Having noticed how most entrepreneurs tend to pander to the needs of the privileged class, Shashank Dixit has made it his mission to empower SMEs through his cloud-based software provider Deskera, where he is CEO. “As part of the minority community in Singapore, I understand the pain that small businesses go through and empathise with their struggles,” he says. His efforts have not gone unnoticed. Deskera has since earned the 2016 Vanguard award for innovation at the Asia Enterprise Brand Awards, was selected as one of the Red Herring 100 Asia Winners and made it to the Top 20 Finance Technology Solution Providers by CIO Advisor. The technopreneur continues to work towards “ensuring equal rights for all, whether it’s gender equality or ensuring people of different ethnicities have equal opportunity”.