Growing up, Megha Sharma was told by a teacher that Computer Engineering was a “boys program.” Having just received the Global Association of Women in Payments Rising Star Award for 2021, Sharma is happy to have ignored the advice. 

The award, given to a woman who has demonstrated leadership and professional excellence in the payments industry, was granted to Sharma in her role as Co-Founder and Head of Technology at Mydoh, powered by Royal Bank of Canada.

“Building Mydoh from the ground up has been a highlight of my career. To me, this award means that we’ve been doing it right,” says Sharma. “It recognizes what we’ve built, but also our focus on integrity, diversity and inclusion, and our efforts to promote payments as a career.” 

Mydoh is a digital app and Smart Cash Card designed to help kids gain real money skills while giving parents the ability to coach, guide, or just keep an eye on their kids’ earning and spending. Kids can learn money basics, earn and spend - and it all starts with a parent account. 
“Security was at the forefront of all of our work – we had to figure out how to tie into the bank securely on public cloud, and make sure that RBC’s security standards were respected,” she says. 

Now, Sharma and her team are focused on building and scaling Mydoh, and she’s happy to be able to do this in an environment that offers more rigor, structure and support than she found working in the startup world. “With RBC, I’ve been able to focus more on building a business and product versus worrying about paying the bills,” adds Sharma.