How did Hegen come about?

When I started my breastfeeding journey 19 years ago, I had over 10 separate baby care products just for expressing, storing and feeding my breast milk. Returning back to work with a backpack full of different breastfeeding products was a clunky process. My breastfeeding pain points led me to think about creating an integrated system to express and store and feed through a singular bottle. With a swap of a pump module, storage lid or feeding collar, mothers can transfer breast milk within a single container with minimal wastage and mess. Hegen also creates other sustainable, practical and high-quality breastfeeding products that enhance the nursing experience between a mother and her child.

Find out more about Hegen here.

What were some challenges and how did you overcome them?

One of the biggest challenges Hegen faced was the need to protect its intellectual property (IP) as a critical component for business growth and market expansion. We overcame this challenge with a two-pronged approach.

The first approach involved using IP to globalise Hegen's brand. We invested heavily in securing IP registrations for our products and services across more than 35 jurisdictions worldwide. This early registration step allowed Hegen to enter new markets quickly and served as the company's first line of defence against wannabes, copycats, and counterfeits, particularly in the e-commerce world.

The second approach involved protecting Hegen's designs for quality control. To achieve this, Hegen also worked with international law firms to ensure that their IP portfolio was updated and ready for the next big launch.

These approaches have enabled Hegen to expand into international markets, maintain our commitment to quality and safety, and build a loyal customer base.

Any advice for fellow women entrepreneurs/innovators?

Believe in your designs and innovations and take the necessary steps to secure your IP rights. Remember that your intangible assets, such as content creation, marketing materials, and product designs, can be just as valuable as tangible assets. These assets should not be underestimated or overlooked when it comes to IP protection. By taking these steps to secure your IP, you can ensure that your creations become future assets and are protected.

Driven by her mission to serve 100 million mothers globally, Yvon also dedicated years of continual learning in lactation education. In 2022, she became an international board-certified lactation consultant, placing her among 75 certified IBCLCs in Singapore.

Tell us more about your innovation, and how it made a difference.

The best mouse I designed would be the Razer Naga multi button gaming mouse. With its unique 12-button thumb grid and ergonomic design, the Razer Naga provides gamers with the control they need for an ultimate gaming experience. The buttons allow gamers to map their skills onto the mouse for easy usage.

My design was a game-changer for many gamers. With its unusual design, the Razer Naga was initially met with scepticism, but it quickly became one of the best-selling mice on the market.

Of course, we didn't stop there. We constantly seek feedback from users to improve upon the next version and continued to ask ourselves how we could improve upon the Razer Naga. New versions were released in 2013 and 2017, providing gamers with a more customised and immersive experience.  

We also created a left-handed version of the Razer Naga specifically for the gaming community. Many gamers with disabilities shared how this mouse transformed the way they work and play. Moreover, the mouse's 12-button side panel can be easily integrated with corporate functions such as Adobe Photoshop and others.

Find out more about the Razer Naga line here.

Can you share some moments of inspiration/challenges and how you overcame them?

There is a severe lack of awareness of this specialty. It is also common knowledge that this field of design is dominated by men. As a woman in this specialty, we often find that we’d need to work twice as hard to succeed.

I always believe that with experience and determination, you will grow exponentially to achieve your desired outcome. Every different product I’ve designed has provided different user experiences and all done through multiple rounds of trial and errors.

From conception to creation, the process involves initial paper sketches, followed by 3D modeling and physical samples. Even after 18 years in the field, the excitement of seeing a product come to life still brings me much joy and excitement.

Boon Sim is an Associate Director for Industrial Design at Razer, the world’s leading lifestyle brand for gamers and have been with the company since 2009. She studied Industrial Design at Limkokwing University in Malaysia and later took her degree at Swinburne University of Technology in Australia. Some of her best works include the Razer Iskur gaming chair with lumbar support and the DeathAdder line, which is Razer’s best-selling gaming mice.

Tell us more about your innovation.

ChemoCalc was built to help with the financial counselling process for cancer patients following the changes to MediShield Life and MediSave for outpatient treatments.

