Who? The Indonesian entrepreneur launched Ruma a decade ago, and the social enterprise got him noticed by the UN after it recruited and trained thousands of low-income entrepreneurs in Indonesia to provide services to their communities through phones and other Android devices. Today, he is busy trying to turn Indonesia into a cashless society with Go-Pay.

The company Digital payments are becoming increasingly popular in Indonesia, but until the launch of Go-Pay, the e-wallet from ride-hailing app Go-Jek, 99 percent of transactions were carried out using cash. Go-Pay has rapidly become the country’s e-wallet market leader.

Talking points The global move to mobile payments will eventually make us all cashless, transforming the way we work and live. Haryopratomo is one of a few key players leading the charge in Asia.

Quote this “The real competition is how do we move people away from cash? Once you have people moving away from cash, there are so many things that you can do.”

Who? In just four years, this prodigiously successful 27-year-old has grown her Southeast Asian e-commerce startup Zilingo into a global platform with more than seven million active users. The site features fashion, beauty and lifestyle products, and is on the path to becoming Southeast Asia's next unicorn. 

The company Zilingo is headquartered in Singapore and helps independent fashion and lifestyle retailers sell directly to consumers. It works like other e-commerce marketplaces, allowing designers and brands to sign up and list their own products, and has been wildly successful partly because it has little competition in the region. Zilingo vets each seller by metrics including authenticity and pricing. If approved, they are given access to services like tech support, financing and insurance, with Zilingo taking up to 30 percent of each sale.

Talking points Zilingo is also investing in technology and looking to beef up its financial services arm, which helps apparel manufacturers find lenders willing to provide the short-term loans routinely used in fashion to cover the gap between producing a garment and getting paid by the customer. If it fills this niche, it will become one of the most powerful retail companies in Asia.

Quote this “We need to build trust in order to be taken seriously by businesses and consumers across the world. We need to make sure we have the best returns, the best customer care; all of that is an investment.”

Who? If you've ever frittered away half your day on your phone, you should get to know this name. Petter Neby is the founder and CEO of Punkt, a design-led Swiss company that has released a sleek modern phone that features calls, texts and GPS, but not social media or email.

The company Headquartered in Switzerland, Punkt was established to bring a breath of fresh air into the consumer electronics market with beautiful products that are functional but don't hog their owner's attention. The name Punkt is taken from the German word for full stop, symbolising the way the company’s products are built around simplicity, clarity and focus.

Talking points Rather than being retrogressive or anti-technology, Punkt products are designed to offer people a choice how much time they spend online. Its Punkt MP01 phone was pitched as an alternative to the smartphone scrollathon lifestyle and has been picked up by digital detoxers, who see it as an antidote to the obsessions smartphones were designed to create.

Quote this “Rather than just creating a new phone with a slightly new screen or different ergonomics, we’re asking people to question their fundamental relationship with technology. We soon found that the MP01 would unlikely serve as a solo device, but a supplementary one that you would use on holidays, weekends or when the office was closed."

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