From e-commerce platforms to transportation companies, here are the women entrepreneurs in Singapore you need to be keeping an eye on
Singapore’s ability to attract and support high-achieving women entrepreneurs is falling behind as other major cities make strides forward, according to a recent study by technology giant Dell. Ranked eight out of 50 countries worldwide in 2017, Singapore now lies in 21st place, but is still one of the best performing cities in Asia.
Factors that impacted Singapore’s ability to compete as a top choice for women entrepreneurs include its high cost of living, lack of accelerators, relatively few female board members and lower press coverage of successful women in business compared to previous years.
However, Singapore is far from alone. According to Gené Teare, a researcher for business information platform Crunchbase, “Five percent of venture dollars globally have gone to female-founded teams in the last five years. In contrast, male founders have raised 86 percent of venture dollars. Male and female co-founded teams have raised 9 percent of venture dollars.”
Despite there being a long way to go until there’s gender parity in entrepreneurship, Singapore is still home to a collection of women who are helping to close that gap. Here are five women entrepreneurs from the Gen.T List you need to know in Singapore.
See also: 10 Women Entrepreneurs You Need To Know In Hong Kong
Tan Hooi Ling
Tan Hooi Ling co-founded Singapore-based transportation company Grab with fellow Gen.T honouree Anthony Tan in 2012. Fast-forward seven years and they’ve expanded across 11 countries, creating jobs for millions of drivers along the way. The Harvard graduate says her motivation is to create value for others: “What’s the point in living if you’re not doing something worthwhile?” she says.
See also: 5 Things You Need To Know About Grab’s Acquisition Of Uber