Financial counselling for chemotherapy is challenging because multiple drugs in combination are required to treat cancer. Every drug has different claim limits, with pricing based on a patient’s height and weight. Subsidy amounts differ due to means-testing and are hence individualised. Not knowing treatment costs adds anxiety to an already-trying time for patients and their caregivers, so we built ChemoCalc to help alleviate that stress, empowering patients to make informed decisions and seek help early if costs are prohibitive for them.

Find out more about ChemoCalc here.

What were some challenges and how did you overcome them?

We wanted something simple and quick for frontline staff to use but which also gives reliable information. That meant amalgamating information from various sources. We had a very good team which worked closely with our technical partner to develop the solution.

Sassyclean handwash is a dry, mess-free handwash refill designed to break the trade-off between sustainability and a fun yet experiential handwash refill. Consumers can buy a starter bottle, fill it up with water and insert the dry handwash refill to see it quickly dissolve and turn into foaming liquid handwash.

We wanted to help consumers build the habit of refilling handwash by making it hassle-free and delightful for them, as every time a consumer reuses a bottle, we reduce the amount of plastic by about 90%. A dry product also opens opportunities for more sustainable packaging materials. Sassyclean handwash dry refills avoid shipping of water in the product, and is extremely compact in size, making it easy to store. 

We’ve had very good reviews from users who repeatedly come back for more refills. It’s a joy to see consumers loving the innovation we work on.

Find out more about Sassyclean handwash here.

Can you share some moments of inspiration/challenges? How did you overcome those challenges?

Innovation is a team sport. To get the product to market, we’ve had to engage with technologists, legal, regulatory, supply chain, researchers, etc to ensure that the product proposition stays true to consumer needs. I am very thankful to have a lean team that collaborates closely, making the process a more seamless one.

Any advice for fellow female entrepreneurs/innovators?

The innovation journey is never a straightforward one. It is critical to engage with consumers and test prototypes iteratively to enable a good product experience that consumers resonate with. We have a mantra that goes around our team – “Learn fast, fail fast”

Yun Qin spent the initial 11 years of her career working in tech companies such as Asus and Dell, before joining P&G as a Senior Industrial Designer at P&G Beautycare Innovation Studio in 2015. In her current role, Yun Qin works alongside technologists and marketeers to bridge technology and delightful consumer experiences. She finds great satisfaction in developing empathy with consumers and enabling experiences that they love. She is currently on her own sustainability journey, dabbling in growing edible greens and food waste composting.

Tell us more about Tech For She, and how it came about.

I started Tech For She with a like-minded group of co-founders in 2018 with the core purpose to nurture women learning tech together. We now have up to 900 members actively participating in our programmes. A recent collaboration with the National Youth Council’s Youthtech Programme saw Tech For She providing digital workshops to youths. It is very exciting as it marks our shift from a non-profit organisation to a social enterprise, where we will channel the funds to provide more softwares like Tableau, Figma, and Adobe to the community. This will support our mission of life-long learning.

Find out more about Tech For She here.

Any tips for fellow female entrepreneurs/innovators?

My advice for women entrepreneurs and innovators is [A] To surround yourself with a supportive, like-minded group of peers who are aligned with the same purpose, [B] To constantly test and validate, speaking to as many people (and detractors!) that you can, to refine the product better, [C] Remember to enjoy yourself in the process, and the underlying purpose during demotivating times. Take a step back, and remember what you’re doing this for!

Kay co-founded Tech For She with the mission to nurture the next generation of women in technology, through its flagship “Ying Yang” approach – balanced programmes that combines both technical skills training, and Social Impact-focused workshops and panel discussions that seek to offer safe spaces free of unconscious biases. Tech For She is now up to 900-members strong, and ever-expanding. Kay has also been nominated for Top 100 Women in Tech Singapore.

"Go big, or go home" is Kay's personal mantra that she lives by, never giving less than 100 percent in any opportunity undertaken. Her vision is to empower more women to become key players in the talent supply and demand for today’s tech ecosystems. Additionally, she juggles her day job as an Experience Transformation Manager at Accenture Song, where every day is an adventure because she gets to work on diverse digital projects and experience a wider multitude of perspectives.

