This episode unpacks the US$1 billion industry known as Femtech, which refers to innovations designed to support, improve and promote women’s health. We were privileged to be able to speak with two established members from the Femtech space who shared with us the developments in Singapore and the region, the challenges faced, and what the future holds for femtech: Lindsay Davis, Co-founder of Femtech Association of Asia, Asia’s first and only industry network for professionals making a positive impact on women’s health through technology, and Jingjin Liu, CEO & Founder of Zazazu, Asia’s first sexual well-being hub in Southeast Asia that synchronises education, consultation and product curation to empower women to own their sexuality. Learn more about the reasons you should pay attention to the femtech space and the opportunities for those who wish to participate, all in our latest episode!

Today's guests are Desiree and Zikun. Desiree and Zikun are part of the team behind the ToBeYou mobile game that helps dismantle stereotypes, and reduce prejudice - ultimately fostering greater empathy and inclusiveness among Singaporeans. The game was one of the winners of MCCY: Mission Unite Hackathon and has been published in various media including The Straits Times, Business Times, and Tamil Murasu.  Today, we are going to hear from two major players behind the award-winning game on how the team navigated the delicate and sensitive topics of race and identity, and encouraged introspection and empathy in real life by the players, in turn contributing to a higher cultural sensitivity as a nation.

Today's guest is Dr Jade Kua. An accomplished paediatric emergency specialist, Dr Jade is also the Director of the DARE programme which stands for ‘Dispatcher-Assisted first responder’. The program seeks to teach anyone to do hands-only cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and use automated external defibrillators in case of emergencies. In addition to the launch of its nationwide campaign, DARE also launched an app with much success – there were positive signs in the uptake and interest internationally as well. Five years after the launch of the DARE app, Dr Jade realised that the needs of the masses have changed. Much of the resources offered in the app could also be easily accessible from other platforms, which prompted her and her team to make the decision to decommission the app five years after its successful launch. Today, Dr Jade shares with us the process of seeing the app go from cradle to grave. Learn about what it takes to pivot an app, and how TechforGood project teams need to be able to have honest conversations on the future of their tech products.

Today's guest is Jeremy Au, a multi-hyphenate, but someone who squarely believes in investing in people and great ideas. Besides being an angel investor in multiple businesses, Jeremy also spearheads Monk Hill Venture’s key initiatives from venture scouts to thought leadership. Jeremy has a number of social enterprises and initiatives under his belt. For one, he co-founded CozyKin, an early education marketplace, and led the startup as CEO from 0 to Series A to sale. He also co-founded and bootstrapped Conjunct Consulting, an impact consulting platform that we have actually talked about in our previous episodes with Jia Chuan. In this interview, we hear about Jeremy’s past projects, talk about his views on bringing his two worlds of investing and social impact together, and discuss how TechforGood projects should think differently about sustainability and financing.

Today's guest is Teymoor, the CEO and Publisher of Tech for Impact Asia, which helps the developing countries of the Asia Pacific plan and organise their economic development around sustainable technologies, profiling visionaries, thought leaders and investors on their platform. Teymoor also has extensive experience as a journalist, interviewer and moderator, having anchored shows across CNBC, Al Jazeera and the BBC. In this interview, we hear about Teymoor’s journey and his reflections on the work at Tech for Impact Asia, as well as discuss how the Singapore TechforGood community can learn from and contribute to what’s happening in the region.

Engineering Good empowers disadvantaged communities by improving their quality of life through sustainable engineering solutions and improved engineering capacity at the local community level. There are a number of initiatives that the non-profit runs. May-Ann volunteers with Engineering Good’s Computers against Covid initiative, and also heads the Digital Literacy program. The Computers Against Covid initiative focuses on collecting, refurbishing, and distributing used laptops to underprivileged children who need them for Home-Based Learning (HBL). Saad is a volunteer at EngineeringGood, who initiated Salvage Garden, an assistive tech Makerspace that engages a community of Makers, Tinkerers, Engineers, and enthusiasts towards the research and development of Assistive Tech devices and ideas. The SalvageGarden Makerspace also channels efforts towards a greener environment by repurposing or recycling leftover e-waste parts laptops donated to EngineeringGoods Computers Against Covid Campaign. In this interview, we talk about the outcomes these programs strive for, what digital inclusion looks like in Singapore and how MayAnn and Saad see the TechforGood space.

Moving from fast-growing tech companies like Burpple and Grab to GovTech would have definitely been a big change for Shaowei, Principal Product Manager for the TraceTogether app at GovTech. In fact, Shaowei was hired quite specifically to work on this monumental app that augments contact tracing operations but was also the topic of hot debate as people discussed issues around privacy, adoption, and effectiveness. Yet, through it all, Shaowei and his team have been able to stay consistent and deliver a product that has kept Singapore safe through all of COVID.  In this interview, we talk about the social and philosophical consequences of TraceTogether, what it means to be in the Tech for Public Good space, and what matters to Shaowei.

Through his organization, Social Development Initiative (SDI) Academy, Sazzad has built a community of empowered migrant workers with stronger professional prospects by leveraging English language instruction to navigate safely and effectively in a foreign environment and to access growth opportunities. SDI Academy blends digital media, in-person training, and rigorous data collection to design and deliver high-quality courses which up-skill immigrants and help them assimilate into the mainstream. Most notably, SDI Academy launched the SDI Academy app, an e-learning platform with speech recognition AI technology to enable language learning at scale. In this interview, we talk about Sazzad’s motivation in the space, the missed opportunity in serving the migrant worker and other invisible communities, and his thoughts on how to build services for communities we are very different from. 

Today's guest is Letch, former Senior Director in charge of Resilience & Engagement at the Ministry of Culture, Community, and Youth. Currently working in the Singapore Armed Forces, Letch is joining us in his personal capacity to talk about his passion for how technology can transform the social and philanthropy sector.  He has been an advocate for unlocking the power of tech in these communities and is a proponent of the TechforGood movement.  In this interview, we talk about the challenges that are seen in TechforGood adoption in the social and philanthropy sector, and his hopes for the future of these sectors. We tackle difficult questions inherent in the TechforGood space like "Why is disruption so rare?", and "Can we innovate without hurting those we care for?" There's lots of relevant insights for anyone who wants to take the digital transformation journey while continuing to serve those we benefit!

Today's guest is Gillian Tee, Co-Founder of Homage - an on-demand marketplace that matches caregivers and those who need help; think individuals who have elderly relatives who are ill at home or nursing homes that need extra help when they are short-staffed. It's like -- an Uber for nurses. With a pool of 2,000 qualified care professionals in Southeast Asia, Homage is the largest of such a platform in the region. The company's B2B business is growing 400% year on year, and operates in Singapore, Malaysia and soon -- Indonesia. Gillian herself is a repeat entrepreneur, having co-founded Rocketrip in the US, a Y-Combinator startup, and Code Upstart, a coding school. In this interview, we talk about Gillian’s personal story, what Homage is trying to change, and how she has built support for her company within the community. Lots of honest insights and frank sharings in this episode!