Introduction 2018
Celebrating creative innovation
Welcome to the fourth edition of the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech list which showcases one hundred of the most inspirational Asian men and women working at the forefront of Britain’s digital industries.
The ‘FinTech’ revolution, since this list was first published in 2015, has been transformational with many individuals at the forefront of innovative models of financial delivery; from financing for small businesses; peer-to-peer lending platforms and mobile cardless payment systems to alternative finance, blockchain applications and cryptocurrencies.
I am delighted that nearly 30% of the people featured are new to the list and at 28%, Asian women continue to be well represented across the digital and technology sectors. The geographic reach of the list extends to those who have a heritage from East Asia or South East Asia, in addition to those from South Asian countries. Although we have made some progress to achieving a broader regional representation on this list from all parts of the UK, there is still much to do.
The Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence, Augmented & Virtual Reality (AR/VR), 3D Visualisation, Gaming and Robotics have appeared numerous times in the profiles of individuals presented in this index as a result of including the Creative Industries as a new category in this year’s list.
Britain loves its tech entrepreneurs; 25% of the list is made up of startup founders or co-founders and 34% are in the business category with more established enterprises; 18% are investors (including angel investors, accelerators, incubators and venture capitalists); and the Creative Industries stormed in at 16% of nominees with the remaining 7% made up of digital influencers and educational technology specialists.
The purpose of this list is to showcase the diversity and vibrancy of the tech sector and Asians who work within it. A job that could only be undertaken with the help of this year’s stellar judges: Professor Robin Bargar, Director, Digital & Creative Industry Zone at the University of Salford; Simon Calver, Head of Investments, Ventures at BGF Ventures; James Clark, Head of Tech & Life Sciences, Primary Markets at the London Stock Exchange Group; Jacqueline de Rojas CBE, President of techUK and the chair of the Digital Leaders board; Lord Jitesh Gadhia, Chairman of Compare The Market; Ling Ge, Chief European Representative at Tencent; Patrick Imbach, Head of KPMG Enterprise’s Innovative Startups team; Dilip Joshi MBE, Chair at Diversity UK [Chair of the Judging Panel]; Mahesh Patel, CFO at the Kamani Family Office; Simone Roche, Founder of Northern Power Women and Helen Wang, CEO of BGTA.
My thanks to all the sponsors of this list and to KPMG for sharing their knowledge of developments on the UK tech scene and suggesting many more nominees from all regions of the UK. A special thank you to Bina Mehta for her guidance and support.
Lopa Patel MBE
Founder & CEO – Diversity UK [List Curator]