Tell us more about the Prologue collection in Scanteak, and what inspired you to develop it. 

We have established a retail presence in the Japanese market since 2004, and tirelessly invested in our R&D to cater to the distinctive purchase behaviour in Japan, that generally prefers slimmer and sleeker furniture pieces for their compact homes. The vision of the Prologue collection revolves around providing a feel at home to our Japanese customers even with slimmer yet design-centric furniture pieces.  

Designer pieces often come with big price tags. The question then surfaced to Jamie - why can't beautiful designs be within consumer reach? With a vision to deliver well-designed furniture pieces to everyday consumers, this spark led to the collaborative conceptualisation with award-winning design team, Outofstock.

The Prologue collection has helped our business increase design and production capabilities, with earlier collections focused on pieces with bulkier profiles, which are popular in our Taiwan and Singapore markets. Exploration of different construction methods was essential to ensure that slimmer-looking furniture pieces will not be prone to common defective issues such as cracks.  

The Prologue Collection has won several prominent industrial awards such as the Singapore Good Design Award and the IPOS Award for Design Innovation in 2015. The important milestone has affirmed our vision to inspire family moments not just locally in Singapore, but also worldwide. 

Find out more about Scanteak here.

With her first job in Hollywood, Jamie made the switch from marketing films at Walden Media, to marketing the local furniture brand, Scanteak, in 2004. Upon joining Scanteak, her family business in Singapore, she was determined to use the business to make a difference. Under Jamie’s influence, Scanteak undertook a rebranding initiative. This rebranding effort won several brand awards, such as the Promising Brand Award (2005), CitiBusiness – SPBA Regional Brand Award (2006, 2013), and SuperBrands (2009).  

As CEO/Regional Marketing Director, Jamie spearheads Scanteak’s regional branding initiatives, manages overseas franchises, and oversees Scanteak Singapore’s business operations. In recent years, Jamie introduced the concept of affordable designer furniture to Singapore. Collaborating with award-winning international designers, Jamie launched the Prologue collection in 2012 after 2 years of intense R&D. The Prologue collection would later go on to be one of Scanteak’s most successful product lines, winning the following esteemed awards in 2015: the Singapore Good Design Award, the Good Design Award (Japan), the IPOS Award for Design Innovation, and the President’s Design Award Singapore. 

Tell us about your innovation, and the inspiration behind it.

Shiok Meats is the world’s first cultivated crustacean meat company and Southeast Asia’s first cultivated seafood company. Using our technology to grow meat from healthy cells instead of animals, stem cells are isolated from a small sample of crustaceans (shrimp, lobster, crab) and grown in a nutrient broth. These cells are then expanded into smaller bioreactors and progressively moved to larger bioreactors, large stainless-steel tanks in a food manufacturing facility. Once the cells have grown to a large enough mass, they form the meat, which are collected and separated from the liquid. The final meat then finds its way into delicious dishes.

For ethical and scientific reasons, I wanted to start working on cellular agriculture - cultivated seafood and meats. We decided to first focus on seafood, particularly crustaceans because this constitutes the most significant part of our diet in Singapore and Southeast Asia. It represents a 150-billion-dollar industry, so it seemed the obvious choice. While working in my first startup, a science news website, I discovered cultivated meats. As a scientist, I became obsessed with this new technology and have been a vegetarian and food lover my whole life; starting a business in this sector seemed natural.

Find out more about Shiok Meats here.

How has Shiok Meats made a difference?

Consumers concerned with healthy living, the environment, or animal welfare can enjoy Shiok seafood and meats with peace of mind. They can trust that only the highest quality seafood and meats are presented, tasting as great as traditional seafood. The process is cruelty-free and doesn’t require growing more live animals. Our technology makes producing seafood more environmentally friendly, using less water, land, and energy to grow meat.

Dr. Sandhya Sriram is the Group CEO and Co-Founder of Shiok Meats Pte. Ltd., Singapore, the first cultivated seafood & meat company in Southeast Asia and the first cultivated Crustacean company globally. With her at the helm, Shiok Meats has raised USD 30 Million in funding since its inception in 2018 from a global suite of investors – USA, Europe, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea. Shiok Meats also acquired Gaia Foods, a cultivated red meat company headquartered in Singapore.

