In this episode, I spoke to Malaysian entrepreneur Shamala Hinrichsen.

Shamala is the founder of Hanai, a social enterprise that empowers women to take charge of their health.

Her first app, Hanai Jiwa Ibu, targeted at rural Malaysia provides women with access to information about maternal, mental health and domestic violence in addition to a complete doctor’s directory and information on COVID-19.

Inspired by her own grandmother, Shamala who now lives in Germany with her husband and two children, calls herself an Ipoh girl at heart.

She worked in three continents - North America, Asia an Europe - and trained as a scientist and in her own words, had a comfortable life and career.

Her pivotal turn came when she spent four months in India.

Shamala says, “A large part of the world is actually still rural and women never know what to do in an emergency, never know that it is an emergency and that they need to do something right there.”

She adds, “We want to be in that position to give every woman the ability to make decisions on her own and get help.”

In this episode, Shamala talks about:

• Her time crossing north and south India, opening up her eyes to the issues plaguing rural women
• How she was moved by a death of a woman which pushed her to start with Borneo
• Why starting a health tech company wasn’t just about coding the apps
• and lots more.

For more information about her, visit WomenpreneurAsia.com