Vikki Huang

Vikki Huang graduated from university into the teeth of the 2008 global finance crisis. She turned adverse conditions into a springboard for a career in investment banking, doing mergers and acquisitions, followed by a move to the buy side, first in private equity before landing at Segantii Capital in 2012.

Segantii is among the most prominent Asian hedge funds, but at that time it was still more focused on trading than on its institutional setup. Huang built an operations platform for research, corporate actions and block trades.

Tech had always been part of her roles, first as a banker and then supporting Segantii trades in the sector, and she knew at some point she’d want to get into the sector.

She discovered crypto, and explored the blockchain world in 2016 on her own. “There’s only so much impact an individual investor can do to shape business unless they’re really the biggest ones,” she said. “So if I wanted to make an impact, it was either that or be an entrepreneur.”

Her social network led her to the founders behind Enuma Technology. She liked their work in blockchain, which spans building platforms, digital asset exchanges, payment, identity and security solutions. But saw they’d need a businessperson to take it to the next level.

So she made the jump this year.

“They’re tech experts,” she said of Enuma’s founders, “but you also need strong business-minded people to find a direction.” She joined Enuma as COO to help drive the business and establish new partnerships in both the worlds of crypto and finance. “I enjoy the creation process.”