A stem cell biologist and scientist by training and education, a former business development professional, a serial entrepreneur, and a thought leader, Sandhya was also recently named as part of the 2021 class of Bloomberg New Economy Catalysts and as one of Forbes Women in Tech. She is also an advisor and investor to trailblazing Food Tech start-ups and has spoken at leading industry conferences worldwide.

Tell us more about your product, and what inspired you to develop it.

Planner Bee is a one-stop app that supports consumers with their personal finance. That includes a financial dashboard to track spending, savings, insurance and investments, and an insurance marketplace that compares products across insurers and a content bank to help people with financial literacy.

I created the app because consumers are concerned that financial planners are often biased as they are tied to the financial solutions they are selling. Some of the biggest problems with insurance in Asia is that people don’t know if they’re properly covered, and what to buy from the myriad options out there. Planner Bee is a neutral platform enabling consumers to see all their financial instruments in one place. This allows users to feel in control of their decisions.

Find out more about Planner Bee here.

Any advice for fellow women entrepreneurs and innovators?

Go to the source of the problem and speak to potential customers about it. Also learn if there are existing solutions abroad. Do all that before building something you think is unique, because often you may not be the first. Not being the first may not be a bad thing, because we can learn from others and avoid mistakes they make too.

Cherie is the Co-Founder of Planner Bee, dedicated to simplifying and automating insurance planning for the masses. She is a Chartered Financial Advisor with 13 years of experience, ranking in the top 5% of financial advisors globally in the last 12 years. She shares practical strategies to tackle financial pitfalls, based on her experience with thousands of clients with varied financial situations. She started Planner Bee to apply technology to a century old tradition of financial planning.

Tell us more about Singpass and how it started.

We started Singpass in 2003 to provide a means for citizens to transact online and standardise authentication for access to government services. We introduced SMS 2FA in 2015 to make authentication more secure.

I joined the team in 2018 and saw the birth of the Singpass app in the same year – this was my first milestone with Singpass. Seeing many users forgetting their passwords when trying to log in inspired the team to develop an everyday app that citizens can use to transact. With the pervasiveness of mobile devices and the maturity of technology, we saw opportunities for a soft token authentication that is easier to use and more secure. With a face or fingerprint scan, users can seamlessly access digital services without entering long passwords. Today, more than 4.2 million users are on the Singpass app, which facilitates 90% of all Singpass transactions.

Improving the Singpass app to be more digitally inclusive such as having better accessibility coverage to assist the visually impaired and releasing multi-language support to cater to users who are more proficient in their vernacular languages, such as the elderly, is another proud moment for us.

Find out more about Singpass here.

Can you share some moments of inspiration/ challenges? How did you overcome those challenges?

There is no one-size-fits-all product. Building a product for 5 million users from all walks of life and with evolving needs is challenging. We must remain open to user feedback and iteratively enhance the product to ensure it meets the needs of the citizens.

Innovations in user safety are also very important to us, especially with the rise in scams. One of the key measures was to require users to perform an additional facial verification in some situations (e.g., setting up Singpass app) to ensure it is the user performing the transactions and not the scammer authenticating on their behalf. We implemented fraud analytics in 2021 to detect suspected account takeovers and potential fraudulent transactions, and the option to block overseas access to Singpass in 2022.

We do not take our users’ trust in the Singpass system for granted, and work hard to maintain this. We will continue to balance security vs usability in our product design – these decisions do not come easy and some trade-offs in convenience may be required at times, but they are always made with the users’ interests at heart.

Wen Si has over 27 years of ICT experience, with 19 years serving in public service. She started her career working on software development and implementation in the private sector before joining the public sector in 2004. As the Director of Trusted Identity, National Digital Identity (NDI), GovTech, Wen Si leads her Engineering and Ops teams to bring more value to users and make lives better for Singaporeans from all walks of life, in line with our Smart Nation vision. Key products include Singpass, Corppass, Sign with Singpass and Singpass Face Verification. Prior to GovTech, she was with the Media Development Authority (now known as IMDA) heading the Infrastructure and Security team.