Hema Vallabh

Hema is an entrepreneur, engineer, diversity & inclusion specialist and an emerging investor. Hema has a diverse and unique set of skills ranging from being a trained engineer, having practiced locally and abroad; to being an entrepreneur, leading and growing a global social enterprise; as well as being a certified ontological coach and a noted international speaker and facilitator. She is an avid gender advocate, providing advisory and informing policy at various levels. Hema is also a limited partner at Dazzle Angels, an angel fund investing in women in South Africa and a founding partner at Five35 Ventures, a pan-African VC fund investing in women in tech in Africa. Hema also serves as an advisory board member, and is currently studying towards her Executive MBA at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.

Her passion for the work she does has resulted in a number of accolades in recognition of her leadership. These include being awarded the South Africa’s Most Influential Woman in Engineering title, branded as a “Change-Maker” by Oprah Magazine and selected for the Fortune MPW Global Mentorship Exchange. She has been named as one of South Africa’s Inspiring Fifty Women in Tech; a fellow of the prestigious Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship, a community of dynamic and influential leaders in Africa; and winner of the Fortune/Goldman Sachs Global Women Leader’s Award. However, it is not these accolades that define her, but rather the impact that she has through her work.