On the shortlist of the best

On the shortlist of the best

This is a list of extraordinary groundbreakers. They have founded new companies where none or few existed before or became venture capitalists when the tech start-up industry was still young.

The women form a diverse group in terms of experience, nationality and background. They were identified in consultation with industry players based on their pioneering spirit, courage and creativity.

1. Pranoti Nagarkar Israni

32, married with one child

Founder, Zimplistic; founded in 2007. It built the world's first automatic chappati maker.

"In the early years, I hired people who couldn't get jobs elsewhere. My first hire was a polytechnic engineering graduate. He didn't have good grades. But he had the right skills and attitude. I wasn't wrong; he contributed to our growth."

My wish: "To all the young girls who want to do something unique: Travel and see the world; be adventurous. It will add to your world experience."

Chief executive of NUS Enterprise Lily Chan comments: "Through Rotimatic, Pranoti is creating a 'world's first' product with the potential of making a global impact. She is also proving that tech start-ups with new hardware products can be successful."

2. Violet Lim

34, married with two children

Matchmaker and co-founder of matchmaking agency Lunch Actually, started in 2004.

"The general perception is that only people who are sad, desperate and ugly need help to find love. That's made me more determined to make the business work. It definitely was scary leaving my corporate job with a multinational bank. But I thought, if I failed, I could always go back to a job, get more experience, and start again."

My wish: "It's important for women to pursue their dreams."

Ian and Vanessa (dating with plans to marry) comment on lunchactually.com: "LunchActually staff are nice and passionate. They do not take it as only a job, but one can really feel that they try their very best to bring together potential matches."

3. Roshni Mahtani

31, married

Founder and chief executive, Tickled Media - online publisher of theAsian parent.com, Kidlander.com and Pregnant.sg.

"In my early days as an entrepreneur, I experienced unwanted and overt advances from an employee. I asked male entrepreneurs but they couldn't relate to my problem. It's one of the reasons I started a women entrepreneur network so that women can ask other women how to handle issues like this."My wish: "We are seeing not just a lack of female founders, but also a lack of female CEOs in the Asia-Pacific region."

Mr Puneet Pushkarna, chairman, The Indus Entrepreneur, Singapore Chapter, comments: "As an entrepreneur, you are competing for mindspace and if you do not have the ability to succinctly present your idea and resonate with your audience, you tend to get lost in the crowd. Commonsense stuff, but something that Roshni epitomises."

4. Charina Widjaja

29, married with one child

Co-founder, Digital Fashion Week (DFW), an annual designer showcase in Singapore promoting local fashion designers via catwalks and over the Internet.

"I respect Victoria Beckham as an entrepreneur. While most celebrities have not been able to penetrate the fashion world, she has successfully developed a luxury fashion brand. Victoria's persistence despite naysayers allowed her to pursue her dream."

My wish: "I hope my company will expand quickly in Asia. We're in Bangkok this year. We want to expand to Beijing and Jakarta soon." Merchandiser Joy Kam of local fashion house Al and Alicia comments: "Digital Fashion Week helped us reach a global audience. We took part in DFW last year and we saw increased traffic on our webstore and website."

5. Kersie Koh

41, married with three children

Co-founder, Clozette, an online social networking and fashion portal started in 2011.

"I would never want my daughter to grow up wishing I had stayed home instead of starting a business. I try to show her that a hard-working mother can be a great mum and friend too, and share how to be resourceful and creative in problem-solving."

My wish: "I think the ability to execute a plan or dream is the most rewarding experience I wish for my girls."

Founder Yeo Shuyi of high-end European fashion site, Laprendo, comments: "Kersie keeps the site fresh with new material to ensure Clozette is always on top! She has done a great job!"

6. Yong Soo Ping

47, married with three children

Executive director, venture capital firm Walden International Singapore.

"In any start-up, the founding team makes the difference because the highest failure rate comes from founders' disputes. So we look for people who've worked together or known one another for years."

My wish: "Help entrepreneurs turn a good idea into a successful and sustainable business."

Co-founder Oliver Tan of visual recognition start-up Visenze comments: "Soo Ping has an eye for detail. As founders, we're big-picture thinkers and tend to think less about the details. But she made us pause, to think about those details so that we're better prepared."

7. Chan Li Han

35, single

Co-founder and chief executive, Dyna-Optics; founded in 2012. It developed lenses to turn the digital zoom on cellphones to optical zoom.

"Women can do anything. But when you're dealing with male customers in countries like South Korea, Japan and China, entertaining can be dicey. So instead of strip bars and karaoke joints, I opted for billiards - still informal, quite edgy and relaxing."

My wish: "Dyna-Optics lenses used in all mobile phones!"

Spring Singapore executive director Edwin Chow comments: "Li Han is a dynamo and articulate. She knows the ins and outs of the business and technology."

8. Audrey Tan

26, single

Co-founder of Playmoolah; founded in 2010 to teach young people financial skills via a virtual game.

"I've seen how excessive debt, mismanagement or lack of management of money affect relationships and people's minds. There's an inherent procrastination among people to acquire financial literacy. I want to be able to help them cultivate sound habits in their personal and family finance."

My wish: "I wish people would talk about money challenges openly. There seems to be a cultural stigma regarding speaking about money openly, but if we can speak openly, we can have open dialogues and find positive ways to cope with money challenges."

Ms Ng Li Lian, head of segment management, personal banking, OCBC Bank, comments: "OCBC Mighty Savers Programme aims to teach simple money management skills to children. Playmoolah has helped us do that in a fun and engaging manner that will allow children to have the right values about money."

