On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, Forbes Magazine revisited the stories about two women, laudable entrepreneurs, based in Singapore.
There are successful and are doing groundbreaking work in this part of the world.
Ayesha Khanna, ADDO AI , Singapore
Dr. Ayesha Khanna cofounded ADDO AI, an artificial intelligence company that advises and incubates other organizations, in 2017. The company prides itself on forging interdisciplinary partnerships between industry leaders and academics as it seeks AI-based solutions in areas such as city planning, disease outbreak management, policing, and other fields.
Khanna believes AI and fintech could drive financial inclusion across the region’s poorest communities.
“Ultimately, fintech is about greasing the wheels of social mobility in Asia, and it gives [the emerging middle class] access to the things they need to spend money on to move up the ladder and improve the lives of their children,” she said.
Bidushi Bhattacharya, Bhattacharya Space Enterprises, Singapore
Dr. Bidushi Bhattacharya, formerly a scientist with NASA, left her work in the U.S. to help build Singapore’s spacetech industry. Bhattacharya founded Bhattacharya Space Enterprises (BSE) to advance her vision of a thriving hub for sub-system innovations and satellite development.
Although Singapore isn’t geographically suited to rocket launches, Bhattacharya sees the city-state as well-suited to developing ancillary systems for companies such as SpaceX.
She shared with me that she wants BSE to launch an incubator that will not only help spacetech startups secure funding and mentorship but get their technology “flight-ready” for use in space.