BANGKOK, Thailand - Jeklin Kim is an expert in fun. For 12 years, the sunny South Korean was a game designer at MapleStory, the chibi-style monster hunting adventure game hugely popular in the noughties.

These days, though, the 40-year-old channels her dopamine-spiking skills into making games that improve the hand mobility of children with disabilities.

The company she co-founded in 2023, GemGem Therapeutics, integrates hand exercises into mobile games played by thousands of kids in hospitals, special education schools and homes – work that won her first place in the East Asia category of the Cartier Women’s Initiative awards on June 10.

Cartier’s global entrepreneurship programme supports women-run impact businesses with grant money, business training, networking opportunities and access to a global community of current and former finalists, as well as mentors, jury members and coaches. The programme comprises 10 categories, including nine regional awards and the Science & Technology Pioneer Award.

Speaking to The Straits Times the morning after, Kim gets candid: “You know, it wasn’t noble in the beginning. It was something (I built) to help me with my son.”

As mother to a seven-year-old boy with cerebral palsy, Kim knew intimately the pains of coaxing a child into doing their occupational therapy drills, the “joyless” reptition of hand gestures so crucial to their progress.

“He would not do any therapy at home. I spent so much money on therapy but (sessions) are only an hour of the week. If kids are awake for the whole day, in a week that adds up to 100 hours (wasted).

“It was important that he did therapy at home between those sessions but he wouldn’t listen to me, he would even run away. It was so frustrating that I just made a game to make sure that h...