Ada Lovelace, The First Programmer

Ada Lovelace was born in 1815, London. Then she was homeschooled and had several tutors for mathematics and physics. Ada is known as the first programmer because she had written notes that explained how the notion of a specific engine could transition calculation to computation. She is one of the famous women in technology and every Tuesday in October is known as Ada Lovelace Day to celebrate the achievements of women in STEM careers.

Radia Perlman, The Mother of Internet

Radia Perlman was born in 1951, New Jersey and attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology to studied programming for a physics class. She then received a B.S and M.S in mathematics and a PH. D in Computer science from MIT in 1988. In the 1980s Radia invented the spanning tree algorithm and protocol. The spinning tree algorithm transformed ethernet from a single wire CSMA into a protocol that could handle large clouds. Radia Perlman also known as the ‘Mother of The Internet’ because she created STP which is fundamental for the operation of network bridges.

Top Rising SEA Women in Tech 2021

Joanne and Cindy Kua

Sunday (Thailand) – $128.93 million
Latest Round: $45 million (September 2021)
Notable Investors: Tencent, Vertex Ventures, Quona Capital

Joanne and Cindy Kua are known as the founders of Sunday, a full-stack InsurTech startup that uses artificial intelligence/machine learning to offer personalized insurance products and services. They continue to manage their Malaysian family-owned conglomerate KSK Group while overseeing Sunday’s growth. The sisters also co-founded Carmana, a Bangkok-based used car platform in 2016. Joanne is become KSK Group CEO and KSK Land managing director, while Cindy is Sunday’s CEO and Managing Director of KSK’s insurance business.

Yada Piyajomkwan

Ajaib (Indonesia) – $92.1 million in total funding raised
Latest Round: $65 million (March 2021)
Notable Investors: Softbank Ventures Asia, Insignia Ventures, Alpha JWC Ventures.

Yada Piyajomkwan was known as Ajaib’s Co-Founder and the Chief Product Officer. Ajaib itself is an investing platform that allows Indonesians to buy and sell stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. Yada previously worked at global brands which is McKinsey and Unilever. Then she focused on Ajaib, to outpaces the rest of the startups on this list in total funding, which was fueled by its most recent round of $65 million. Ajaib has become one of Indonesian Unicorn and also become the first Investment App Unicorn in South East Asia.

Clare Ros

KUMU (Philippines) – $38.38 million
Latest Round: $37.15 million (April 2021)
Notable Investors: Gobi Partners, Core Capital, Openspace Ventures

Clare Ros is known as the Co-Founder and Advisor of KUMU, a social live streaming and entertainment platform that aims to amplify Filipino creativity, community, and commerce. The development of KUMU’s iconic blue branding was led by Clare Ros. KUMU’s rising in the funding charts is thanks to its recent series B of over $37 million.