What we can learn from the journeys of these 4 female founders in Singapore

Elise is a TIA Star Contributor and publishes exclusive, high-value content that serves the Asian tech community. Read more from TIA Star Contributors here.

Disclosure: Elise Tan is the funding manager of Entrepreneur First. 42Lab and UI-licious attended the accelerator.

In honor of International Women’s Day (March 8), I want to highlight the inspirational stories and struggles of four female founders in Singapore. They have managed to grow their businesses despite obstacles such as social pressure and gender biases in a male-dominated industry.

Dorothy Yiu, Shi Ling Tai, Yasaman Nematbakhsh, and Yuet Whey all face these issues but continue to hustle their way through and lead the way in changing mindsets. Know their stories and join us in cheering them on.

1. Dorothy Yiu, COO and founder of EngageRocket

Yiu was the regional head of operations for Gallup (an American consulting firm) before she took the plunge to co-found EngageRocket, a cloud-based software solution that analyzes employee feedback in real time.

As Yiu used to work at a large company, she was comfortable with structure and plans. So, the beginning of her uncertainty-laden startup journey was her greatest struggle. Another struggle she faced was gender bias. In one incident, she was even mistaken as her co-founder’s secretary.

According to Yiu, since starting her business, she’s received stereotypical comments like “If you want to be a successful female entrepreneur at 40, you’ll probably be unmarried.” But Yiu thinks it is possible for women to find balance between work, life, and health. This year, she is fundraising for her company, launching a new product line, starting a new health regimen, and even getting married (congratulations!) and moving into a new place with her fiance.

Her advice to aspiring female founders: “You don’t have to feel the need to compete with your male counterparts or adopt stereotypical ‘male’ characteristics like aggressiveness to hold your own. Instead, embrace your ‘woman-ness’—be it sensitivity, kindness, or even competition— because at the end of the day, female or not, your business isn’t dependent on how people view you, but your hard work and perseverance. And your employees will stay loyal to who you authentically are, not who you try to be.”

2. Shi Ling Tai, CEO and founder of UI-licious

Tai founded UI-licious, an intelligent user journey test automation platform, with Eugene Cheah, whom she met at the Entrepreneur First accelerator program in Singapore. In her day-to-day work, she is the “chief everything officer,” taking care of any matter that affects the company’s ability to deliver value to users.

3. Yasaman Nematbakhsh, CEO of 42Lab

4. Yuet Whey, CEO and Founder of Drea