Meet the LG NOVA Team

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Jinhwan (Jin) An has been a core member of LG Electronics product management and new business development teams for the last 12 years, working for LG Business Solutions and Home Entertainment in the HQ office in Seoul, Korea. He currently is a member of the LG NOVA Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) team working on new business development with startups.    

Before joining the LG NOVA team and while working at LG Business Solutions, Jinhwan led product strategy and product planning for large format commercial displays. In this role, he was responsible for LG’s direct-view LED product strategy and was a leading member of the team that launched the world’s largest LED cinema screen (2020) and LG’s LED display for movie theatres. Through his experience with LG Business Solutions, Jinhwan has worked with many partners, including Walt Disney Studios, Warner Brothers, Universal Pictures, Dolby Laboratories, Cisco Systems, Cinemark, Planar, IMAX, Verizon, SiliconCore and Boeing.    

At LG Home Entertainment, Jinhwan worked on new business planning, focusing on digital signage, TV, set-top/media box, tablet, laptop and smart home device product lines.    

Prior to LG, Jinhwan served as a system engineer and a product marketing manager at Cisco Systems Korea, where he worked on advanced technology solutions. At Cisco, he led joint-marketing initiatives and global programs for the Korean market with partners such as EMC, NetApp, VMware, HP, IBM, and Intel.     

Jinhwan holds a Bachelor in Business Administration and a minor in Broadcasting and Journalism from Sogang University in Seoul, Korea. He is a wine enthusiast with a particular affinity for California wines. Jinhwan lives in the Bay Area with his wife and dogs. 

William Barkis, PhD, is Head of Grand Challenges and Ecosystem Development at LG NOVA, where he is focused on working directly with startups to drive the creation of transformative new businesses for LG.  Formerly, he led corporate strategy and innovation programs at Orange, directed two open innovation programs at Mozilla and served at the National Science Foundation where he collaborated with the White House on advanced computer science topics. Will holds a PhD in Neurosciences from UCSD and a BS with Honors in interdisciplinary computer science (Symbolic Systems) from Stanford.

Winston Choe is an entrepreneur, mentor and global tech executive with expertise in business, corporate and venture-development in Mobility, IoT, BigData, and Security. He recently joined LG as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) and Innovation Business Development Director at LG NOVA.

Winston has over 20 years of experience and a track-record working with startups to grow from seed to exit, working on corporate-development to engage startups through commercialization, investment, acquisition, and doing venture-development with startups at Accelerators based in Silicon Valley.

He was a Founding EIR at PlugandPlayTechCenter, a Venture Accelerator with 30000+ startups, 300+ VCs, 500+ corporate-partners, accelerator-programs in 20 industries, investment-portfolio including 14 unicorns, and global-operations across 30+ sites. Winston co-founded TechGrowthVentures, an accelerator for US-Asia businesses, where he built a portfolio of 20 companies, based on cross-border synergies for supply-chain, joint-development, market-entry, investment. He also worked with governments in South-Asia to establish Accelerator-programs leveraging their local ecosystems with a bridge to Silicon Valley. Winston was also the VP Programs and Partnerships at ReadWrite Labs, the world’s first IoT Accelerator, where he established programs for 100+ startups and developed corporate-partnerships for US-China businesses. Among the wide portfolio of startups that he has worked on, 3 of them in healthcare telepresence, mobile security and mobile advertising, were acquired for $1B+.

Previously, Winston was Senior Director of Business Development at Intel, where he established a team for strategic-deals in the Client Computing Group, their largest division with revenues of $40B. He worked with startups in Wireless Charging and Immersive Vision through commercial-licensing, and investments through Intel Capital.

He was also Senior Director of Business Development in Hewlett-Packard, where he managed a team for strategic-partnerships and new market-development for the Mobile division, and led commercial-deals with Google, Microsoft and acquisition of a Mobile Device Management startup.

Winston holds a Bachelor of Math degree from the University of Waterloo, Canada, majoring in Computer Science and Operations Research. He started his career in R&D at Bell-Northern Research in Canada and Institute of Systems Science in Singapore, and subsequently completed a High-Tech Executive Management program at Stanford.

He is an avid outdoorsman who has completed overlanding trips across North America, with a passion for cooking and playing tennis.

