Get Into Y Combinator

​You've watched the videos and read the blogs—but when it comes to applying to Y Combinator from Hong Kong, what really sets founders apart?

Join us for a candid conversation with Hong Kong’s YC alumni founders as they share what the application process actually looked like: the messy drafts, last-minute pivots, tough feedback, and how they ultimately convinced YC partners to believe in their vision. No fluff—just real stories, hard-won lessons, and advice they wish they’d had earlier.

Speakers:

Giovanni Casinelli, President & Co-Founder of Aspire, YC W18

​Giovanni is a serial entrepreneur with 10 years of leadership experience in financial services, deep-tech, marketplaces and payments. He has a proven track record of leading tech companies and optimising for innovation and scale.

​As the Co-founder and President of Aspire, Giovanni plays a pivotal role in shaping the company’s vision to empower startups and small businesses globally. Under his leadership, Aspire has grown into a leading fintech platform, streamlining financial operations for over 50,000 businesses worldwide.

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Elton Chan, Co-Founder of Branch8 and Second Talent, YC S15

​Elton is a serial entrepreneur and the co-founder of Second Talent, a platform connecting global tech leaders with Asia’s top remote software developers. He also co-founded Branch8.com, a Y Combinator-backed e-commerce tech enabler working with global brands like Lululemon, Clarks, and Li & Fung.

Elton also serves as the Founding Chairman of the Hong Kong E-Commerce Business Association (HKEBA), leading government-backed initiatives to promote digital transformation across Asia.With a talent network spanning over 100,000 developers, Second Talent helps companies hire fast with pre-vetted engineering teams ready to deploy in days.

Matt Li, Co-Founder of Branch8 and Second Talent, YC S15

​Matt is the co-founder of Second Talent, where he helps global companies scale engineering teams by connecting them with top-tier remote developers across Asia. He also serves as a director at Branch8.com, a leading e-commerce tech enabler backed by Y Combinator, and has helped some of the region’s most recognized brands go digital.

​As Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong E-Commerce Business Association (HKEBA), Matt has led industry-wide initiatives to promote digital innovation across the region.

​Tim Lee, Founder of DimOrder, YC W22

​Tim is the Founder of DimOrder, a Hong Kong-based F&B tech company revolutionizing how restaurants operate across Southeast Asia. With a background in wealth management and hands-on experience running a café and a Japanese restaurant, Tim brings a unique blend of financial acumen and industry insight to his role overseeing sales, strategy, and growth.

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Janet Liu, Co-Founder of RevisionDojo, YC F24

Janet is the co-founder of RevisionDojo, a Y Combinator-backed startup building the AI-powered study platform students actually obsess over. Designed to adapt to each learner, RevisionDojo offers tailored mini-lessons, smart study notes, and pre-loaded question sets—all guided by an AI tutor that personalizes the experience in real time. Janet is on a mission to reinvent how students learn and prepare, one dopamine-packed study session at a time.

​Michael Tong, Co-Founder of RevisionDojo, YC F24

​Michael is the co-founder of RevisionDojo, the YC-backed AI study platform designed to make learning addictive—in a good way. While currently pursuing his studies at Stanford University, they're building tools that help students learn smarter and faster, with AI-powered tutors, custom question sets, and adaptive lessons. Balancing classes and startups, they’re living proof that the future of education is being built by the students themselves.

​About Aspire:

Aspire is the all-in-one finance platform for modern businesses globally, helping over 50,000 companies save time and money with international payments, treasury, expense, payable, and receivable management solutions -  accessible via a single, user-friendly account.

​Headquartered in Singapore, Aspire has 600+ employees across nine countries, clients in 30+ markets and is backed by global top tier VCs, including Sequoia, Lightspeed, Y-Combinator, Tencent and Paypal. In 2023, Aspire closed an oversubscribed US$100M Series C round and announced that it has achieved profitability.

Aspire 是一個全方位的現代商業金融平台，透過單一易用的帳戶，協助全球超過 50,000 家企業節省時間和金錢，提供國際支付、費用管理、應付帳款管理和應收帳款管理等解决方案。

​Aspire 總部位于新加坡，佈局遍及九個國家並擁有超過600名員工，並獲得包括 Sequoia、Lightspeed、Y-Combinator、騰訊和 Paypal 等全球頂尖風險投資公司的支持。在2023年，Aspire 已完成超額認購的一億美元 C 輪融資，並宣布實現盈利。