Business magazine Forbes released yesterday (May 25) its seventh annual 30 Under 30 Asia list, which features young entrepreneurs, leaders and trailblazers — all under the age of 30 — across the region.
They have been recognised by Forbes for disrupting industries and tackling major global issues, inspiring change and driving innovation in their respective fields amid the challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Out of the long list of 300 notable honourees, 34 outstanding individuals across different industries hail from Singapore, including over a dozen non-Singaporeans who are based and operate from here.
Out of these 34 individuals, we have shortlisted further the entrepreneurial ones and made a breakdown of why they deserve to be on this prestigious list:
1. Grace Ling (24), founder of GRACE LING
Category: The Arts (Art & Style, Food & Drink)
Launched in 2020, Grace Ling’s eponymous label combines 3D technology, CAD software and CGI to produce high fashion pieces with zero waste.
The New York-based Singaporean studied at Parsons School of Design and has been featured in Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar. This year, Jennifer Lopez wore one of Ling’s creations in a shoot for The New York Times, followed by another in her live performance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Model Karlie Kloss, YouTuber Emma Chamberlain and actress Paige Desorbo have also been spotted wearing GRACE LING.
2. Hafiz Kasman (29), Joshua Phua (28) and Benjamin Wong (28), co-founders of Kinobi
Category: Consumer Technology
Founded in January 2021 by the three Singapore Management University graduates, Kinobi helps students draft resumes and cover letters, as well as offers short online courses and job interview practice.
Kinobi claims to have helped 400,000 students and works with over 60 universities across Indonesia, Singapore and the Philippines. Kinobi also onboarded the Indonesia Career Center Network, with 200 member universities.
In December 2021, it raised US$1 million in seed funding from an Indonesian venture fund and angel investors including Rainforest CEO JJ Chai, TiffinLabs CEO Soon Sze Meng and PropertyGuru Chairman Olivier Lim.
3. Shaun John Cheetham (28), Edmund Chew (29), Derrick Lee (28) and Quah Zheng Wei (29), co-founders of Accredify
Category: Enterprise Technology
The four co-founders created Accredify in 2019 to provide a way for organisations and individuals to issue and verify tamper-proof and traceable documents digitally.
So far, the company says it has processed over 11 million verifications for 1.5 million issued documents.
They also co-created Singapore’s national COVID-19 test standard, HealthCerts, with Singapore’s Ministry of Health and others. The company says it earned US$500,000 last year and expects to quadruple that this year.
4. Benjamin Harris (28), founder of watchTowr
Category: Enterprise Technology
Harris was excluded from school at 16 after hacking into his school network and decided to start a professional cyber security career. After a decade in the industry, Harris launched the cybersecurity startup watchTowr in August 2021.
The Singapore-based startup raised US$2.25 million in seed funding from Wavemaker Partners and Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital in February.
watchTowr is accredited by CREST, the global certification body for cybersecurity professionals, where Harris has also been a board member since 2019 and an assessor since 2016.
5. Kaniyet Rayev (26), co-founder of Appboxo
Category: Enterprise Technology
Kaniyet Rayev and fellow co-founder Nursultan Keneshbekov (over 30) had intially set out to build a travel superapp. Instead, they ended up creating Appboxo, a platform that enables building superapp or mini-app ecosystems by easing integration with external applications.
Its Shopboxo product also enables creating online stores and launching them as mini-apps within a company’s superapp partner ecosystem.
Appboxo currently works with 10 clients, including e-wallets Paytm and GCash, powering over 400 mini-app integrations. It has raised US$8.2 million from Gradient Ventures (Google’s AI-focused fund), 500 Global, RTP Global and Antler.
6. Jeremy Hon, Lee Kai Yi, Eugene Ng and Janson Seah (all 28), co-founders of StaffAny
Category: Enterprise Technology
The four co-founders met at the National University of Singapore’s Overseas Colleges program and started StaffAny, a workforce management solution for companies hiring workers by the hour.
StaffAny helps small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) optimise scheduling, consolidate timesheets, and boost labour productivity. Last year, StaffAny claimed to have tracked over 11 million employee hours and helped clients reduce labour cost by up to three per cent.
It has raised US$4.2 million to date from investors such as East Ventures, Far East Ventures and GGV Capital.
7. Peter Kristianto Widjaja (28), co-founder of Hubble
Category: Enterprise Technology
With a family background in construction, Widjaja understands the industry’s pain points. Hence, the software engineer co-founded Hubble, a Singapore-based company offering software solutions to help manage and monitor construction projects from various aspects, such as permits, workforce, machinery and material supply.
Hubble claims to have 2,300 registered companies as clients and has raised US$8.5 million in a series B funding in February, led by Tin Men Capital.
