Co-founder and president, Airwallex

Running a fintech unicorn in her 20s

At just 28, Airwallex co-founder Liu has already led her start-up to unicorn status. The cross-border payments company provides technology to facilitate international transactions in foreign exchange markets, and recently closed a US$100 million Series C funding round. This February, Airwallex announced a global partnership with Visa to launch a borderless card for business.

See also: 5 Homegrown Businesses Founded And Managed By Women That We Love

Co-founder and CEO, WafaGames

Blazing a path for female gamers

Gong’s start-up has made waves in the gaming scene thanks to its distinctive game experiences, cutting-edge technologies and well-rounded, realistic female characters in an industry still rife with misogyny. Gong is also the founder of ai.Law, a robotics start-up that makes law accessible and affordable, which has now served three million people—67 per cent of them women. The serial entrepreneur was a child prodigy, becoming China’s youngest national chess champion at age 11, and has gone on to establish the non-profit World’s Youngest Voices to sponsor outstanding young students.

Co-founder and CEO, iDreamSky

Taking mobile gaming to the next level

Ko’s company iDreamSky is the largest independent mobile gaming platform in China. Backed by internet giant Tencent, it went public on the Hong Kong exchange in late 2018. Ko was a serial entrepreneur before establishing iDreamSky, which also has a chain of experience stores, Good Time Video Game Club.

Founder and CEO, Yi+

Using artificial intelligence to make computers’ visual recognition smarter

Zhang is the founder and CEO of Yi+, which builds visual engines for artificial intelligence systems. In 2019, Yi+ broke the world record for accuracy in winning the Pascal VOC comp4 object detection challenge––becoming the world’s first computer vision software to exceed 90 per cent accuracy. Zhang’s start-up has worked with clients including Huawei, Weibo, Qihoo 360, JD.com and Qupai. The company’s sub-brand, Clothing+, works as a visual search engine for fashion products.

Founder and CEO, Remakehub

Reducing waste through creative upcycling

Chao is the founder of social enterprise Remakehub. The environmentalist and sustainable fashion advocate promotes the reduction of textile waste through high-tech recycled materials and creative upcycling. She has been made a United Nations Young Leader for the Sustainable Development Goals and last year won Gen.T’s R.A.W. Prize grant, which supports an organisation that positively impacts responsible consumption.

See also: Ko Chuan Zhen Of Solar Plus On Future Of Renewable Energy In Malaysia

Founder and CEO, Sandbox VR

Introducing immersive virtual reality experiences to the world

Sandbox VR almost didn’t happen. With no investors and few customers, it was not until the immersive virtual reality experience went viral on social media that the phone started ringing—and didn’t stop. Since then, its founder, Zhao, has opened retail locations in five countries, with more to come. In 2019, it raised a total of US$83 million, with celebrity backers including Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom and Will Smith.

Co-founder and managing partner, Oriente

Seeing the potential in providing people with affordable credit

Chu wants to make financial services more inclusive. The co-founder of Oriente is leveraging artificial intelligence, machine learning and data to offer real-time credit scoring, digital lending and other tailored services designed to empower millions in Southeast Asia’s rapidly growing economies. The company has already rolled out financial services apps in the Philippines and Indonesia, and in late 2018 announced US$105 million in funding, one of the largest initial funding rounds by any start-up in Asia.

Co-founder and director, Lalamove

Getting Asia moving

Lalamove’s Hui could never be accused of resting on his laurels. He co-founded the logistics and delivery app in 2013, and by 2017 Lalamove had a presence in more than 100 cities around the world. In 2019 the company raised US$300 million in its Series D funding, taking the total raised to more than US$460 million, with a valuation well clear of the US$1 billion that grants it membership to the exclusive unicorn club. Further moves in Southeast Asia and India are expected to follow.

Founder and partner, Newtype

Championing start-up founders working in frontier technologies

As founder of Newtype (previously Zeroth.AI), Lo runs a team of ex-founders of successful start-ups who are primed to pass on their expertise to the next generation of entrepreneurs, particularly those working in artificial intelligence, machine learning, blockchain and robotics. The company has already worked with 60 fledgling companies from 18 countries to become one of the most active artificial intelligence investors in the world.

Co-founder and CEO, PressLogic

Using artificial intelligence to predict the future of social media

It started with a proprietary artificial intelligence system that uses data analytics to predict the topics that will trend on social media among specific groups. PressLogic showed its clients how this could boost engagement by launching its own lifestyle content brands that now claim eight million followers and more than 700 million monthly impressions. Cheung, co-founder and CEO, has plenty more planned after the company raised US$10 million in Series A funding from Meitu in late 2018.

Founder and director, The Purpose Business

Encouraging Asian businesses to grow more sustainably

Gone are the days when companies could do business without considering the consequences. Responsible practices have become crucial, and in Hong Kong there’s no one better to help companies implement these than Dwyer, founder of The Purpose Business, who counts MTR Corporation, Jardine Matheson, Swire Properties, Huawei and Vitasoy among her clients. Dwyer is a World Economic Forum (WEF) Young Global Leader and sits on the WEF Global Future Council on the Future of the Environment.

Co-founder, Bye Bye Plastic Bags

Encouraging society to say no to plastic bags

In 2013, when she was just 12, Wijsen teamed up with her sister Isabel to start social initiative Bye Bye Plastic Bags, which has become one of the biggest plastic pollution awareness movements in Asia. Spanning almost 30 locations worldwide, Bye Bye Plastic Bags educates and encourages young people to refuse single-use plastics.

