'Girls in Tech' launches in Singapore Girls in Tech (GIT) was set up by Adriana Gascoigne in 2007 in San Francisco as a non-profit organisation. Since then the group has grown to more than 10,000 members and is represented across 38 cities including London, Tokyo, Dubai and Shanghai. Among the most powerful Silicon Valley women who have attended GIT events include Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, and Marissa Meyer, the first female employee at Google. One expat who has joined the Singapore group is American Carmen Benitez, who is founder and managing director of technology start-up Fetch Plus. She said: "As a woman entrepreneur of a technology company that is currently seeking capital investment, I think it is very hard as it feels at times during investor pitch sessions that I'm being regarded more of an open-house event rather than a business seeking serious investors." Many female expats working in IT face a double challenge - adjusting to a new culture while dealing with a male-dominated workplace. GIT also focuses on creating opportunities for mentorship, recruitment, education and business collaboration. Ms Benitez added: "I have an appreciation of how developing markets as well as the understanding of how the Western spirit drives business innovation." Singapore is keen on becoming the next technology hub, with a strong culture of internet start-ups and a large talent pool.