Dr. Loretta Chen on breaking barriers and building the future of Web3 with Smobler

Her World profiled Dr. Loretta Chen for its SG60 issue of Innovators — women driving Singapore’s progress — in a piece by Hayden Ng.

Before tech, Chen’s career ran through the creative arts, media, academia and entrepreneurship, and the early challenge was having to work twice as hard to prove herself. At 24, teaching at a tertiary institute, she won a Best Teaching Award and was told by her female dean not to treat teaching as a popularity contest. “By doing so, she disregarded that students can exercise discernment and conflated my family’s media reputation with my efforts,” she says.

She founded Smobler in 2021 as a digital studio and metaverse architect helping brands, enterprises, institutions, educators and creators build immersive experiences; the company has since expanded into real-world blockchain solutions and AI applications.

The early obstacle was convincing businesses that Web3 was a sustainable ecosystem rather than hype. “Many investors were hesitant about the metaverse, especially after market volatility and high-profile scams in the crypto space,” she explains. “We also had to prove our model and show that Smobler was not just about virtual LAND sales — it was about brand storytelling, engaging experiences, real-world utility, and community-building.”

Among her proudest moments is Herstory, a project that encourages young women into technology careers by having them create and own digital assets. She is direct about the misconceptions she wants gone: that women are not interested in tech or lack the skills, and that a woman in tech has to be a coder.