Josh Danielson has built and launched first-of-its-kind AI products at global enterprises like Sage and Coupa. As founder and CEO of a gig-economy startup empowering 1,000+ worker-owners he bootstrapped, his work helped spark the global platform cooperativism movement. He also led a $1B P&L for Expedia’s UK & Ireland airline business. In addition to an undergraduate business degree, an MBA from top-ranked IESE Business School, he’s obtained a specialization in Machine Learning from University of Washington and completed coursework in multiple programming languages.

Maria Dayton is a successful social entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in management and award-winning project development globally. She has a proven track record of creating innovative projects with a multitude of stakeholders and providing disruptive technology solutions to entrepreneurs and civil society groups.

Maria received the 2019 Service to the Citizen Award for working across 24 U.S. agencies to create the first “Voice of the Citizen” campaign and public-facing dashboards on “citizen experience” for the US government.

She founded of Transterra Media - an innovative online marketplace that connects thousands of video producers across 124 countries with large media outlets and brands. Responsible for the establishment of a patented omnichannel customer experience process, IT systems, and media development projects. Honors by: US State Department, Red Herring, Wamda, The Dublin Web Summit, and Mashables as a Top 25 Startup, Top 100 Global Startup, and Top 100 Asian Startup. (8000 video stories and 280 content buyers = billions reached with 70% of profits returning to local producers)

She has developed, funded, and managed over 20 major development projects on 4 continents ($140mil) with a variety of stakeholders including international organizations, governments, civil society, and the private sector.

Maria has extensive experience building public/private partnerships and various online networks in difficult environments - as evidenced by the successful founding and incorporation of the first two NGO coalitions in the Arabian Gulf / GCC.

She is a founding member of impact fund aggregator - “ProsParity” The platform uses fin-tech and immersive storytelling to develop new ways of funding impact-based organizations on the ground - a critical component in successful sustainable development efforts.

She has also created online businesses and advocacy tools for female entrepreneurs in cooperation with Vital Voices Global Partnership, MEPI, Exxon Mobile, and Pearson Learning.

Joshua Di Frances is the head of incubation at LG NOVA and a cofounder of U.S Digital Corps.

He previously served as Senior Advisor for Technology Innovation and New Ventures to the Director / Commissioner of the Technology Transformation Services at GSA. He is also passionate about breaking down barriers to entrepreneurship in healthcare and translating technology into commercial healthcare products.

In his spare time, he enjoys being outdoors (running, hiking, biking, skiing, etc.), reading, cooking, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Jami Diaz, Director, Ecosystem Community & Startup Experience has over 15 years of experience building online communities for tech giants including Intuit, PayPal, eBay and Yahoo.  She’s been responsible for enhancing the customer experience to foster an ongoing, value-driven relationship between the company and its customers, building communities of connection, inspiration, loyalty, and evangelism. Passionate about forging strong reciprocal relationships and representing the voice of the community internally, Jami is skilled at amplifying customer success stories and thought leadership as well as translating customer needs into tailored products and features.

A true community pioneer, Jami has been focused on community initiatives long before it was popularized and when it was still a nascent space. Prior to her current role, Jami was Senior Practice Director, Community at Influtive where she developed and defined methodologies and best practices to help Influitive customers design, build, and launch thriving, deeply engaged advocacy and community programs. Before that she was Senior Community Manager at Intuit where she was instrumental in building Mint.com’s support community which was awarded a Forrester Groundswell Award.

Jami is a published author and cultural anthropologist.  This foundation serves as the basis in building content rich customer-centric communities that drive innovation, success and evangelism. 

Yoon Kie ‘Bobby’ Hong is a senior professional focused on Corporate & Business Development at LG NOVA, where he drives strategic initiatives and partnerships.

While exploring a wide range of sectors, Bobby is currently focusing on Cleantech and AI — areas with the potential not only to accelerate innovation, but also to drive sustainable growth and make a positive impact on the communities we serve, beyond LG’s own business expansion.

 

Prior to joining LG NOVA, he held key roles at LG Corp., the holding company of LG Group, where he worked on unlocking synergies across LG’s global businesses and developing collaborations with external partners. He also brings a strong foundation in portfolio management, M&A, and JV investments, complemented by hands-on experience in engineering and sales during his earlier roles at LG Electronics.

 

Bobby holds a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a master’s in Corporate Economics from Yonsei University(South Korea), as well as an MBA from London Business School(UK).

