Asian Tech Pioneers 2024 lauded by equality charity Diversity UK

Twenty-seven Asian Tech Pioneers were lauded by equality charity, Diversity UK, last night at a celebratory event marking a decade of championing entrepreneurs in the sector. The list celebrates the contribution made by British Asians to this country’s tech sector and marked its impact by publishing the Asians in Tech Impact Report earlier this year.

This year’s Asian Tech Pioneer Award winners include biotech entrepreneur Dr Farid Khan who has created 4 ventures in the sector, including Protein Technologies Ltd, a multi-million state of the art contract research organisation working in industrial biotechnology and genetic engineering; Dr. Bea Bakshi, a General Practitioner, Co-Founder, and CEO of C the Signs, an award-winning platform that uses artificial intelligence to identify patients at risk of cancer at the earliest and most survivable stage of the disease; Julia Fan Li who is the Co-Founder & CEO of Micrographia Bio, a deeptech bio company focused on applying machine learning to bioimaging to accelerate drug discovery; Priya Oberoi-Cattai who founded Goddess Gaia Ventures (GGV), Europe’s first women’s centric healthcare fund and Dr Jing Ouyang who is the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Patchwork Health, a pioneer in workforce management solutions in healthcare.

“We are pleased to be recognising twenty-seven of the most inspirational Asian stars with the Asian Tech Pioneers Awards”, said Lopa Patel MBE, Chair of Diversity UK, who has helmed the initiative since its inception, “these are individuals at the peak of their tech journey; from being serial venture builders or deep-tech investors to pioneering social entrepreneurs and innovators. The list’s focus this year has been in HealthTech and ImpactTech, so it is not surprising to see this reflected with Healthtech pioneers being honoured.”

“It was double pleasing to see that 44% of the Asian Tech Pioneer Award winners were women and that women are also well represented in the entrepreneurial support network with investors like Dama Sathianathan, a Senior Partner at Bethnal Green Ventures, Europe’s leading early stage VC in tech for good which has 4 funds and has made 141 investments to date; Rupa Ganatra Popat, Founder & Managing Partner of Arāya Ventures, a venture capital firm investing in exceptional entrepreneurs who are transforming the way we live and work and ecosystem builders like Shruti Ajitsaria who is the Head of Fuse, Allen & Overy’s tech innovation space.”

Successes of Asians in Tech & Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech list

The sector has not only grown, making the UK the third largest tech ecosystem in the world and first in Europe, but innovators have focused on the most pressing global challenges; from climate change and health tech to harnessing the power of Generative AI. The theme this year was innovation, particularly ‘scaling for impact’ (financial, environmental, human & social capital).
The findings of the research commissioned from an independent Cambridge Venture Project (CVP) team showed the Asians in Tech initiative inspires, empowers, connects founders; helping them get funding and support.
The CVP team also focussed their research on the healthtech and life sciences sector, finding that nominees in the sector demonstrated two important positive economic indicators. Firstly, the number of years before a healthtech start-up receives their first funding has been reducing, and secondly, healthtech start-ups have been hiring employees in addition to the original founders.
Women have also held their own in the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech list, accounting for 48% of shortlisted nominees in 2024. The representation of women has risen from 21% in 2015 up to a peak of 52% in 2021 and is at 48% in 2024, despite the fact that nearly 23% were new nominees in 2024.

About the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech List

The aim of the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech list is to showcase the wealth of talent on the British digital scene; from startup founders, creatives, social entrepreneurs, technologists, venture capital and angel investors to the policy makers and game changers. The key objective is to address the perceived lack of diversity in the tech sector by highlighting the business models, innovation, funding and support networks being created by these Asian digital entrepreneurs. Shortlisted nominees not only gain considerable media attention, they also make valuable connections to help fund or scale their business; are part of a network of innovators; can pitch their ventures at Tech Showcases; are recognised in industry publications and go on to win other competitions and awards.

Sponsors on the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech 2024 list include business support network Barclays Eagle Labs; one of the UK’s leading independent suppliers of steel storage containers, Bell Container Ltd, global law firm Eversheds Sutherland and financial planning advisory, Futurum Financial Advice.