Get To Know The 13 Malaysians In This Year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 List
They’re young, brilliant and ambitious: meet the 13 Malaysian entrepreneurs whose achievements in industries of e-commerce, the arts, social entrepreneurship and more have earned them a well-deserved place in this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2018 list, featuring the disruptive and risk-taking individuals selected from more than 2,000 nominations across 24 countries in Asia.
1. Amira Geneid
Championing the cause of inclusion in the beauty and cosmetics market is 25-year old Amira Geneid, founder and CEO of Zahara, a Muslim-friendly beauty startup offering a line of cruelty-free and halal cosmetics. Amira is the sole Malaysian listed in The Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Class of 2018 under the category of arts.
2. Lim Yuet Kim
Together with her co-founders Lee Swee Lin and Suzanne Ling, Kim conceptualised the idea for the Picha Project, a social enterprise that lets users purchase traditional home-cooked food prepared by refugees in Malaysia. Approximately half the profits in this business goes to the refugee families involved in the food preparation.
3. Lee Swee Lin
Together wih her co-founders Lim Yuet Kim and Suzanne Ling, Swee Lin founded the Picha Project. Swee Yin and her then college-mates Kim and Suzanne volunteered regularly as teachers at a refugee school in Cheras before settling on the idea for a social enterprise that would empower such refugees. For their empowering social work, the innovative trio also received the Edge Inspiring Young Leader’s Award in 2017.
4. Suzanne Ling
Picha Project’s third co-founder Suzanne was on the verge of completing her degree when the trio founded this social enterprise. Fixated on furthering this worthy cause, Suzanne and her co-founders put their idea into motion, and were soon accepted into the MaGIC accelerator programme for the Picha Project, subsequently receiving training, business mentorship and a grant of RM30,000.
5. Vinesh Sinha
The 29-year old founder and managing director of FatHopes Energy Vinesh Sinha earned his spot under the industry, manufacturing and energy category of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list thanks to his company’s efforts in turning Malaysia’s food industry waste oils into biofuels and selling them to companies all over the world. Last year, Vinesh was nominated for the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of The Year award.
6. Raeesa Sya
Raeesa Sya’s flair for technology and the beauty industry led her to found Orkid Cosmetics, a halal and syariah-compliant line of beauty products that spiked in popularity over Instagram. Raeesa was listed among Tech in Asia’s 12 Under 30 promising Southeast Asian Entrepreneurs in 2016, also co-founding online beauty and grooming services platform Bfab and founding tech-beauty start-up Lulu the year before.
7. Wilson Beh
27-year-old investment banker-turned-entrepreneur co-founded PolicyStreet in 2016, an online insurance technology platform that exists to make financial stability a greater reality for the underprivileged via affordable and accessible insurance products targeted at the urban poor and middle-income groups.
8. Winnie Chua
Leaving her background as an actuarial and strategy specialist at insurance firm Allianz, Winnie co-founded PolicyStreet together with Wilson Beh, Lee Yen Ming and Jason Lee. PolicyStreet raised US$500,000 from venture-capitalist firm KK Fund and covered more than a thousand people within a year of operation.
9. Jason Lee
A firm believer in the potential of blockchain and cryptocurrency, Jason Lee’s position as expansion director for Australia and New Zealand at NEM.io Foundation has him working with enterprises of various industries, helping them to adopt NEM blockchain technology for greater economic growth.
10. Shila Amzah
The 27-year-old award-winning songstress Shila landed a spot in the entertainment category of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list. Famed for breaking into the competitive Mandopop industry with her Mandarin and Cantonese-language hits, she’s currently based in China on a mission to promote great religious inclusiveness in the country with her musical influence.
11. Ammar Roslizar
Recognising a market for Muslim-friendly tourism packages, ARBA Travel & Tours managing director Ammar co-founded this travel agency with Ammar Shahrin in 2014 to promote halal tourism, providing everything from Muslim tour guides to specially-curated travel itineraries that include prayer times, halal restaurants and more.
12. Ammar Shahrin
The second half the co-founding duo behind ARBA Travel & Tours is director of operations. Since its conception, the company has expanded from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul, with plans to establish a presence in Jakarta by the end of next year. The co-founders were listed among the top 50 SMEs in Malaysia by the SME Corporation of Malaysia and Deloitte in 2017.
13. Malaysian-based entrepreneur Jonathan Weins
28-year old investment banker-turned-foodtech entrepreneur Jonathan Weins co-founded dahmakan in an effort to bridge the gap between consumers and affordable choices for quality food. Dahmakan’s food delivery services are now enhanced by the skills of a talented team of chefs and the presence of an in-house AI system that handles logistics.
*The original news: Get To Know The 13 Malaysians In This Year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 List | Tatler Asia
