East Meets West – Building the Future Beyond Borders
A global VC-led conference uniting East and West to share insights, spark collaboration, and build the future beyond borders.
Agenda
🕤 9:00 AM – 9:40 AM | Registration & Networking
🎤 9:40 AM – 6:00 PM | Sessions (Lunch Provided)
🍽️ 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM | Dinner, Drinks & Networking
East Meets West – Building the Future Beyond Borders
VCs, Founders, and Innovators Shaping the Next Global Wave
The East Meets West Summit is a cross-border startup and venture conference connecting leading investors, founders, and innovators from Asia and the U.S.
Co-hosted by top venture capital firms —
Goodwater Capital, Altos Ventures, Lightspeed, Gold House, SBVA , One Way Ventures , Fortitude Ventures, KIC, Storm Ventures, Kindred Ventures, Sazze Partners — the event features keynote speeches, fireside chats, and panel sessions, each hosted by our co-hosts, exploring cross-border innovation, investment trends, and the future of entrepreneurship.
✨ What to Expect
Inspiring fireside chats & thought-provoking panels hosted by top VCs
Insightful discussions on global startup and investment trends
Networking opportunities with founders, investors, and operators
Dinner, drinks, and meaningful connections that last
You can access it using the email address you used to purchase your ticket.
Please allow about 10 minutes after purchase for the attendee list to update.
The agenda below is subject to change.
Morning 9:40 – 12:00
9:40 - 9:50 - Opening Remarks
UKF East Meets West – Building the Future Beyond Borders
Kiha Lee, Co-chair of UKF, Founding Managing Partner, Sazze Partners
9:50 - 10:10 - IONQ – Jungsang Kim – co-founder – Presentation
10:10 - 10:30 - How Melissa Mash Built Dagne Dover by Listening First
Melissa Shin Mash - CEO / Founder
Moderator: Jin-Young Kim, Partner, 8VC
10:30 - 11:00 -
2026 State of the VC Industry
John Kim, CEO, Paraform
Jay Yu, Partner, Foley Hoag, LLP
Ann Kim, Managing Director, Stifel
Moderator: Marina Temkin, Reporter, TechCrunch
11:00 - 11:25 -
Inside Fast AI Seed Rounds: Signals That Matter
Steven Lee, Founder and General Partner, Seven Stars
Steve Jang, Founder and Managing Partner, Kindred Ventures
Moderator: Sungjoon Cho, Founder, Fortitude Ventures
11:25 - 11:45
Investing in Korea: Lessons from Toss, Coupang, Karrot and Kakao
Eric Kim, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Goodwater Capital
11:45 -1:15 - Lunch
1:15 - 1:55
Creativity x AI: The Next Act in Entertainment
Janet Yang, Former President, Academy of Motion Picture Arts; Founder, Creators Coalition on AI; Founder, First Light StoryHouse (CJ ENM)
Kevin Woo, Actor, Kpop Demon Hunters; Singer, UKISS
Alex Moore, CBO, EMPIRE
Moderators:
Daniel Suh, General Partner, Gold House Ventures
1:55 - 2:15
Scaling a Global Giant
Cal Henderson, Co-Founder / CTO, Slack
Moderator: Eugene Malobrodsky, One Way Ventures
2:15 - 2:35
World Positive Investing - Breakthrough Solutions Targeted Towards Solving Systemic Challenges
Vishal Vasishth, Co-founder, Obvious Ventures
Moderator: Dr. Dong-Seon Chang, Founder of Future Explorer Society and CEO of Curious Brain Lab
2:35 - 3:05
Global Investment Markets - LPs Perspectives
Vincent Lee, Investment Manager, CALPers
Kelli Fontaine, Partner, Cendana
Seungha Ku, Founder and Managing Partner, Nexus Bay Capital
Moderator: David Zhou, Host, Superclusters
3:05 - 3:50 - Break
3:50 - 4:10
From Builder to Leader: Reflections on Scaling Gusto to $10B
Edward Kim, Co-founder, Gusto
Moderator: Tae Yoon, Partner, Altos Ventures
4:10 - 4:30
The Frontier of Autonomous Driving
Vlad Voroninski, CEO, Helm AI
Moderator: Rhie Lim, Partner, One Way Ventures
4:30 - 4:35
Introducing KIC San Francisco with Yumi Park
Yumi Park - President of KIC San Francisco
4:35 - 4:55
AI Rollups: Rebuilding Market Leaders in the Age of Automation
Isaac Kim, Partner, Lightspeed
4:55- 5:25
Bringing your Authentic Self in Venture
Cheryl Cheng, Managing Partner, M12
Christine Tsai, CEO and Founding Partner, 500 Global
Justin Nam, Co-founder and General Partner, Story Capital
Moderator: Minjoo Kim, Partner, Storm Ventures
5:25 - 5:35 - Closing Remarks
Saeju Jeong, Co-chair of UKF, Co-Founder & Executive Chair and former CEO, Noom
5:35 - 10:00 - Dinner & Drinks