The Shanghai-based co-founder and Senior Vice-President, Asia Pacific of intellectual-property intelligence firm PatSnap, Guan Dian develops its presence as a patent-search provider and analyst in China. One who believes in the value of building meaningful relationships over anything else, Guan has been credited for bringing in the company’s first Chinese clients.

PatSnap was founded in 2007, and today has amassed an impressive pool of international investments, such as Sequoia Capital China, Shunwei Capital and SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Its clients include heavyweights such as NASA, IBM, PwC, Ferrari, Vodafone, China Mobile, A*STAR, Starbucks and Lego. In March 2021, the unicorn company reached a valuation topping US$1 billion following its US$300 miliion Series E round.

Guan, who studied at Stanford University and the University of Singapore (NUS), was formerly an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston and a software engineer at MooWee, San Francisco, which provides video-application solutions.

She received the NUS Outstanding Young Alumni Award in 2019.