Driving Impact: The Growing Convergence of B Corp Certification and Impact Investing in Asia

Takahisa Watanabe is an Associate at Nishimura & Asahi and a Board Member of GAIL APAC. He has extensive experience in a wide range of corporate legal matters, including M&A, joint ventures, startup support, business succession, equity finance, shareholder meetings, and general corporate law.

Recently, Takahisa Watanabe has been actively contributing to the impact community. He has published articles on ESG and M&A, impact investing, social enterprises, B Corp certification, and blended finance. He has also been commissioned by the government to conduct research on benefit corporations, supported the establishment of BMBJ, the official Japanese partner of B Lab, serves as an advisor to the Impact Startup Association, and is a fellow at a non-profit organization focused on impact investing.

Vivien Teu has more than 25 years in-depth experiences in capital markets, financial institutions and asset management industry, financial services, financial and securities regulatory matters, funds formation, investment and finance transactions, and is market leading in her focus on ESG legal and regulatory issues, increasingly integrated into her advisory and transactional practice. Vivien launched her ESG and impact law practice in 2018, and advises across the spectrum of capital, ESG issues and asset classes, public and private markets, for-profit, non-profit organisations or hybrid structures, and range of fund structures and financing instruments. She has been active in impact ecosystem building, contributing to the development of standards and frameworks and proactive industry engagements on sustainability, ESG and impact issues and sustainable finance, specifically in the investment and capital markets, from regulatory, legal and policy perspectives.

In further commitments to the impact ecosystem, Vivien has launched Vivien Teu Law Practice as an impact law firm to offer specialist legal support for the financial services, asset & wealth management, investment funds, sustainable finance, social finance, impact and philanthropy sectors, dedicated to supporting and developing market practice and communities of practice, towards ecosystem and capacity building for the impact economy and impact investing.  Previously, Vivien has solid industry experience from strategic roles throughout her career, including senior in-house legal experience with global asset management firm, Invesco, and practised with leading international funds and regulatory practice including magic circle law firm Clifford Chance, established a boutique firm offering specialist legal services for the financial services and asset & wealth management sectors, and her most recent role with global law firm Dentons, as a partner and Head of Asset Management & ESG in Hong Kong.  At Dentons, Vivien assumed key roles as global sustainable finance lead on the Global ESG Steering Committee, Global Funds Leaders Group and Global Financial Institutions Practice Group, driving impact focus within mainstream finance and capital markets, alongside colleagues with multi-regional and multi-sectoral knowledge and expertise within Dentons, on legal, regulatory and compliance matters in relation to sustainability, sustainable finance, impact investing and impact finance, and also in contributing to Dentons global pro bono efforts for positive impact causes. Vivien was also an active member of the Global Tax Practice and Global Family Office Practice Group, contributing and engaging with her breadth and depth of experiences, especially offering the Asia voice and insights.

Ee Rong is the Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel of Bintang Capital Partners and a member of the Firm’s Investment Committee.

He works closely with the Firm’s Investments, the Portfolio Engagement & Stewardship and the Stakeholder & Investor Relations teams on the implementation of the Firm’s impact investing strategy, from pre-investment up till exit.

Prior to joining Bintang, he was a corporate lawyer at Wong & Partners, a member firm of Baker McKenzie International, where he specialized in pan-Asian M&A, private equity and venture capital transactions.

Ee Rong graduated from the University of Bristol, UK with a Bachelor of Laws and was called to the Malaysian Bar in September 2015. He has also completed the Sustainable Investing Certificate from the CFA Institute.

Noriko Shibao is a Director at UNERI Capital, an impact-focused venture capital firm investing in entrepreneurs tackling social and environmental issues. She focuses on sectors such as climate tech, food tech, femtech, and aging society, while also working to connect global impact investors with the Japanese ecosystem. Her background includes investment roles at a major Japanese VC and leadership experience in corporate development, IR, and finance at a startup in Africa. She holds a Master’s degree in Medical Science from Tokyo Medical and Dental University and conducted research at the University of Pennsylvania. She is also a certified dietitian. As a member of the Global Shapers Community in Fukuoka, an initiative of the World Economic Forum, she is committed to empowering emerging impact leaders in regional Japan and actively works on initiatives that connect Africa and Japan through entrepreneurship and investment.

Founded in 2011, MYSC is a leading impact investor based in Korea, managing over $73m in assets under management (AUM). In 2024, MYSC deployed over $30m of blended financing that included equity, debt, equity-free grant, R&D and technical assistance.

The company has made over 245 investments in Korea and across Southeast Asia (SEA), and is powered by more than 80 dedicated full-time intrapreneurs, which positions MYSC as Asia’s largest and most dynamic early-stage investor.

As the Korean Representative of AVPN and a co-founder of B Lab Korea, MYSC plays a pivotal role in connecting Korea, SEA, and the global community. The company actively contributes to building a thriving impact venture ecosystem in the region. MYSC has its own entity EMV SG in Singapore, and MYSC Thailand, a joint venture for impact business in Thailand.

Prior to MYSC, Jeongtae KIM spent five years working at the United Nations and was a two-time startup founder, with one exit.

Jet is currently a Global Venture Development Director at the London Office of Arowana, a B Corp-certified investment group with operating companies and investments in various sectors such as climate tech, education, and software. His current role involves working on both investment and operational fronts, building and scaling up businesses.

Jet’s background combines strategy consulting and operational experience as an entrepreneur. He worked as a strategy consulting manager for EY-Parthenon, where he helped advise C-level executives and global investors in strategy and acquisitions. Prior to that, he also worked as a new ventures consultant in the climate tech space. Jet co-founded an education company in 2016 and managed its operations in the first two years. He also managed its finance function until 2019 before selling his shares to strategic investors.

Jet has studied and worked in 4 countries – Philippines, France, Singapore, UK – and has degrees in science, engineering, and business. He has an MBA from INSEAD, an MS in Chemical Engineering from De La Salle University, and a BS in Chemistry from University of the Philippines. He also taught chemistry at the two universities from 2013-2016.