Over the last two decades of her career, Meera Kaul has incubated, financed and promoted technology enabled ventures in US, Europe and the emerging markets of Middle East, Africa and Asia.

Meera Syal grew up in the mining village of Essington, in the West Midlands, a place she once famously described as "a cross between 'Twin Peaks' and 'Crossroads' ". Her work as a writer, in ...