AMSTERDAM 16 April 2020: A Singapore-based tech company won Booking.com’s Technology Playmaker of the Year Award 2020 at the weekend, an initiative launched in 2017 to recognise the achievements of women in the global technology sector.
Winners were selected from among 45 finalists spanning 20 countries but the top award Champion of Change and Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020 went to the CEO of a company in Singapore.
To select the Booking.com Technology Playmaker of the Year 2020, the judging panel reviewed the individual category winners for one stand-out entrant demonstrating leadership, technological innovation, impact, and serving as a role model.
The award went to Singaporian tech visionary and “tireless agent of change” Leanne Robers, co-founder, and co-CEO of She Loves Tech, for her efforts to bridge the gender gap for women in technology.
She Loves Tech was founded in 2015 as a global platform to bring together entrepreneurs, companies, and investors to create more opportunities for women tech entrepreneurs.
Additionally, by hosting the world’s largest tech startup competition focused on women-led or women-impact businesses, Leanne is eliminating the misconception that “women don’t build good tech startups, the Booking.com citation read.
Leanne and her team have helped support and scale more than 2,000 women-impact tech startups, and provided mentorship and skills training in more than 20 countries.
This year’s 10 category and the technology playmaker winners represent five continents and come from Argentina, France, India, Nigeria, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
They included a business leader who revolutionised women’s health and lifestyle through smart technology, to a FinTech entrepreneur redefining online security and payments through biometrics and a software developer.
“With nearly 850 nominations received this year, selecting 45 finalists and whittling that down to ten winners and one Technology Playmaker of the Year has certainly been challenging,” said Booking.com chairwoman Gillian Tans.
“We launched the awards three years ago as a platform for women to be celebrated for the important and far-reaching work they do across the tech industry every day,” said Tans.
Each winner received a prize of EUR5,000 within the overall winner received an additional prize of EUR10,000.
