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

Before starting in the tech industry, Loretta’s career spanned the creative arts, media, academia, and entrepreneurship. She recalls that one of the challenges she faced early in her career was that she needed to work twice as hard to prove herself.

Working as a professor, the then 24-year-old Loretta won a Best Teaching Award at a tertiary institute. Instead of feeling joyful after winning the award, Loretta—the younger sister and sister-in-law of homegrown actors Edmund Chen and Xiang Yun—was disappointed when her female Dean told her she should not 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. This made her work even harder every day to be the best version of herself at work.

In 2021, Loretta founded Smobler, a game studio and metaverse architect that helps brands, enterprises, institutions, educators, and creators build games and immersive virtual experiences. Today, Smobler has expanded to include real-world blockchain solutions and AI applications.

During the initial stages of starting Smobler, Loretta encountered her fair share of challenges. One of which was convincing businesses that Web3 wasn’t simply hype but a real and sustainable ecosystem.

“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 story-telling, engaging experiences, real-world utility, and community-building.”

Her efforts in building Smobler have paid off, and one of her proudest moments was creating Herstory, a project aimed at empowering young women to pursue careers in tech by creating and owning digital assets.

Speaking of women working in the technology world, Loretta wants to dispel common misconceptions. “One is that women are not interested in tech or lack the technical skills to succeed,” she points out.

“The truth is that women bring incredible creativity, empathy, and problem-solving skills to the table—qualities that are essential for innovation. The second big misconception is that women in tech need to be coders. While technical skills are valuable, leadership, vision, and creativity are just as critical.”

Photography Lawrence Teo
Art direction Adeline Eng
Hair and Makeup Aung Apichai/Artistry Studios using NARS

Brought to you in partnership with Singtel, the inspiring Innovators featured in our SG60 issue are women who are driving Singapore’s progress through their bold choices and achievements. With their stories of resilience, reinvention and selflessness, we hope to inspire and empower the next generation of women to take charge of their paths and turn possibilities into reality. Singtel wishes all women a Happy International Women’s Day and Happy SG60.

To learn more about the 60 women who have shaped Singapore as we know it today, click here.