20 Asian Tech Pioneers honoured in 2020
Twenty of Britain’s leading Asian Tech Pioneers were honoured, by equality and inclusion charity Diversity UK, on the publication of its annual Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech list. The list celebrates diversity in the digital sector with a focus on disruptive technologies and celebrated its sixth anniversary this year.
Among those recognised with an Asian Tech Pioneers Award are Demis Hassabis, Co-Founder & CEO of Deepmind, that recently announced that its AI application, Alphafold, which performs predictions of protein structure, had found a solution to a 50-year-old grand challenge in biology; Ilyas Khan KSG, Co-Founder & CEO of Cambridge Quantum Computing which is developing quantum solutions to tackle some of industry’s most intriguing challenges; Dr Lewis Liu, Co-Founder & CEO of Eigen Technologies, that uses natural language processing (NLP) to extract and classify critical data for financial services and Husayn Kassai and Eamon Jubbawy, Co-Founders of Onfido which uses machine learning and facial biometrics for identity verification, setting a new digital identity standard for the internet. Innovators honoured included Dr Mahiben (Ben) Maruthappu MBE, Co-Founder & CEO of Cera which designs professional home care services and Neal Gandhi, Co-Founder & CEO of The Panoply Holdings plc, a purpose driven company that is helping people and organisations to successfully navigate the fourth industrial revolution.
Lopa Patel MBE, list curator and Chair of Diversity UK said: “It has been the most difficult year in all of our lives, so I am delighted that the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech list has marked its sixth anniversary with a stellar list of nominees and that we have been able to honour 20 amazing Asian Tech Pioneers who have been selected by a judging panel of their peers, who themselves were inducted as pioneers last year.
The Asian Tech Pioneers exemplify how the tech sector has matured over the past few years; deeptech and artificial intelligence (AI) continue to be a star sector in Britain, but we also have to note the emergence of successful, robust healthtech and wellbeing platforms and the renewed efforts of EdTech platforms to reach more online learners than ever before. In addition, among the Asian Tech Pioneers list are accelerators, influencers, investors, and VCs whose collective efforts will be really needed in the coming years if Britain is to bounce back entrepreneurially from the impact of the pandemic.”.
Asian Tech Pioneers recognised for supporting the tech ecosystem include Hanadi Jabado, Managing Director of CMS Ventures, Jacqueline de Rojas CBE, President of Tech UK, Krishna Visvanthan, Co-Founder & Partner of Crane Venture Partners, Priya Guha, Venture Partner at Merian Ventures, Stephen Ong, Co-Founder of The Hub Exchange and Dr Vishal Gulati, Healthtech VC at Draper Esprit.
The official list of the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech 2020 is published by Diversity UK and aims to highlight the ground-breaking business models, apps, funding and support networks being created by Asian digital entrepreneurs. The list addresses the perceived lack of diversity in the tech sector and showcases the wealth of talent that is currently growing the British tech scene. The list also showcases the top five Asians in the UK involved in business, healthtech, investors, startups and sustainability, as chosen by the judges.
The Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech list and Diversity UK are the brainchild of the digital entrepreneur Lopa Patel MBE who has long been recognised as an evangelist for STEM and the tech industries in the UK.
Click here to view the Asian Tech Pioneers 2020 full list.