8. Zheng Zee (29), co-founder of SpaceChain
Category: Enterprise Technology
Singapore-based SpaceChain aims to fortify the firewalls of cryptocurrency firms by building blockchain in outer space.
Co-founded by Chinese entrepreneur Zheng Zee in 2017, SpaceChain has already launched six satellite payloads into orbit including a multi-signature blockchain wallet for the European Space Agency, providing an additional layer of IT security in the International Space Station.
Backed by cryptocurrency billionaire Tim Draper (Zheng’s mentor), SpaceChain plans to launch a satellite phone that would allow investors to trade even in the most remote places on earth. Zheng hopes to launch the service later this year.
9. Rio Hoe (29) and Guadalupe Lazaro (24), co-founders of Ease Healthcare
Category: Healthcare & Science
The duo co-founded Ease Healthcare and developed a comprehensive women’s healthcare app that incorporates education, community support networks, digital tools, access to services and professional care to help women overcome barriers and get care and support.
Users can see doctors virtually and get services including prescriptions for birth control and at-home STI testing.
10. Theodoric Chew (25), co-founder of Intellect
Category: Healthcare & Science
After battling anxiety, Theodoric Chew dropped out of Raffles Institution a decade ago when he was 16 years old.
In October 2019, Chew launched Intellect, a digital platform for mental wellness that connects people to therapists online. The timing was prescient as demand for the app skyrocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Intellect says it now has over three million users and counts Dell, foodpanda and telecom giant Singtel among its key corporate customers. These companies provide Intellect’s services as part of their employee benefit programs.
In January, Intellect raised US$10 million in a Series A round from investors led by New York-based HOF Capital.
11. Aniket Singh Rajput (26), founder of Neuroglee Therapeutics
Category: Healthcare & Science
Neuroglee Therapeutics is developing digital therapies for patients who suffer from mild cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease.
The company says it is using artificial intelligence and machine learning to create personalised, app-based programs that supplement existing treatments.
It is also partnering with Mayo Clinic. Neuroglee Therapeutics raised US$10 million last September in a Series A round, led by Openspace Ventures and EDBI.
12. Chong Voon Foo (23) and Daryl Lim (26), co-founders of Augmentus
Category: Industry, Manufacturing & Energy
The duo co-founded AI robotics software company Augmentus, which uses proprietary technologies to simplify the programming of industrial robots, eliminating the need for the massive amounts of code typically required to program robots to perform even simple tasks.
The team of 15 has formed partnerships with the world’s largest robotic companies including ABB, Universal Robots and Nach. Its clients include Fujitsu, Johnson & Johnson, P&G, ST Engineering, and A*STAR and others across the globe.
The company says over 60 per cent of Augmentus users are non-technical operators with little robot experience.
13. Animesh Jha (25), co-founder and CEO of Volt14 Solutions
Category: Industry, Manufacturing & Energy
Jha co-founded nanotechnology startup Volt14 Solutions to develop materials that can enable lithium-ion batteries to double their energy storage capacity, while being compatible with existing technologies and infrastructures.
In 2019, Volt14 received US$1.3 million in funding from a group led by 500 Startups, HKSTP Ventures and Entrepreneur First.
14. Arthur Lee (28), founder of SAI.TECH
Category: Industry, Manufacturing & Energy
Arthur Lee, also known by his Chinese name Li Risheng, founded SAI.Tech in 2019.
The Singapore-headquartered company develops energy saving technologies that involve capturing and recycling waste heat, and has attracted bitcoin miners.
SAI.Tech is now seeking to go public in the U.S. through merger with special purpose acquisition company TradeUP Global Corporation. Previously, it raised funding from investors including Bitmain, Amino Capital and Kaimai Capital.
15. Rayner Loi (27), co-founder of Lumitics
Category: Industry, Manufacturing & Energy
Loi co-founded Lumitics to tackle food waste. It uses AI and machine learning to help chefs track ordering, usage and waste and helps them make better procurement and production decisions to minimise what they throw away.
The startup works with clients including Accor Group, Hyatt Group, Four Seasons Hotel Group, Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways.
It claims that on average, their smart food tracker, called Insight, has helped reduce 40 per cent of clients’ food waste and saved over 500,000 meals so far.
16. Rebecca Xing (29), CEO and founding member of Trustana
Category: Industry, Manufacturing & Energy
Xing is the CEO and founding member of Trustana, a curated cross-border B2B marketplace funded by Singapore’s Temasek.
Founded in 2020, the startup claims to serve over 5,000 SMEs in China and Asia Pacific region.
Previously Trustana’s Head of Product and General Manager, Xing has contributed several significant milestones to the startup, including forming a strategic collaboration with OneConnect Financial Technology, an associate of Ping An Group.
The partnership, which launched in June 2021, enables SMEs in Singapore and ASEAN to access a larger pool of buyers in China.
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Featured Image Credit: Forbes
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