Ep 40 - Neha Mehta, Founder & CEO, FemTech Partners
Neha Mehta is a member of the department of mathematics at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. She also teaches in that institution’s Master of Science program in FinTech.
Among her interests are financial inclusion using FinTech as a vehicle to achieve it, as well as climate sustainability, innovating for a blue economy and greener future, and encouraging more women to enter the tech space – evidenced by her work with the group SG Women In Tech.
Neha is also a FinTech lawyer, former diplomat, and social entrepreneur, in addition to being the author of a new book called “One Stop” on the topic of Super Apps.
As she points out new software applications are churned out every day to respond to meet people’s needs. “Super Apps,” she says, are apps that allow users to access several services from one single application. Super Apps like Grab and WeChat are gaining popularity and tech giants and FinTechs looking to stake their claim in this digital revolution. In “One Stop,” Neha traces the history of Super Apps and analyses the cultural differences in their adoption and popularity – and in some cases, the lack thereof – in the East versus the West. Through stories of well-known Super Apps and in-depth interviews with central banks, entrepreneurs, and FinTech industry experts, Neha’s book illustrates how the Super App revolution disrupts, innovates and creates opportunities.
With the COVID-19 pandemic as a background highlighting the need to move to digital platforms, “One Stop” also examines how Super Apps can potentially create an inclusive and sustainable world for all, in a future that looks increasingly digital.
With that as a launching pad, Neha shares with Regulatory Ramblings host Ajay Shamdasani about her upbringing in Bangalore, as well as how she first got interested in matters of financial inclusion, climate sustainability, the green economy and women in tech, and what she sees as the interconnections between them – namely, economic growth and good stewardship of the planet.
The discussion also delves into creating talent pools in the tech entrepreneur and/corporate realms with an eye towards seeing more women at the decision-making table in boardrooms. A key part of the equation, Neha says, is getting more females enrolled in STEM subjects earlier in life. In that vein, she stresses the need for policy frameworks incentivizing parents of young girls to send them to schools which are focused on how they can be software engineers, or enter the emergent fields of artificial intelligence or data management.
She goes on to share her views about the tech ecosystem and entrepreneurial environment in Singapore, drawing on her experiences. In 2019, Neha set up a company called FemTech Partners with the aim of representing women in tech – especially the fintech space. The focus was on how to make them financially resilient and receive the pro bono mentorship they need.
The conversation includes Neha’s thoughts on being a member of the math faculty at NTU, as well as summarizing the key conclusions, observations and policy recommendations of her book.
HKU FinTech is the leading fintech research and education in Asia. Learn more at www.hkufintech.com.