fund raising, investing and portfolio development. He spends a dedicated bulk of his time working closely with our founders to structure their businesses for growth.
Prior to TRIVE, TIng Yan started his career as an early employee at a startup and then really getting to understand early stage startups in an incubator setting. Ting Yan read Double Degree in Finance and Economics at the Singapore Management University as a scholar under the Lee Kong Chian Scholars Program.
Besides managing the scaling of startups, Ting Yan spends his free time with his family and attempts to keep fit by practising Karate and Muay Thai.
DR. MELISSA FOO
VENTURE PARTNER
Dr. Foo is a global investor and portfolio manager with expertise in impact investment, ecosystem development, and innovation. She has worked on multiple early-stage deals in various sectors, including healthcare, education, FinTech, B2B, real estate technology, and social enterprise. She also provides consultancy services for the Malaysian government and is a mentor and speaker at Lean Startup Asia and Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) Academy.
Dr. Foo holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, where she specialized in Family Enterprise Management and Impact Investing. Additionally, she serves on the board of her family's healthcare company based in Malaysia.
Apart from her work, Dr. Foo enjoys traveling, meeting people, making connections, and engaging in philanthropic activities that serve underprivileged communities across Southeast Asia through her family organization. She is currently the Head of Sunway iLabs Ventures, collaborating with startups to develop solutions for a sustainable future.
DERRICK TEO
ENTREPRENEUR-IN-RESIDENCE
Derrick co-founded Elitez Group, a full suite HR solutions provider operating in 6 countries across Asia that employs more than 200 corporate staff with annual revenue exceeding USD$40 million. In 2013, Elitez was a proud recipient of TRIVE angel investment which greatly fuelled the group’s ascend.
He has been contributing to various societies and organisations since he was a student. From his 20-year ongoing grassroots leadership to his 30th blood donation, the season entrepreneur is passionate about living a significant and meaningful life. An awardee of the IDA public scholarship, Derrick declined the coveted scholarship in lieu of a life of entrepreneurship. Today, he has acquired more than 18 years of entrepreneurial experience under his belt across multiple industries. He looks forward to advising fellow entrepreneurs to deliver the similar community uplift that he had created throughout his career.
Quote: “The Future Of The World Belongs To Those Who Can Solve Problems"
DARYL LIM
ENTREPRENEUR-IN-RESIDENCE
Daryl is an accomplished innovation strategist with over eight years of strategic growth and venture experience , committed to fostering an environment that propels continuous innovation. As Chief Operating Officer at MetaPals, Daryl guides users towards the transition from Web2 to Web3 through entertainment starting with virtual pets in the metaverse
Before establishing MetaPals, Daryl's journey encompassed roles such as the Innovation & Partnerships Lead at Padang & Co. Here, he contributed to diverse corporate innovation projects, from formulating digital transformation strategies to fostering startup collaborations and managing innovation challenges. His insights and experiences from these roles offer valuable lessons for those looking to navigate the realms of digital transformation and venture creation.
As the former Head of Sales at Botbot.ai, a leading company in artificial intelligence and business process automation, Daryl was leading regional partner distribution and enterprise sales. His partnerships collaboration includes working with multinational corporations from industries such as telecommunication, finance and FMCG.
Daryl holds a Masters in Technopreneurship and Innovation from Nanyang Technological University. Outside of work, you can find Daryl tinkering with projects and participating in hackathons or volunteering as mentor to young and aspiring entrepreneurs.
ZAD NGOR
VENTURE PRINCIPAL
Zad is an accomplished entrepreneur who has a wealth of experience in launching multiple ventures. In his latest undertaking, he co-founded Championfy, an esports mobile gaming platform boasting a user base of over 200K.
Under his leadership, Championfy has successfully secured multiple rounds of funding from esteemed web2 and web3 investors. In 2023, Championfy was acquired by Ampverse, one of Southeast Asia's largest esports organisations.
Prior to joining TRIVE, Zad embarked on his venture capital journey as an associate at Antler VC. There, he provided invaluable support to founders and partners within Antler's esteemed Singapore accelerator programme. Thereafter, Zad ascended to the position of venture lead at NetVentures, a venture studio. In this capacity, Zad nurtured the growth of new businesses, managed portfolios, and forged relationships with potential investors.
Outside of work, you'll find Zad engaging in gaming, brainstorming business ideas, or keeping himself fit at the gym.
MELISSA KHO
COMPLIANCE AND FUND ADMIN MANAGER
Melissa graduated as an accountant and has worked more than 10 years in auditing and financial accounting.
Prior to TRIVE, Melissa was the senior member of the regional internal audit team of a multinational corporation with manufacturing plants and trading companies in the ASEAN regional countries including subsidiaries in Shanghai and Taipei. She acquired her practice and experience in regional internal audit and corporate compliance, and gained much insight into regional business culture, management and good governance, which are the critical success factors to corporate success.
The pet challenges for Melissa are to work closely with management and improve operational efficiency through digitalization, to utilize new technologies, like Data Science, Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing, to influence and transform business processes in the workplace.
NUR ELIYANA
FINANCE AND ADMIN
Eliyana (Elly) is the admin and finance manager at TRIVE.
Elly possesses a number of years of experience handling back-end operations. Elly manages everything behind-the-scenes from the finances, HR, accounts, audit, administration and processing of the investment funds.
Elly graduated from BMC International College with a diploma in Business Administration.
“The key to high financial and social returns in impact investing lies in focusing on people’s health and wealth”
Christopher Quek | Co-Founder
OUR VALUES
Our values direct how we act, whether alone or when engaging with other people.
This is how we remind ourselves to do right by our founders, investors and partners.
This is what we look to when growing the team.
Trust
Build trust with our investors and founders through our every action
Trust in the team to make good on their word
Keep trust and make good on your word.
RESPECT
Respect the work done by founders and their teams
INNOVATE
Always question assumptions. Test new ideas without fear of reprisal or failure
VALIDATE
Check and ensure authenticity of claims made
Recognise and affirm the work of our team and founders.
ENJOY
Enjoy the little things
Celebrate the wins
Share the fruits of our labour
OUR JOURNEY
2011
PRO-BONO INCUBATOR AND ADVISORYTo build the next generation of entrepreneurs, Christopher led the formation of the incubator, Angels Gate Advisory, and subsequently TRIVE Labs.
76 startups were incubated, deploying USD2.3 million in grants, supporting the raising of USD9m in pre-seed and angel rounds, and 2 exits.
2015
Fund I - Singapore SeedMicro-fund backed by Far East Ventures investing into early stage pre-seed startups to build the next generation of entrepreneurs
2016
TRIVE Education FundMicro-fund investing into seed stage Programming Schools to develop tech talent in the region
2018
Tribe AcceleratorFirst Singapore Government backed Global Blockchain Consortium Accelerator to advance smarter cities
through blockchain
Spun out in 2019
2019
Investing through SPVsCapturing opportunities as they come along while continuing to support exisiting portfolio companies to grow to the next stage
2022
Positive Impact TechnologyMission to directly impact 100 million people over 20 years by investing in founders creating scalable solutions