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About the Signature Series:

The Overall Objective of the Series is to exchange experience about the challenges entrepreneurs, start-ups including MSEs (Micro and Small Enterprises) face while establishing and operating a business in Hong Kong and the Asia Pacific Region. We hope that the Series will be helpful to those who are looking for new ideas, different business strategies, solutions to business problems, or more profitable ways of doing things.

About the Event:

Patrick Kirby of KPMG will give an introduction to why big businesses in the modern business environment are looking into start-ups for innovation.

Michelle Buultjens of the Swire-owned Blueprint will give an overview of their long term vision and how their co-working space helps to create connections and align resources to propel entrepreneurship forward.

SnagR's Senior Software Engineer Curtis Yiu will share with the Discussion Panel the company’s growth and the journey of moving into Blueprint which helps them grow from a Start-up to SME.

About the Speakers:

Patrick Kirby
Director, Technology, Telecommunications & Innovation, KPMG

Patrick leads High Technology, Telecommunications & Innovation Group Advisory at KPMG Hong Kong. Patrick has spent his 24-year career in the Technology and Telecommunications sectors and draws on his experience and leading practice from the financial services, public sector and consumer markets.

Patrick is passionate about navigating through, and capitalising on, disruptive innovation. He works with leading organisations to effectively identify and incorporate emerging technology into their growth agenda.

Patrick and the KPMG team collaborate with government agencies, startups incubators, early stage investors, universities and corporates to help support the entrepreneurial ecosystem and driving innovation in Hong Kong.

Originally from Australia, Patrick graduated with an MBA from Queensland University of Technology as a member of the 1% Club, specialising in Entrepreneurship and Governance. He has also studied Blue Ocean Strategy at Insead Fontainebleau.

Michelle Buultjens
Brand Strategy & Communications, blueprint

Michelle is the Head of blueprint, Swire Properties’ tech focused accelerator and co-working space in Hong Kong’s bustling business district Taikoo Place.

Within blueprint, Michelle is responsible for the overall brand strategy and marketing, and oversees blueprint’s business operations. Launched in January 2015, blueprint has received a strong response from local and international entrepreneurs, with successes seen in the connections between startups and the Swire Group, spanning industries including aviation, logistics, property, retail distribution, beverages and food chain. 30 companies have graduated from the programme to date.

Prior to Swire Properties, Michelle worked for Cathay Pacific Airways in Hong Kong, and for Procter & Gamble (Beauty), Seven Network (Television Broadcasting) and The Coca-Cola Company (FMCG) in Australia.

Originally from Sydney, Michelle graduated from University of Western Sydney with Honours in Media Communications (BA).

Curtis Yiu
Senior Software Engineer, SnagR Software

Curtis is a Senior Software Engineer with SnagR Software, moving to Hong Kong two years ago to join the team. His roles include software development, second-level support and server administration.

Overall, Curtis has 10 years of software industry experience, working for a range of companies from start-ups to multi-nationals. Originally from the US, Curtis graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with Highest Honors in Computer Science (BS), specializing in Software Engineering.