Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day are two moments that encouraged us to be extra careful about the way we support women in the tech startup ecosystem. If we were not careful, we might fall into the risk of purple-washing–an action where businesses present the image of being women-friendly without any concrete steps taken to do so.

This is the lesson that Pocket Sun of SoGal Ventures warned us in a recent interview with e27.

“Besides investing, there have been efforts to set up a separate programme for women. It definitely helps to build your reputation, but nothing comes as strongly as when you actually deploy capital into women entrepreneurs,” she said.

This reminded us to look at how we support women in tech at e27. We want to think that we have done a decent job, as seen through our latest #She27 initiative, where we spotlight 27 inspiring women in the tech industry who are breaking barriers, pushing boundaries, and making a significant impact in their respective fields.

But if you see ways to improve, we are always open to listening.

Also Read: Women in Tech: Female leaders shaking up insurtech in Asia

A return to Myanmar

In February 2021, the SEA startup ecosystem anxiously watched as a coup d’etat in Myanmar changed the country’s face forever.

I still remember that day vividly. The e27 content team dropped every single task of the day to focus on covering how the political event impacted the local startup ecosystem. We tried to contact our sources in the country; I recalled holding my breath when the responses came moments later, with startup founders stating that they wish to lay low for the moment. Safety was the priority.

Today, the world is a different place. In February 2021, most countries were under lockdown. Exactly two years later, most borders have reopened. Naturally, we begin to wonder if things are improving for our friends in Myanmar.

We covered the launch of Common Health’s e-commerce platform, which made us feel slightly hopeful about the situation. But before that, our editor Sainul wrote this feature article.

The things we learned from it were heart-breaking:

– Over 70-80 per cent of startups shut down
– Founders did not see the junta as being supportive of startups
– Even big businesses, such as Telenor and Ooredoo, either shuttered or sold
– This situation has triggered a migration of tech talents to neighbouring countries

“As the military junta tightened its grip on the government, pro-democratic people, including founders and techies, took to the streets … However, these movements were crushed. Several prominent founders were framed and arrested, many fled the country for safety after imprisonment for six to 12 months, and some got killed in interrogation camps,” we wrote.

Also Read: Women in tech have leaned in enough. This is what we should do instead

This reminded us of the one thing we often take for granted: Security. We can stress the importance of government support and other things when we talk about supporting the startup, but in the end, there is not much that we can do in an environment where we are unsafe.

As the month ends, may this always remind us of those living on the margins of society and those who had their opportunities limited by circumstances.

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Echelon Asia Summit 2023 is bringing together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here.

Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups get the chance to pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like a chance to connect with investors, visibility through e27 platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

Image Credit: Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

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