Michael is the Strategic Partnership Manager, a role to which he brings years of business development values and meaningful networks from various industries to LG worldwide. Prior to joining LG, he served as Director of Business Development and consultant at multiple startups specializing in gaming, Virtual Reality (VR), drone technology, and 3D animation. Michael started his business development career at the Korea Trade-Investment Agency (KOTRA), an arm of the Korean government, in Los Angeles.

Ramkumar Krishnan (Ram) is currently the head of cleantech incubation for LG NOVA and LG Electronics. Ram leads the efforts to launch new and disruptive business ventures in Cleantech areas including energy, environment and sustainability. Ram is an entrepreneur and a driven climate and sustainability leader, with over 20 years of industry leading expertise in developing new technologies and products, program management, and a track record of delivering new business lines globally through leading cross functional teams. Ram's education, leadership and expertise span wide areas of cleantech including renewable energy generation, storage, and conversion technologies, smart systems and energy management solutions.

Prior to joining  LG NOVA, Ram led the business development and go-to-market strategy for BattGenie (as acting CMO), a BMS software tech spinout from University of Washington, developing AI and physics based models to improve charging time and performance of Lithium-ion batteries. Ram has also served as CTO of BrightNight, a renewable IPP and led the development of PowerAlpha, a single, integrated platform for designing, optimizing, and operating hybrid renewable power plants that leverages the power of AI. At BrightNight, Ram helped build a green hydrogen business line with a sales pipeline of over a GW of renewable power projects. Prior to BrightNight, Ram was part of the founding team of Fluidic Energy (also, NantEnergy) and as president/CTO, helped launch the world’s first rechargeable and long-duration metal-air energy storage technology as well as hybrid energy storage products combining Li-ion with long duration energy storage solutions. 

Ram’s technical skills and experience include systems engineering and integration of thermal, mechanical, electronics and software systems. He also brings experience in raising capital, forming strategic partnerships and making acquisitions in the clean energy space. Before joining NantEnergy, Ram was one of the technical leads at the Motorola Energy Labs developing portable fuel cells, solid state batteries and dye-sensitized solar cells.

Ram has served as advisory board member of multiple cleantech startups and was also a board member of the California Energy Storage Association. Ram has been recognized as one of the “Top 50 Leaders in Energy Storage and Microgrids” by India Energy Storage Association in 2017. His leadership has helped to receive numerous awards including 2015 Global Cleantech 100, 2013 IEEE Small Company of the Year, and Bloomberg New Energy Finance “New Energy Pioneers 2017”.

Ram holds a Ph.D in Materials Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of Florida.

Younghoon (Paul) Ma has been at LG Electronics and for LG Holding Company since 2008. In his latest role, as a member of the LG NOVA team, Mr. Ma manages LG’s relationship with strategic partners to expand LG’s business offerings in new and emerging markets.  

Prior to LG NOVA, Younghoon served as Senior Manager of Corporate Business Strategy with LG Holding Company in the HQ office in Seoul, Korea. In that role, he was responsible for developing comprehensive strategic plans to help LG diversify and expand its product portfolio. Prior to that role, Younghoon was a product planning manager for smartphones.    

Before coming to LG, Younghoon worked as a key account manager for OEM partnerships at Gameloft Korea. In this role, he helped Gameloft Korea extend its footprint in Korea, working to build relationships with key smartphone OEMs, such as Samsung, LG and Motorola.   

Younghoon holds a Bachelor in Information and Computer Engineering from AJOU University in South Korea and a Diploma in Information and Technology from Martin College.  

Jay Park is a life adventurer who takes risks and tries new methods to make people happier.

Jay is the strategy and operations manager at LG NOVA. In his role, Jay initiates operational programs to improve efficiency and connect internal dots across LG NOVA’s challenge, incubation, corporate development, strategic partnerships, and ecosystem. Jay started his career at an international trading company as a business developer in South Korea. He managed a renewable energy business portfolio and ensured the successful execution of more than 100 solar energy projects. This experience broadened his business horizons from Korea to the world, leading him to the US in 2019. Jay was also a host & producer of the MBAsians podcast, which provided various perspectives on MBA programs by having diverse guest speakers.

Jay holds an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in English Literature from Yonsei University in South Korea.

Since joining LG Electronics in 2005 as a project manager in the MC(Mobile Communication) R&D Planning Team, I have built a strong career leading innovation and driving business success.

