Graham Leach, MBA
Graham Leach, MBA is Venture Consultant, Blockchain Applications Lab Leader, and Lecturer at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University School of Design.
As a University Lecturer, Graham designs and delivers business-oriented courses within the School of Design which include Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Project Management, Micro Brand Startup, Digital Disruption, and Electronic Commerce.
He is also responsible for the commercialization and mentoring of all of the Final Year Projects (FYP) of Graduate and Undergraduate classes, consisting of between 100 and 200 students and 30 to 45 startups every year. He has been with the University since 2010.
His students have won over 20 awards, in Local, Provincial, China and International competitions for Innovation, Technology, and Design.
In 2019, Graham has been authorized to open the Blockchain Applications Research Laboratory, as well as being put in charge of the Blockchain Curriculum in the MSc— MET Programme.
In 2013 and until the end of 2014, Graham was in charge of designing the Innovation Ecosystem for the Jockey Club Innovation Tower, a 700m Zaha Hadid designed signature building on the campus of the Polytechnic University of Hong Kong.
In 2008, Graham founded the Management Consulting firm Remediare, located in Hong Kong. They prepare their clients for the next stage of growth and evolution, or to help with a business exit. This often requires a restructuring of the firm and frequently a financing round of some form. Their latest tool along these lines is Blockchain-related financing structures. They have advised many companies in the following industries: High Technology, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Cosmetics, Fashion, Manufacturing, Distribution, Training & Development, Corporate Intelligence, and Talent Management.
Graham is currently Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer at Vevue, the next generation multimedia-based social media network using the power of the blockchain, revolutionizing the way people interact with, distribute, watch, and appreciate video content.
Graham is also the Chief Marketing Officer at WOKE, the Gaming startup that leverages Design Theory, Blockchain, and Cryptocurrency to uncover a new form of digital entertainment. As the Chief Marketing Officer of WOKE, Graham identified and defined its flagship product — Rewarding Games — and oversaw the description and design of the Innovation Ecosystem needed to produce them. He also played a key part in guiding the economic design of WOKE, including such things as its token types, target markets, and customer segmentation strategy.
At SingularityNET, as the Business Strategy Lead, Graham generated the Project Strategy and Business Plan in support of its record breaking ICO, which successfully raised USD36M in 65 seconds. After the ICO, Graham wrote extensively about the project, conducted interviews on its behalf and represented SingularityNET at SiliconSlopes, a Sundance Festival-related ICT conference of over 12,000 participants held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Graham is currently an Advisor to SingularityNET.
Previously, Graham was the Managing Director at Science Park, the largest government-sponsored Business Incubator in Hong Kong. Graham was contracted to design and deliver, the Robotics Garage, which is now the largest Makerspace in Hong Kong. The Robotics Garage is a nexus point for robotics research and development, connecting a user community of 20,000 people with 8 local Universities, an SME sector of 250,000 companies and innumerable trade delegations from China, Europe, and the USA. In its first year of operations, the Robotics Garage supported 300 startups, held over 50 events and received over 2,000 visitors.
Currently Graham is also the Operating Partner for Hong Kong Emerging Technologies Venture Fund since 2018, an Adjunct Professor at the School of Business at Gratia Christian College since 2015, and Senior Vice President of Private Equity and Project Finance in China Office for Corsair Merchant Partners since 2011. At Corsair, he leads the North Asia team (China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan), and is responsible for qualifying and restructuring all deals in their area and with the Global Management Group. He works mainly in the energy, high technology, and commodities sectors and has to date participated in 25 projects with an aggregate value of over 1 Billion USD.
He is also the Senior Vice President at Brown Capital Partners (BCP). BCP is a New York based Merchant Banking and M&A advisory consultancy. Graham directly represented BCP in North Asia and helps to manage the South Asia office. He helped to evaluate the deal flow from 12 affiliated offices, as part of the final project selection team and sat on the BCP Senior Advisory Board.
Previously, Graham was the CEO at Key-In Data Solutions between 2004 and 2007. After they built up a Call Center in the Philippines, Graham sold the enterprise to a large industry player from India.
Graham earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Entrepreneurship & Innovation in 2016 from the University of Liverpool. His MBA dissertation focused on Decision Making, and in it he introduced a cognitive model designed to help executives improve their decision-making in fast paced, information-scarce operating environments.
In 2000, he earned his MBA in Strategic Management at UBC Sauder School of Business in Canada. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree of Arts in History and Computer Science in 1995 from Concordia University in Montreal.
Graham also studied Cantonese and earned Chinese Language Studies Beginner and Intermediate level at the Hong Kong Institute of Social Services. From Beijing Language and Culture University, he also earned Chinese Language Studies in Putonghua in 2004.
In 2019, he attended Oxford Blockchain Strategy Programme and earned Blockchain Certification from Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford, specifically designed for Business Leaders and Innovators.
Graham is a holder of multiple certifications, among others, are IBM Blockchain Foundation for Developers, IBM Blockchain Essentials, Certificate in University Teaching, and Master Certified Internet Security Specialist.
As a Subject Matter Expert, Exited Entrepreneur, and Angel Investor at a variety of Hong Kong public and private incubators, Graham has been working as Startup Mentor at Good Lab since 2013, at CoCoon – Born to Fly, one of the most influential incubators in Hong Kong since 2012, and as Organizer, Mentor, and Trainer at Startup Weekend since 2012.
He led the localization and delivery of the first Asia focused Startup Leadership Program (2013–2014). He developed a curriculum for Entrepreneurial hopefuls to generate creative ideas and optimize their results at Startup events (2014–2016). He was the Treasurer of the first Makerspace in Hong Kong (2015–2016) and launched its Maker Monday program (2016).
Graham started his career in 1995 as the Senior Systems Analyst at JWI – Johnso Wires for 2 years, where he was responsible for all systems software, including ERP systems.
He continued at Bayer in Montreal until 1999, when he became the CTO at OneAsia Technologies. At OneAsia, he was responsible for design, certification, daily operation, and upgrade of a highly available and scalable Asian-focused entertainment portal featuring music and video titles from India, China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, and many other Pacific and Indo-Chinese languages, dialects, and cultures.
In 2001, he joined DD Industries as CIO for almost 3 years and was in 2002 invited by the Department of Computer Science to develop and deliver a course in the Masters of Electronic Commerce Program and so he became a Visiting Lecturer at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in the Department of Computer Science.
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