The grief came in waves. First, someone she loved died by suicide. Then came news from home: her father had been diagnosed with cancer. Dr Loretta Chen was in her twenties, thousands of miles away, midway through her PhD in California. “It was back-to-back,” she recalled. “I had made it this far. I was on scholarship. I felt I just couldn’t give up. But I knew I needed to come home.”
In a rare cross-border arrangement, both the University of California – Los Angeles (UCLA) and the National University of Singapore (NUS) worked together to support her. NUS recognised her credits and granted her a full scholarship to complete her doctorate in Singapore, making her the first to do so in Theatre Studies. “They didn’t have to do that. But they did,” she said. “It’s not just the academics I remember, it’s the grace.”
That moment would go on to shape the way she lives, leads and builds. Today, Dr Chen is the founder and CEO of Smobler, a next-generation tech studio that harnesses artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain and spatial design to create immersive experiences with purpose. Her work spans some of the most cutting-edge platforms in Web3, but its ethos remains deeply human. The grace she received, she now extends—through technology designed to uplift, empower and include.
A STAGE FOR BECOMING
Theatre wasn’t a conventional choice in 1990s Singapore. “Just telling a taxi uncle you were doing theatre studies raised eyebrows,” Dr Chen joked. But what seemed risky proved transformational. Her time at NUS offered a rigorous, mind-opening experience that delved into semiotics, cultural identity and the construction of meaning—far beyond performance alone.
Dr Chen was among the earliest cohorts, a tight-knit group she remembers as rebellious, entrepreneurial and creative. Under mentors like theatre doyen Dr KK Seet, she found not just academic guidance but a kind of artistic permission. “He was so authentic, flamboyant, brilliant and fearless,” she said. “Having someone like that lead the department at a time when it wasn’t easy to be yourself? That was powerful.”
Those years gave her the space to find community and a voice. Students spent long nights together in rehearsals and over suppers, bonded by a shared sense of possibility. “Theatre back then felt like a way of shaping identity and society,” she recalled. That early immersion in collaboration, creativity and critical thinking continues to influence her leadership today—anchored in empathy, inclusion and the belief that everyone deserves a place on the stage.
THE TECHNOPRENEUR EMERGES
Dr Chen’s post-NUS journey defies easy categorisation. She became a theatre director, TV presenter, radio personality, author and entrepreneur—co-founding a creative agency with her brother. Even while juggling multiple ventures, she stayed close to education, guest lecturing, designing programmes for incarcerated populations and mentoring students across Hawaii and Singapore. “Whether it’s a classroom, a book or the metaverse, I’ve always viewed these as platforms to unlock potential and create community.”
That belief crystallised during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she saw three fault lines converge: creators were deemed non-essential, businesses scrambled to digitise, and public trust in institutions continued to erode. “That’s when Smobler was born,” she said. “We wanted to build a platform that could bridge those divides.”
BUILDING WORLDS WITH PURPOSE
Today, Smobler operates at the intersection of AI, blockchain and storytelling. Headquartered in Singapore with operations in Brazil and the USA, where Dr Chen is based, the company is known for pushing the boundaries of Web3 with a conscience.
Their projects include Bhutanverse, a national metaverse created for the Kingdom of Bhutan; A11Y Park, a virtual playground designed for people with disabilities; and Equalverse, which celebrates equality and inclusion through art and education.
They’ve built immersive experiences for global and local clients alike, from Teletubbies and NTUC Income to Mediacorp, and an upcoming blockchain infrastructure project with the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
But it’s more than the clients or technology that excites her, it’s the ability to scale empathy. “Women and children can’t be what they can’t see,” she said. “It’s important to create content that features people of all abilities, so we normalise that conversation.”
A WOMAN IN THE ROOM
The tech space remains male-dominated, and Dr Chen doesn’t shy away from calling it out. “Usually, folks will talk to my male colleagues and assume they’re the ones in charge until they find out I’m the CEO,” she said. She’s often the only woman in the room—on panels, in pitch meetings, at incubators. But she sees her presence as both a responsibility and opportunity. “We need to change the stereotype,” she said.
Smobler is currently about 70 per cent female, but Dr Chen’s commitment to representation goes far beyond gender. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core to her leadership and funding decisions. “I’ve turned down money from potential investors whose values are completely misaligned with ours,” she said. “If I said yes to that, then I can’t be true to the content I’m producing.”
WHAT DRIVES HER
Dr Chen speaks often of gratitude: to NUS, to her professors and to her parents, who never pressured her to conform. “My parents raised three unconventional kids and never once told us we had to be doctors or lawyers,” she said. “That freedom was a gift I’ll never forget.” Her eldest brother is Edmund Chen, a well-known actor and TV personality, while her second brother, Eric, is an entrepreneur.
She credits her path to a series of open doors—scholarships, mentors and moments of kindness—and tries to pay that forward through everything she builds. Smobler steers clear of the hyperviolence and hypersexualisation common in gaming, focusing instead on storytelling that champions education, empathy, inclusion and sustainability. “We always adhere to values like diversity, equity, access, love and leadership,” she said. Dr Chen doesn’t have children of her own, but she sees her legacy in the people she uplifts. “I’m a lamp, lifeboat or ladder,” she said. “Here to empower others and light up their lives.”
WHAT’S NEXT
The coming months are packed. Smobler is preparing to launch four major initiatives: Smobler XR, a SaaS platform for immersive commerce; an AI tool to help food entrepreneurs navigate complex regulatory hurdles; a digital bunkering solution for port logistics; and a new accelerator programme through its game studio.
In October, the team will also host NOVA, its flagship event in Singapore, which blends real-world activations with immersive digital experiences. This year’s edition will be presented by the New York Stock Exchange, with Gemini and Nifty Gateway Studio as esteemed platinum sponsors.
Even as Smobler scales in ambition and reach, Dr Chen remains grounded in the values first formed on that modest NUS stage — curiosity, courage and the conviction that stories, when shaped with care, can remake the world. “I feel incredible gratitude to the hands that have helped me,” she said. “My whole career is really about paying it forward.”