Based on my experience as a project manager, I served as the product manager for four premium smartphones—LG Optimus One, G3, V10, and G6—achieving global sales of over 15 million units. I played a key role throughout the product lifecycle, from concept development to market launch, while establishing strategic partnerships with major mobile operators and tech leaders. I was honored with three LG Electronics Awards for team excellence and contributed to future product innovation through research on emerging technologies and developing new product concepts.

Just before joining LG NOVA, I led new business development initiatives at LG Electronics, focusing on the incubation and commercialization of future growth areas. One key project was developing a data-driven pet healthcare platform, along with building strategic partnerships with many companies across the industry.

Currently, as the Team Lead of the Planning Team at LG NOVA, I am dedicated to formulating effective strategies and optimizing processes to enhance overall organizational productivity. My focus is on building a strong operational foundation that supports LG NOVA’s business success and contributes to the success of new ventures, helping to create LG Electronics' future new businesses.

Shilpa Prasad is an experienced leader in the startup ecosystem with a strong passion for entrepreneurship & corporate startup engagement/innovation. As an Entrepreneur in Residence at YouNoodle Inc, she was instrumental in driving innovation for various open innovation projects across corporations, governments & accelerators & establishing new partnerships across the global startup ecosystem.

A keen interest for creating real value within corporate startup ecosystems & enthusiasm for new innovations, she brings her global experience in corporate-startup strategy to LG NOVA.

Linda Quach heads up marketing and PR for LG NOVA. In this role, she leads marketing and engagement programs with startups; and is responsible for driving awareness of the LG NOVA program within the startup community.  Linda joined LG in June 2021, from Immersion, a haptics company, where she was the director of marketing programs. Prior to that, she was at Rovi Corp (now Tivo).  Based in Silicon Valley, Linda has been in marketing and PR for technology for 20+ years, working to help companies, large and small, share their story. 

Ganesh Rao is an accomplished executive with extensive experience in governance, business creation, and scaling global organizations. As Director of Governance for LG NOVA Venture Studio, Ganesh enables the development and launch of innovative businesses for LG NOVA, leveraging his expertise in fostering mission-driven cultures and building high-performing leadership teams to achieve sustainable growth and profitability.

 

Previously, Ganesh served as Managing Director (Geschäftsführer) of DQS Holding GmbH, a global management systems certification body with operations spanning over 50 countries and 17 subsidiaries. In this role, he provided strategic oversight as a Board Member in key markets including the USA, UK, India, South Korea, and Taiwan. As Global Director of Enterprise & Advisory for a $600M ARR business, Ganesh spearheaded the creation of new ventures in supply chain SaaS and integrated cutting-edge AI/ML/NLP solutions for Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions—reinforcing his commitment to sustainability innovation.

 

Ganesh’s deep expertise spans sustainability, cybersecurity, and product safety risk management. He has collaborated with global OEMs and supply chains across industries such as automotive, chemical, ICT, electrical, aerospace, and medical sectors to design and implement effective organizational systems that drive compliance and operational excellence.

 

In addition to his executive roles, Ganesh has demonstrated strong governance capabilities through his board leadership. He served as Board Director, Secretary & Treasurer, and Chairman of the Finance & Audit Committee for the U.S. Green Building Council’s GBCI. Currently, he contributes as a Board Member for the University of North Texas (UNT) College of Engineering Advisory Committee (Mechanical) and as a member of the U.S. National Technical Advisory Group for ISO TC 207 on Environmental Management.

 

Ganesh’s proven track record in strategic leadership, global governance, and sustainable business innovation makes him an invaluable asset to boards seeking visionary leaders who can drive growth while navigating complex challenges.

 

When not advancing organizational success, Ganesh enjoys meditation, hiking, traveling, cooking, reading, and wine tasting—pursuits that reflect his balanced approach to life and leadership.

Sokwoo Rhee is Corporate Executive Vice President for Innovation at LG Electronics and Head of LG NOVA, a new Silicon Valley-based innovation center. He leads LG Electronics’ global innovation projects, new business creation, strategic partnerships, and ecosystem development. Prior to joining LG, Sokwoo served as Associate Director for Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) Innovation at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce, covering innovation programs for Internet of Things (IoT) and Smart Cities. He managed the Global City Teams Challenge (GCTC), a U.S. federal government program to develop a global ecosystem of major business and technology stakeholders to create replicable and scalable IoT/smart city projects. Sokwoo previously served as a Presidential Innovation Fellow on CPS, a program by the White House. During his tenure, he co-led the SmartAmerica Challenge, which brought together IoT technologies and organizations across the nation to demonstrate how they can collaborate to create technology-based projects with a focus on socio-economic benefits.

