1. Qi Junyuan, China
Founder and CEO, Teambition
Helping people collaborate more efficiently
Qi’s first entrepreneurial venture, a website that allowed patients to consult doctors online, failed partly because of the challenges posed by working collaboratively with his team. As a result, he set up Teambition, a cloud-based collaboration tool that allows colleagues to work together seamlessly. With customers including Huawei and Xiaomi, the company was acquired by Alibaba in early 2019.
2. Lucy Liu, China
Co-founder and president, Airwallex
Running a fintech unicorn in her 20s
At just 28, Airwallex co-founder Liu has already led her start-up to unicorn status. The cross-border payments company provides technology to facilitate international transactions in foreign exchange markets, and recently closed a US$100 million Series C funding round. This February, Airwallex announced a global partnership with Visa to launch a borderless card for business.
See also: 10 Women Entrepreneurs You Need To Know In Hong Kong
3. Kathy Gong, China
Co-founder and CEO, WafaGames
Blazing a path for female gamers
Gong’s start-up has made waves in the gaming scene thanks to its distinctive game experiences, cutting-edge technologies and well-rounded, realistic female characters in an industry still rife with misogyny. Gong is also the founder of ai.Law, a robotics start-up that makes law accessible and affordable, which has now served three million people—67 per cent of them women. The serial entrepreneur was a child prodigy, becoming China’s youngest national chess champion at age 11, and has gone on to establish the non-profit World’s Youngest Voices to sponsor outstanding young students.
4. Jeff Lyndon Ko, China
Co-founder and CEO, iDreamSky
Taking mobile gaming to the next level
Ko’s company iDreamSky is the largest independent mobile gaming platform in China. Backed by internet giant Tencent, it went public on the Hong Kong exchange in late 2018. Ko was a serial entrepreneur before establishing iDreamSky, which also has a chain of experience stores, Good Time Video Game Club.
See also: Thinking Big: How Tencent Co-Founder Charles Chen Yidan Is Transforming Education
5. Zhang Mo, China