A Roadmap To Role Models, Opportunities And Funding

Founded in 2016, Women in Tech (Asia) has grown into a leading annual conference that brings together Asia’s leading innovators.

- Lili Li

Ms. Jenni Risku began her career in cross-border investments at Hong Kong’s Chemcentral Group, where she rose to become head of Europe and the first non-Chinese member in management reporting to the group’s owner and CEO.

Ms. Risku is also the founder of Women In Tech (Asia), where she aims to position successful women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) “to be relatable role models for women studying or pursuing careers in the fields.”

An entrepreneur and business kickstarter with expertise in private equity investments, start-ups, technology, e-commerce, B2B sales, social entrepreneurship and M&As, Ms. Risku is passionate about encouraging and connecting female venture capitalists and angel investors to get more women to invest in technology-related initiatives.

Studies such as those from Catalyst and the UN say participation of women in STEM, particularly in Asia, is low. What can we infer from these reports?

Those reports are mostly on Asia. I come from a different background. In the microcosm where I live in, I see a lot of women in this space — scientists, and scientists who are business founders, many of whom have been speaking at our events. I see a lot of female coders, and women who are leading successful companies in engineering and technology.

I like to focus on the positive; we can talk about the many role models out there who are talking about where the opportunities are. More and more governments are seeing women as a business case, and there are a lot of initiatives that are happening in this (tech) industry — and these are opportunities for women.