UNSW Founders 10x

Cydonie Greenway is a Program Manager at The George Institute for Global Health with experience in global health, education, and humanities. Her work focuses on capacity building, program development, and management, with particular emphasis on integrating entrepreneurial skills into health systems to address unmet needs across diverse communities.

David Burt is Director of Entrepreneurship at UNSW, where he provides support to university affiliates—including alumni, students, and researchers—interested in founding companies. Through philanthropically funded programming, he offers expert guidance to entrepreneurs at no cost.

Dina Titkova is Senior Manager of Startups at UNSW Founders, where she leads a team supporting over 200 startups annually and manages a portfolio of more than 100 companies. She brings 15+ years of international experience in medical devices, digital health, and pharmaceuticals, with a focus on building strategic partnerships and commercialization pathways for health founders and researchers. She launched Australia's first dedicated Women's Health Accelerator and is involved in the Global Innovation Foundry initiative, which aims to support 100 Australian startups to expand globally.

Eleni Assargiotis is Program Manager at UNSW Founders' Climate 10x accelerator, where she supports founders addressing climate change, food security, and sustainability challenges. She has experience in research commercialization and early-stage venture development, having managed a market validation program that supported 62 founders across 23 startups that collectively raised over £36.5 million since 2018. Her background includes communications, banking, building management, and direct experience with small-holder farming systems.

Georgia Lyons is a Program Manager at UNSW Founders who leads the Peter Farrell Cup student startup competition. She spent nearly seven years at SBS working in business affairs, rights coordination, and content delivery, followed by roles in creative production and program leadership across broadcasting, live programs, and campaigns. Her background spans arts, culture, and screen media, with experience in both creative and operational aspects of program delivery.

Joseph Po is the founder and CEO of Provectus Capital Partners, a private equity firm in South Eastern Europe established in 2020, and serves as President of the Supervisory Board at both Adria Dental Group and Arsano Medical Group Croatia, as well as a member of the Supervisory Board at Optimapharm. He previously founded Optimapharm, a clinical research organization, in 2011 and chaired its Supervisory Board until its sale in 2020, and earlier held positions including CEO of VABA bank (2006–2011), board member at Agrokor (2005–2006), and Head of Corporate Banking at HVB/Bank Austria Creditanstalt Group in Croatia (2001–2005). He graduated from the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Zagreb, completed a GMP program in Vienna, and finished the Senior Executive Program at London Business School.

Julie Pham leads entrepreneurship initiatives at UNSW focused on Greater Western Sydney, where she develops programs and builds partnerships to support founders. Her work involves connecting entrepreneurs with resources and opportunities while measuring program outcomes in the region.

Co-founder of Flying Fox Ventures and founder of Eleanor Venture, with over 20 years in technology capital raising and M&A across Australia, Asia and the US. A former lawyer who advised ASX200 and international companies, she holds law and international studies degrees plus leadership study at Harvard Business School.

Maddison McCoy is a Community Manager for the Faculty of Engineering at UNSW Founders, where she works with engineering researchers to commercialize their research through the Spinout Fellowship, Australia's first program of its kind designed to create alternative career paths for researcher engineers. She facilitates connections between founders, researchers, and organizations supporting innovation across sectors including climate, health, and energy.

Mariana Luis-Castillo Patron is a marketing and communications specialist with over 10 years of experience in global brands and higher education. As Community Manager at UNSW Founders, she leads digital content strategy and community engagement while coordinating entrepreneurship programs that support early-stage founders, including initiatives such as the Hult Prize 2025 and programs supporting 200+ emerging founders. Her background includes product campaign leadership in Mexico's beauty industry and innovation work in higher education.

Nina Juhl is Senior Manager of Curiosity at UNSW Founders, where she supports founders from UNSW in starting and growing companies across various industry sectors and technologies. She works with UNSW alumni, students, and staff members through the organization's programs.

Priscilla Tan is an Education Program Manager at UNSW Founders with 14 years of experience in product design, education, entrepreneurship, manufacturing, and accounting. She develops programs that connect academic institutions with industry and support early-stage startups.

Shetal Balaji manages the Practical AI program at UNSW Founders. He is a physics and computer science student at UNSW.

Thomas Derricot-Yap is a communications and content strategist who has held roles across journalism, PR, content marketing, and stakeholder engagement at ASX-listed companies, fintech platforms, and startup organizations. He co-authored the 2025 bestselling book "Riding the Unicorn" and has served as a startup coach at UNSW Founders, while previously building content operations at Pearler and leading communications efforts during Mad Paws' ASX listing. His earlier career included work as a journalist at the Santiago Times in Chile and launching Catmosphere Sydney, a cat cafe that raised $40,000 in crowdfunding and secured media coverage across over 70 outlets.

Vern Chan is a Global Program Manager at UNSW with experience in project management, sales, and market research across startups, agencies, and enterprises in sectors ranging from FMCG to CRISPR therapeutics. Fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Malay, Chan has developed expertise in networking, opportunity identification, and commercial problem-solving. His work focuses on developing partnerships related to decarbonization and sustainability initiatives.

William Nguyen is a guest lecturer at UNSW Sydney who advocates for international students through events, talks, and presentations focused on diversity and wellbeing. He has spoken to over 7,000 students and professionals across 30+ conferences and workshops, and has received multiple awards including the Australian Defence Force Youth Leadership Award and UNSW Student Experience Award. Nguyen serves as a student representative and ambassador for UNSW and the NSW Department of Education.