Prior to joining the U.S, government, Sokwoo was a co-founder and CTO of Millennial Net, Inc., one of the first organizations to successfully commercialize low-power wireless mesh/sensor networks and IoT technologies from academia. He also worked on wireless medical sensors as a research associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His work and achievements have been widely recognized and he has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the MIT Technology Review’s “Top Innovators under 35.” Dr. Rhee received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Curtis Sasaki has over 30 years in Silicon Valley and is currently a Senior Advisor to LG NOVA as well as several startups developing hardware, software and services. He was most recently at Samsung Electronics as VP of Ecosystems, Marketing and Communications, General Manager of IoT, and SVP of Media Solutions Center of America where he was responsible for partnerships, developer programs, and development of innovative new services. Prior to Samsung, Curtis held executive positions at RIM, Sun Microsystems where he was responsible for Java in consumer devices, managing Sun’s thin client solutions, and data centers. Prior to Sun, Curtis managed product management at General Magic, NeXT, and Apple. He has appeared at a number of prestigious conferences as a keynote/invited speaker including CES, JavaOne Conference, Blackberry Developers Conference, Samsung Developer Conference and Apple Developer Conferences. He is the recipient of more than 8 patents for innovative technologies.

Limor Schafman is the Director of Strategy at LG NOVA, a team within LG Electronics dedicated to working with the startup and entrepreneurial community to innovate and create impactful technologies that will lead LG, its partners, and the world into the future. She also heads the Cleantech/Climatech Task Force which develops ventures in this market sector.

In her role, she leads strategy development and cross-team collaboration for incubation, corporate development, strategic partnerships, ecosystem, engagement and fund activities. This global program works with startups and entrepreneurs to innovate for the future.

Prior to joining LG, Limor co-founded and lead the Telecommunication Industry Association’s Smart Buildings Program, which convened commercial real estate and information, and communication technology experts to develop its TIA-UL smart building benchmark and certification, Spire™. As founder of KeystoneTech Group, Limor provided market strategy and business development consulting services to startups in PropTech, telecom/mobile and other sectors. She co-led the National Institute of Standards and Technology–Global City Teams Challenge Smart Buildings SuperCluster and co-chaired the Smart Buildings & Urban Design group of the Greater Washington Board of Trade, Smart Regions Initiative.

Limor has a deep understanding of the digital and digitized environment, stemming from her work in IoT, mobile and communications infrastructure, theme park, video game, and other technology sectors, and her experience as an international corporate attorney. She has led technology-oriented organizations, serving as the President of the World Future Society DC Chapter and co-founder and head of Games Gateway, a serious games meetup. Limor is also an international speaker and moderator and has served as a show host for several online media outlets.

Katarina is a graduate of the Ivey Business School in Canada. She brings extensive experience in strategy and business transformation from her roles at Strategy& and Rogers Communications, where she led initiatives that delivered significant growth, operational efficiency, and value creation. With expertise spanning telecom, transportation, retail, and digital health, she is passionate about bridging technology and business to drive innovation, create strategic value, and deliver impactful solutions through collaborative approaches and creative problem-solving.

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Don serves as the Director of Strategic Partnerships within the LG NOVA team, based in Santa Clara, California. In this capacity, he leads a team responsible for cultivating relationships with both established and emerging partners. Their focus is on identifying and engaging with entities possessing technologies and platforms of significant relevance to LG's present and future product portfolio.

A seasoned professional with three decades of experience in Silicon Valley, Don's career encompasses a diverse range of technology sectors including data storage networking, consumer electronics, Augmented/Virtual Reality, and IoT Smart Home solutions. His professional background includes roles in Systems Engineering, Product Marketing, Partner Management, and Business Development.

Don possesses first hand international experience, having lived and worked in Japan on two occasions. He has worked primarily for companies operating between the U.S. and Asia, including Olympus, Ricoh, Hitachi, Brocade, Veritas/Symantec, Skype, and Samsung.

Don also represents LG's interests as a Board Member for the Connectivity Standards Alliance, the industry organization responsible for the development of the Zigbee and Matter smart home standards.