See also: These Malaysian Activists & Lifestyle Brands Make Sustainability Easy

Co-founder and CEO, Supahands

Changing the future of human capital through artificial and human intelligence

Supahands provides data at scale and speed for artificial intelligence products and businesses using a hybrid of human intelligence and machines. Koh’s role is to ensure that companies have the right team with the right tools to do their job exceptionally. Supahands has grown its SupaAgent cloud workforce across Southeast Asia to about 4,000 people.

See also: Supahands' CEO Mark Koh Credits Endurance Racing For His Entrepreneurial Success

Climate change advisor, Centre for Governance and Political Studies

Fighting the climate crisis on multiple fronts

Siew lobbies for education that focuses on climate change and sustainability to be made mandatory for all. He launched the Accelerating Climate Action initiative, which seeks to raise US$1 billion for climate entrepreneurs in Asia. He has been made an advisory mentor to the UK-based Queen’s Young Leaders programme.

Co-founder and CEO, The Biji-biji Initiative

Putting the science into sustainability

Long before zero-waste was a buzzword, Singh and three of his friends were promoting sustainable living through creative projects. His social enterprise Biji-biji Initiative merges the science behind sustainability with a passion for design and art. He is also the co-founder of Me.reka Makerspace in Kuala Lumpur’s Publika Shopping Gallery, which features a textile lab, a wood and metal workshop, an electronics lab, a food technology kitchen, 3D printers, laser engraving and virtual reality headsets.

See also: How Biji-Biji Initiative Produced Handmade Face Shields Within 5 Days

Founder and CEO, Thinking Machines

Helping organisations get smart about data

Sy’s data-science consultancy has built machine-learning models for organisations including the World Bank and Unicef. Her mission is to help organisations use data to make better decisions. Case in point: Thinking Machines has designed a data model to predict deep poverty, doing in one month what used to take statistics agencies seven years.

Founder and president, LM10 Corporation

Working towards making the Philippines self-sufficient in food production

An Argentine who has made the Philippines home for the past eight years, Bolzico founded LM10 as a one-man show, naming the company after Lionel Messi and his jersey number. It has since grown to 100 employees and become a force to be reckoned with in the Philippine agricultural sector. Providing technologies that give farmers opportunities for sustainable growth, it also plays a leading role in the animal rendering industry, cattle genetics and the commercial feeds market.

Co-founder and CEO, EngageRocket

Improving workplace culture with data-driven employee feedback

Tapping into the rising human resources technology market, Leong co-founded EngageRocket in 2016. The cloud-based software allows multinationals and small and medium-sized enterprises alike to collect and analyse employee feedback in real time. With the goal of helping leaders foster a better workplace culture, he has led the employee engagement platform into 20 industries. It is now used by leading companies such as Sephora and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.

Co-founder and CEO, Zilingo

Growing the next e-commerce unicorn

Bose’s company Zilingo is just four years old, but it is already valued at nearly US$1 billion. The idea behind the fashion and lifestyle marketplace, one of Southeast Asia’s largest, hit the entrepreneur when she was picking up bargains in Bangkok’s Chatuchak Weekend Market. Today, Zilingo aggregates small fashion retailers from the Thai capital, Singapore and Jakarta. Investors including Sofina and Sequoia Capital India contributed to the company raising US$226 million in Series D funding in 2019.

See also: Bright Young Things: Elaine Hong Of Enya

Co-founder and COO, Style Theory

Revolutionising the way fashion is consumed

Lim started subscription-based fashion rental platform Style Theory in 2016. Her mission: to provide a sustainable solution to the issue of why people buy new clothes but feel like they never have enough to wear. Style Theory has forged partnerships with more than 1,000 brands, amassed a collection of more than 25,000 items and has more than 80,000 users.

See also: Tatler Hot List: Asia’s Biggest Fashion Stars

Founder and CEO, Sustenir Group

Employing sustainable farming methods to maximise yield and minimise waste

At urban farming company Sustenir Group’s 10,000sqft farm, which grows strawberries, kale and edible flowers commercially, Swan and his team employ sustainable techniques such as controlled environment agriculture, vertical farming and hydroponics. It aims to use land optimally, increasing yield while reducing water consumption. Swan’s green fingers must be genetic. His great, great, great grandmother was Granny Smith, inventor of the eponymous apple.

Co-founder and partner, Plan b

Creating tools to facilitate sustainable development

Yu aims to make design and urban planning sustainable through Plan b, the consultancy he co-founded. His work provides an integrated set of tools for sustainable development, and he has reactivated existing urban spaces and created new ones such as the Center for Innovation Taipei and ParkUp. Justin has also founded and invested in several start-ups, and is currently a member of the youth advisory group to Taiwan’s Executive Yuan.

Founder and CEO, Fastwork

Streamlining Southeast Asia’s freelance economy

Championing the freelance economies of Thailand and Indonesia, Phichitkul’s talent outsourcing platform Fastwork has matched more than 30,000 freelancers with more than 300,000 businesses. Its aim is to ensure that freelancers get better pay and work-life balance while clients get access to the talent they need.

Founder & CEO, Eko

Bringing greater efficiency and productivity to the workplace

The son of Suphachai Chearavanont, CEO of True Corp, one of Thailand’s largest public companies, and grandson of Thailand’s wealthiest man, Chearavanont has been making his own way as founder of Eko, a communications and operations platform designed to improve staff engagement and allow businesses to work more efficiently. In 2018, the company raised US$20 million in Series B funding.

See also: The New Asia: The Most Powerful, Influential & Stylish People To Know In 2020