Rewiring the
DNA in Banking
Who we are
SC Ventures is a unique ecosystem of innovators, banking experts and business builders that are leading the future of banking. The diversity of our team fuels a unique approach to innovation and venture building.

How we do it
We bring expertise and perspectives from the world’s most dynamic markets, to take concepts to new business models at scale.
Our Story
Being a force for good by fulfilling society’s expectation of banking & finance
Society is evolving at a pace which banking is struggling to match:
- Complex structures, multiple protocols, risk aversion (owing in part to multiple remediations)
- Resulting in potentially fractured relationship between banking & society
Banking & finance have a really important role to play in society:
- Facilitating world trade which is more important now than ever, but supply chains are dislocated, and SMEs are individually suffering from lack of access
- Helping emerging markets grow
- Increasing welfare and wellbeing of individuals, serving clients very differently and integrating sustainability in the business model
SC Ventures aims to rewire DNA in banking by:
- Promoting innovation
- Investing in disruptive financial technology
- Creating alternative business models in financial services
Our Team
Board
Adam Popat
Member
Expertise: M&A / Corporate Development, Investments, Finance, Governance, Wholesale Banking
Career: Previously Group Corporate Development / M&A, CFO Vietnam, Head Group CFO Office (Standard Chartered)
LinkedIn
Agnieszka Verlet
Member (Legal)
Expertise: Corporate Law, Digital Transformation, Finance Systems, Product & Operations
Career: Previously Senior Legal Counsel (Standard Chartered), HSBC, DLA Piper
LinkedIn
Alex Manson
Heads SC Ventures
Expertise: Fixed Income Origination and Structuring, Investment Banking Advisory and Capital Raising, Commercial and Corporate Banking
Career: Previously Head of Transaction Banking (Standard Chartered), Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse
LinkedIn
Charlotte Stewart
Member (HR)
Expertise: HR Business Partnering, Transformation, Learning & Talent Management, Coach & Facilitator
Career: Previously APAC HR Director and Head of Learning & Development (Expedia Group), Royal Bank of Scotland
LinkedIn
Chris Flanagan
Member (Operations)
Expertise: Cross Banking Infrastructure, Financial Markets Business Establishment and Wind-downs
Career: Previously Barclays, Nomura, Lehman Brothers, Credit Suisse, American Express, KPMG
LinkedIn
Dominic Maffei
Member
Expertise: Capital Markets, Prime Brokerage, Corporate Law, Human Centred Design
Career: Previously Head of Sales West for SCB Prime Services, Chief of Staff to Global COO, Syndicate Banker, US Corporate Lawyer
LinkedIn
Esme Hodson
Member
(Compliance)
Expertise: Compliance & Risk, Digital Assets, Global Fintech
Career: Previously Director, Compliance (Block.one), Commonwealth Bank, Financial Services Authority
LinkedIn
Gakim Solomons
Member
Expertise: Private Equity, Alternative Finance , Fundraising, Deal Structuring , Fund Management, Corporate Advisory
Career: Previously Foundry Partners, Sanlam Investments
LinkedIn
Gautam Jain
Member
Expertise: Intersection of Business and Technology, Investing & Fundraising, Payments and Cash Management, Trade Finance
Career: Previously Head of Digitization and Client Access (Standard Chartered), Barclays, HSBC, Citi
LinkedIn
Gurdeep Singh Kohli
Member
Expertise: Venture Building, Strategy, Governance, Client Engagement
Career: Previously MD Group Strategy (Standard Chartered), Credit Suisse, McKinsey
LinkedIn
Gwenda Phillips
Member (Risk)
Expertise: Risk Management - Fintechs and Digital Assets, Venture Capital, Sales Execution, Corporate Banking
Career: Previously Chief Risk Officer (Acting) (ANZ), ANZi Investments / Ventures, TechReady for Non-Tech Female Founders, SheStarts Accelerator
LinkedIn
Harald Eltvedt
Member
Expertise: Digital Transformation, Technology, Venture building
Career: Entrepreneur, Founder from inception to exit (WebMD, Pentalog, Havas)
LinkedIn
Jason Wiggin
Member
Expertise: Intrapreneur Program, Talent and Talent Management, Team/Project Management, Change Management, Venture Building
Career: Previously HR (resourcing, HRBP, Comp), Program Management
LinkedIn
Jiten Arora
Member
Expertise: Product Innovation, Cash, Trade and Supply Chains, Ventures Management
Career: Previously Head, Commercial Banking, Head, Corporate & Institutional Banking, Sales Head, Transaction Banking (Standard Chartered)
LinkedIn
John Harvie
Member (Finance)
Expertise: Corporate Finance, Chartered Accountant, Audit & Tax
Career: Previously MD Finance & Operations (GFI Group), Man FRM, Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Ernst & Young
LinkedIn
Kennedy Mubita
Member
Expertise: Deal Origination, Product Structuring, Client engagement, Financial Services, Audit & Operational Control
Career: Previously Transaction Banking Head, East & West Africa, Standard Chartered, Treasury & Trade Solutions Head, Central & West Africa
LinkedIn
Priya Venkat
Member
(Brand, Marketing, Communications)
Expertise: Brand marketing, Digital & Performance Marketing, Strategy & Business Transformation
Career: Previously Head of Regional Marketing (Citi APAC), Uber, Visa, PepsiCo
LinkedIn
Simon Figures
Member
(Brand, Marketing, Communications)
Expertise: Intelligent Data and Analytics, Privacy Preserving Computing, Responsible AI, Operational Automation, Metaverse, Institutional Crypto and DeFi
Career: Previously Chief of Staff to CIB CIO, Business Analyst
LinkedIn
Simran Gill
Member
Expertise: Partnerships, Strategy, Operations, People
Career: Previously Chief of Staff, SC Ventures, Relationship Manager, Standard Chartered, Regional Head of Research, Saudi Aramco
LinkedIn
Thorsten Neumann
Member (Technology)
Expertise: System Architecture, Scalable Platforms and Integration, Technology and Ecosystems
Career: Previously CTO (SmartPesa), Tecity Group, Banro Corporation
LinkedIn
Wea Meng Chang
Member
Expertise: Transformation, Data Analytics, Financial Services Consulting, Audit
Career: Previously Head of Data Analytics Enablement, Strategic Information Management (Standard Chartered), Price Waterhouse, Banque Paribas
LinkedIn
Investment Committee
Alex Manson
David Churchman
Jason Forrester
Jason Forrester
Global Head of
Enterprise
Risk Management
and Deputy CRO,
Standard
Chartered Bank
LinkedIn
Mike Sigal
Other Advisors
Aalishaan Zaidi
Alex Manson
Claudia Zeisberger
David Churchman
Harald Eltvedt
Pete Burrill
Steve Leonard
Yuval Illuz
OUR PRESENCE
Global Locations
Singapore
Singapore
MBFC Tower 1,
Marina Blvd, Level 17,
Singapore, 018981
London
London
Standard Chartered Bank, HQ, Level 5,
1 Basinghall Avenue, London,
EC2V 5DD, United Kingdom
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Standard Chartered Bank Building,
Level 2, 4-4A Des Voeux Road Central,
Hong Kong
Kenya
Kenya
Standard Chartered Chiromo,
Level 4, 48 Westlands Road,
Nairobi, Kenya
Shanghai
Shanghai
Standard Chartered Tower, Level 16,
201 Century Avenue, Pudong,
Shanghai, 200120
San Francisco
San Francisco
575 Market Street, Suite 3000
San Francisco, CA, 94105, USA