9. Monica Tsai

38, married with two childrenInvestment director, venture capital firm Innov8.

"Having women on the founding team adds credibility and perspectives to the start-ups when it comes to addressing the market needs. As we all know, men are from Mars, and women are from Venus."

My wish: "I would like to see women entrepreneurs gain more recognition for their contributions to the start-up ecosystem and for them to actively mentor upcoming women entrepreneurs."

Founder of Bubble Motion Thomas Clayton comments: "Monica is the kind of roll-up-your-sleeves, super pragmatic and helpful venture capitalist that every entrepreneur wishes he had on his side."

10. Goh Yi Ping

32, single

Co-founder with her brother of AllDealsAsia, an e-commerce shopping aggregator started in 2010.

"When I was eight, I helped my parents run their roasted meat food stall. The business was really tough, and eventually they gave up because the long hours affected their health. I want to continue my parents' journey and build a successful business out of our humble family background so as to inspire others to pursue their dreams."

My wish: "I never had a female mentor; it would be beneficial to hear a female mentor's point of view and how she manages all the demands in her life."

Co-founder of deals analysis portal AllDealsLeak Jason Lee comments: "AllDealsAsia's extensive selection of products is its strength. Given that the e-commerce market is very competitive, evolving into a search and aggregation model is a good strategy."

11. Lim Qing Ru

30, single

Co-founder of Zopim, a live online customer chat service acquired by US customer support firm Zendesk in December last year for a reported US$29.8 million (S$37 million).

"You have to stay with your problem until it's fixed but when the solution is nowhere in sight, you start feeling like a failure. There were days that got really dark when I almost gave up on myself. It's important to divorce emotions from problems and not let failures get you down."

My wish: "I feared that at the end of my life, I would have regrets. So I try to do something that can make a difference in the world." Co-founder Darius Cheung of online house rental portal 99.co comments: "Qing Ru is a go-getter. Very loyal and dedicated to the start-up team. When Zopim needed an office in the Philippines, she volunteered to go there, sacrificing her time with her family, for the business."

12. Huang Shao Ning

39, married with four children

Co-founder of jobs portal JobsCentral, which was acquired by US firm CareerBuilder for an undisclosed sum in 2011.

"Young ladies should learn to develop their own ideas and be independent. Definitely not to become a feminist, but to be responsible, self-reliant and have self-respect. Dare to live your dreams; do not fear failure. All these attributes are taught to boys. I do not understand why many girls aren't taught the same set of values, but instead are encouraged to become parasites, depending on men to provide a future for them."

My wish: "Women tend to doubt themselves. We need to encourage them to take risks and be more willing to start their own business."

Managing partner Amit Anand of local venture capital firm Jungle Ventures comments: "Having a co-founder like Shao Ning is really good. She is extremely detailed and goal-oriented but also very consicous of the people aspects of building a business. Hard to get those traits in a single professional. Being a great mother has also made Shao Ning an even greater person to work with.

13. Nicole Seah

35, married with one child

Founder and alchemist of Rewardz, a service offering corporate perks to employers.

"Four months into my start-up, I became pregnant. Thoughts like no coverage for maternity, insurance, money for the pregnancy checks and my baby and hospitalisation all came to mind. But two years on, my schedule is now more flexible. I am in control. It is a liberating feeling after years of working in a corporate world."

My wish: I wish for Rewardz to become a go-to platform for all corporate benefits globally."

Co-founder Roger Egan of e-grocer store Redmart comments: "We've been a partner with Rewardz for over a year. It has been a steady source of good customers."

14. Rosemary Tan

44, married

Founder, Veredus Laboratories, which provides lab-on-a-chip disease diagnostic kits.

"I've always dreamt of starting my own start-up as I was influenced by my businessman father. I like to march to the beat of my own drum - I want to be able to manage my time, dictate the workplace environment and achieve my own goal of providing the best diagnostic tool for disease at the point of need."

My wish: "I hope to see more collaboration between start-ups and multinational corporations. Smaller and agile companies with innovative ideas can leverage the experience and scale of larger firms to create more value for customers."

Chief operating officer Cristiano Carioni of Brazilian firm BioAmerica, comments: "The Veredus technology for disease detection like anthrax and different types of plague is already used in high-profile events like Fifa World Cup 2014. We hope we can collaborate with Veredus to do the same for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil."

15. Grace Sai

30, single

Co-founder of The Hub, a co-working and event organisation that supports social entrepreneurship.

"Women are just better at sensing human moods, the dynamics in a room or the undercurrents in negotiations. Men are more rational while women are more intuitive which I feel is invaluable in business, relationships and life."

My wish: "Money is important, but I would like success to be measured by what we've done to make the world a better place."

Chief mentor Jayesh Parekh of The Hub comments: "Grace has courage and focus. She has built a community of about 500 social entrepreneurs who are creating an impact on society, from teaching financial literacy to kids to telling stories to inspire change."

16. Carmen Yuen

40s, married with four children

Investment director, venture capital firm Vertex Management Holdings.

"Women make great venture capitalists. You need three things: humility, technical knowledge and curiosity. Humility to listen to and to encourage entrepreneurs. Technical knowledge so that you understand the high-tech industry, and curiosity to learn from others." My wish: "A day dedicated to businesses founded by women, where women founders and their loved ones, families and customers gather to recognise their important roles in growing and sustaining businesses."

Founder Jeffrey Tiong of intellectual property management start-up Patsnap comments: "Within a few months, Carmen helped to introduce several potential leads to us, some of whom have become our clients. She has also used her network to help us recruit key people for our team."



This article was first published on July 13, 2014.
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