Wade Institute of Entrepreneurship is delighted to announce the appointment of its inaugural Advisory Board, a group of accomplished entrepreneurs, investors, operators and ecosystem leaders united by a shared commitment to the next chapter of Wade Institute.

The Advisory Board will work alongside Wade Managing Director, Jessica Christiansen-Franks and Executive Director Engagement & Innovation, Kim Howells to sharpen strategic priorities, open doors into national and international ecosystems, and steward Wade’s path to expanding its impact across the Asia Pacific.

Ed Hooper, Chair, Wade Institute Advisory Board, said:

“Chairing this inaugural Board is a real privilege. The mix of founders, investors and operators around the table is exactly what Wade needs to keep building one of the most exciting innovation programs in the country.”

Dr Areti Metuamate, Master and Head of Ormond College, said:

“Ormond College has long been a place where Australia’s future leaders are shaped, and Wade Institute is a vital extension of that mission. The Advisory Board brings together exceptional experience and generosity in service of Wade’s next chapter, I’m grateful to each member for the time and judgement they’re contributing.”

We thank each member for the generosity of their time and the depth of their experience, and we look forward to sharing the work of the Board over the year ahead.

Chair

Ed Hooper (OC 2004), Co-Founder and CEO, GXE; Cardinia Ventures

Ed is the Co-founder and CEO of GXE, an AI powered platform for fund administration. Prior to this he co-founded and led Omny Studio, a venture funded audio management SaaS tool suite that exited to Triton Digital in 2019. He founded Cardinia Ventures, an early-stage venture fund with investments including Chronosphere ($5b exit to Palo Alto Networks), Select Star (exit to Snowflake), Cadmus, and Firmable. In 2012 he was awarded an entrepreneurial fellowship by the Faculty of Engineering as part of the Melbourne Accelerator Program. Bachelor of Information Systems (Melbourne); SIGM, Stanford GSB. Ormond College alumnus.

Members

Claire Thompson (OC 2007), Partner and Co-head of Venture and Growth Capital (Australia), Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer

Claire is Co-head of Venture and Growth Capital (Australia) at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer and an experienced M&A lawyer. She acts for both founders and investors across early-stage funding rounds (pre-seed to Series C and beyond), private M&A including carve-outs and competitive sale processes, and public M&A including takeover bids and schemes of arrangement. Claire is an Ormond College and Wade VC Catalyst alumna.

Lynne Thornton, Co-Founder and Director, Groundfloor and Lockerpoint

Lynne is a co-founder and director of Groundfloor, a smart parcel locker system across ANZ backed by Taronga Ventures. She has co-founded two technology companies and a financial services firm, including global equities boutique Aubrey Capital Management, and her investment experience spans listed equities, startups, private companies and a NASDAQ-listed SPAC. Lynne holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge. She has been an Ormond parent.

Kwanghui Lim, Associate Professor, Melbourne Business School

Kwanghui is Associate Professor at Melbourne Business School, where he served as Associate Dean (Teaching and Learning) until 2026. He holds a Ph.D. in management from the MIT Sloan School and has published widely on strategy and innovation. Kwang created the MBS Innovation Bootcamp, co-founded BioDesign Melbourne, and designed the capstone course for the Master of Entrepreneurship at the University of Melbourne (Wade Institute).

Madeleine Hanger Grummet, Entrepreneur, investor, journalist and author

Madeleine is an award-winning entrepreneur, startup investor, ABC journalist and author. She founded edtech startups Future Amp and girledworld, invests and mentors with Flying Fox Ventures, Archangel Ventures, Startmate and Blackbird Giants, and is a former Telstra Innovation Ecosystem Lead. Mads holds a Master of Journalism from Monash and Master of Entrepreneurship at the University of Melbourne (Wade Institute). She is also a Wade VC Catalyst alumna.

Katherine Abrat (OC 1992), Chief Operating Officer, Arkkan Capital Management

Katherine is Chief Operating Officer of Arkkan Capital, an Asia Pacific credit-focused alternative asset manager with over US$1b under management. She previously led Goldman Sachs’ Asia Pacific prime services consulting team. Katherine is a Director (Global Council) of the Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and Ormond College alumna.

Frank Rajakulendran, Entrepreneur, investor and Executive Chairman

Frank co-founded a Melbourne-headquartered digital technology services firm with offshore capabilities in India, growing it into the Deloitte Tech Fast 50 Australia (2020, 2021) and CRN Fast 50 Australia (2021) before exiting to a US-based global IT consulting company in 2024. He is co-founder and Executive Chairman of an early-stage technology startup focused on AI, cybersecurity, cloud and workflow capabilities, and oversees a family office portfolio across Australia. Previously held leadership positions at Telstra and Cognizant. Frank is also an Ormond College parent.

Observers

Jessica Christiansen-Franks, Managing Director Wade Institute

Kim Howells, Executive Director Engagement & Innovation, Ormond College