Page 39 - Forbes - Asia (October 2019)

UPASANA TAKU, 39
Cofounder, MobiKwik
INDIA

When MobiKwik cofounder Taku returned to India in 2008 from
Silicon Valley—leaving behind a green card and a job at PayPal—she
had one goal in mind: financial inclusion for all Indians. She spent
almost a year working with an NGO in rural India to understand the
financial needs of India’s rural population and in 2009 launched
MobiKwik with cofounder and now-husband Bipin Preet Singh.
Today, privately held MobiKwik offers digital wallet solutions and
a payments gateway that has Uber and Zomato as clients. With
more than 100 million registered users and more than a million
transactions a day, it is one of India’s largest fintech players. “There’s
still a lot of headroom to grow,” says Taku. —Ambika Behal

JOEY WAT, 48
CEO, Yum China
CHINA

A self-declared “foodie,” Wat worked part-time at a Chinese res-
taurant in Hong Kong for three years before college, then after 10
years at health and beauty retailer Watsons in the UK. She joined
Yum Brands in 2014 as president of KFC China. Two years later, Yum
WAT: COURTESY OF YUM CHINA, TAKU: MEXY XAVIER/FORBES INDIA, LEE: COURTESY OF GGV CAPITAL
China was spun off with a New York listing, and in 2018 Wat took the
helm of the firm. The company opened 819 outlets last year, bringing
its total to 8,600. It also beefed up delivery services and its digital
presence as well as increased membership in KFC and Pizza Hut
loyalty programs. That helped Yum China boost 2018 net profit 78%
to $708 million on an 8% increase in revenue. —Jane Ho

JENNY LEE, 47
Managing Partner, GGV Capital
SINGAPORE

One of the highest ranking women on the Forbes 2019 Midas List, venture capitalist
Lee is known for identifying promising entrepreneurs. Her portfolio at U.S. and China-
based GGV Capital includes 11 unicorns, with some valued as high as $56 billion. A
former fighter jet engineer with Singapore’s ST Aerospace, Singaporean Lee joined
GGV in 2005 and opened the firm’s first China office, in Shanghai. In April, she re-
opened the Southeast Asia office in Singapore that GGV shut in 2000. Last October,
Lee led a $1.9 billion fundraising that brought GGV’s total capital under management
to $6.2 billion. Lee has taken 11 of her portfolio companies public, including three
IPOs in 2018. Her 2012 investment in Chinese social network operator YY netted GGV
a 15-fold return. Now Lee is mulling opportunities in machine learning and robotics.
“The sci-fi stuff,” she says. —Pamela Ambler

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