Introduction 2023
Celebrating the resilience of startup founders
Welcome to the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech 2023 list which showcases one hundred of the most inspirational Asian men and women working in Britain’s tech sector. Despite the extremely challenging year, Asian startups founders and innovators have demonstrated their resilience against all the odds, storming into the list and accounting for nearly 60% of new entries this year. Women have also held their own in this year’s list, accounting for 48% of shortlisted nominees. The representation of women rose from 21% in 2015 up to a peak of 52% in 2021 and is at 48% in 2023, despite the fact that nearly 60% of the list are new nominees.
This year we focussed on FinTech and HealthTech, including Life Sciences, which shows that there is no shortage of ingenuity or talent: 59% of the people featured are new to the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech 2023 and Asian women accounted for nearly half of all entries in the Top 5 categories of Business, FinTech, HealthTech, Investors and Startups. It is particularly pleasing to see women investors steal all the Top 5 Investor category slots with backgrounds ranging from angel investors to those investing at pre-seed and seed levels, as well as those working at established venture capital firms funding Series A rounds and beyond. Brava!
The West Midlands, Leeds and Hull stride into the list
We made some progress on achieving a broader regional representation across the UK; Oxford and Cambridge accounted for 11% of list nominees with 71% of shortlisted nominees based in London. There is still much more to do on “levelling up” tech entrepreneurship across the UK but it is heartening to see Leeds, Hull and the West Midlands account for 7% of shortlisted nominees.
But Britain loves its tech entrepreneurs; 25% of the list is made up of Startup founders or co-founders; and 15% are in the Business category with more established enterprises; 18% are Investors (including angel investors, incubators, private equity and venture capitalists). The FinTech category accounted for 8%; Healthtech & Life Sciences (22%) and Greentech (6%) and AI (6%).
Asian Tech Pioneers supporting the UK tech ecosystem
Once again, we are pleased to be recognising twenty of the most inspirational Asian stars with the Asian Tech Pioneers Awards. These are nominees who have been profiled in previous editions of the list multiple times. This year, in memory of the Asian Tech Pioneer Tanya Laird, who sadly lost her battle with cancer earlier this year, we have chosen to recognise an additional 10 individuals with the Asian Tech Pioneer Award this year in honour of their outstanding efforts in building the ecosystem that supports entrepreneurs.
What’s the purpose of this list?
The purpose of this list is to showcase the diversity and vibrancy of the tech sector and Asians who work within it. Our nominees go on to found multiple businesses, provide invaluable services, raise capital, employ people and change lives. We are pleased that so many go on to win prizes and awards, are shortlisted in other lists, judge pitch events, build new partnerships and give back to the community by establishing social enterprises and charities.
Judges for the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech 2023
The task of selecting the Top 100 Asian Stars in UK Tech 2023 could only be undertaken with the help of this year’s stellar judges who pulled out all the stops in judging with skill and accuracy at great speed against tight eligibility criteria. My sincerest thanks to them all and a special ‘thank you’ to Hanadi Jabado who took on the added responsibility of being Chair of the Judging Panel.
Lopa Patel MBE
Chair – Diversity UK [List curator]