By Chong Jinn Xiung
On a hot, sunny afternoon, we step into Sedania Innovator’s office in Petaling Jaya to meet its founder and managing director, Datuk Azrin Mohd Noor. The first thing that struck us wasn’t the mahogany desk or leather chairs—it was the Manchester United jersey and Marvel memorabilia scattered throughout the room.
There was a particular warmth in his voice when he spoke about his children, and the same genuine quality emerged when he recalled his father’s influence on his life’s journey. Despite overseeing a business that has generated RM78.07 million in revenue over an 18-month period ending 30 June 2024, Datuk Azrin is driven more by the adventure of building, learning and giving back than by financial figures. Each chapter, for him, is another opportunity to write a meaningful story.
INNOVATION WITH HEART
“People see our diversified portfolio and think there isn’t a common link between our businesses,” he began, settling into his chair. “But actually, if you really understand, it comes down to three principles that guide my every decision.”
Datuk Azrin spent his early years navigating the worlds of legal practice and corporate banking at D&C Bank (now RHB Bank). In 1995, as head of sports and entertainment, he brought top-tier football to Malaysian TV screens, including the Premier League and global tournaments such as the FIFA World Cup.
Fast forward to today, and Datuk Azrin steers a diverse ship—Sedania Innovator—built from his 2004 founding of IDOTTV and its revolutionary Airtime Sharing platform, which had reached 300,000 daily transactions by 2008.
Following its listing in 2013, the company now extends from fintech innovation grounded in Islamic principles, to organic baby care cherished across 26 countries, and wellness brands that honour tradition with a modern heartbeat. The transition from media maverick to sustainable business builder might have seemed unlikely, but there is an invisible thread connecting everything.
FAMILY. KNOWLEDGE. IMPACT.
To Datuk Azrin, his children aren’t just his pride—they are the foundation of his purpose. “They’re my greatest assets and my best investments,” he says, his voice carrying the weight of legacy. Every venture, from the peer-to-peer service he pioneered in 2004 to the organic baby products now crossing borders, aims to build a better world for them. It isn’t about leaving behind wealth; it’s about leaving behind worth.
Next comes knowledge—not noise, but insight that truly makes a difference. He often likens today’s information overload to the old adage: “Garbage in, garbage out.” He has made it his mission to cut through the clutter to find what truly helps. Whether it’s creating Malaysia’s first truly halal Islamic banking platform or developing biodegradable baby wipes, the question remains the same: does this knowledge genuinely improve lives?
Lastly, there is impact—the kind that ripples long after the original stone hits the water. He speaks of planting seeds unseen, creating systems and stories that outlast his own journey. “It’s not the buildings that you construct or the empires that you build. Instead, it’s the ripple effect of what you do today, in terms of compounding how it benefits many others.”
When he brought football to Malaysian families, he wasn’t thinking about TV ratings. “Today, I’m happy to see that at 10 o’clock on Saturday and Sunday nights, families gather around to watch football and have a good time.” That simple joy, multiplied across millions of homes, captures his philosophy perfectly.
CHALLENGING GIANTS
These guiding principles came alive most vividly in Offspring, Datuk Azrin’s bold entry into the competitive baby care market with a premium organic brand crafted to challenge entrenched FMCG giants through a completely different philosophy. What began as a modest Australian-made line in 2004 underwent a significant transformation in 2018, reimagining its identity and expanding its portfolio to meet the growing expectations of conscientious parents.
“There was a time when many big companies prioritised profit above all,” he said frankly. “Today’s parents want products that truly align with their values—sustainability, safety, and care.”
Offspring’s mission centres on protecting what Datuk Azrin sees as life’s purest form. “A baby, at birth, represents complete innocence, totally uncontaminated. Yet from that very first second, whether through the products we use or the choices we make as parents, we begin introducing potential contaminants to that innocent child.” This philosophy drives every decision, from formulation to packaging.
The brand now offers over 170 products, ranging from eco-friendly nappies and biodegradable wipes to skincare and homecare essentials—all rigorously tested for safety and sustainability.
Its “Australian-made” positioning carries significant weight in Asian markets, where parents associate Australian products with superior safety standards and cleaner manufacturing environments. This strategic positioning has propelled Offspring across 26 countries—from Malaysia and Singapore to Russia and Finland—making it a cornerstone of Sedania’s Sustainable FMCG segment, which now generates over 70 percent of the group’s total revenue.
BANKING REVOLUTION
Perhaps no venture better captures Datuk Azrin’s philosophy than his Islamic fintech platform. Enter As-Sidq, his patented digital commodity trading platform that uses telecommunications airtime as the underlying commodity. The brilliance lies in its simplicity: airtime is stable in value, universally useful, immediately transferable, and completely halal.
When a customer needs financing, the bank purchases airtime, sells it at a markup (profit, not interest), and the customer converts it back to cash, every step involving real ownership transfer. As-Sidq processes over RM107 billion in transactions across more than 100 financial institutions, serving nearly two million customers seeking genuinely halal banking.
“It’s not the buildings that you construct or the empires that you build. Instead, it’s the ripple effect of what you do today, in terms of compounding how it benefits many others”– DATUK AZRIN MOHD NOOR
Getting banks to adopt the platform wasn’t easy. The banking industry’s catch-22 mentality meant every institution asked if others were already using it as nobody wanted to be first. The breakthrough came through Dato’ Jamelah Jamaluddin, former managing director of RHB Islamic Bank from 2007–2010, who had the courage to say yes when others hesitated.
“She didn’t just help my business,” he reflected, “She enabled me to help countless others access genuinely halal banking.”
Meanwhile, JomHibah tackled an even more pressing crisis: Malaysia’s RM90 billion in frozen Islamic assets, where 90% belong to Muslim families caught in inheritance complications. Motivated by real stories of families trapped in legal limbo, he co-developed JomHibah—the country’s first fully digital Islamic inheritance platform—now integrated with major banks to ensure assets are transferred swiftly to rightful heirs.
BEYOND FINANCIAL FREEDOM
Aside from leading a company, Datuk Azrin has also dabbled in writing, putting his thoughts down in books, most notably Non-Conforming, published in 2013. The work crystallised a business philosophy he had been developing for years, built on a deceptively simple premise: “If something is man-made, it’s meant to be improved.”
The operative word is “meant”—not “can be” or “should be”, but meant, implying something is preordained to be improved. “Either you’re the person destined to discover that breakthrough product, or you’re meant to find the industry waiting to be revolutionised,” he explained.
His unconventional thinking extends even to how he consumes information—such as reading books from the back page and starting mazes from the end. “If you know the destination, it becomes much easier to connect the dots backwards to the beginning.”
Two years later, he co-authored UNPLUGGED—Will You Still Be A Malaysian In 10 Years? with his father, Dato’ Mohd Noor Abdullah, a former Court of Appeal judge. The collaboration bridged generations and perspectives, examining Malaysia’s trajectory with the same nonconformist lens he applies to business.
His competitive strategy mirrors this reverse-engineering mindset, focusing on identifying operational gaps where agile companies can excel. “Established corporations have tremendous strengths and experience and we respect that,” he acknowledged. “But their size also creates certain operational challenges. We focus on areas where smaller, more agile companies can move quickly and implement innovative solutions that serve modern consumer needs.”
THE ENDLESS JOURNEY
As our conversation drew to a close, Datuk Azrin reflected on his entrepreneurial journey not as a series of achievements but as chapters in an ongoing story. “The journey is endless. When it’s time to close a chapter, that part of the story is closed, but I’m still in the midst of writing it.”
For aspiring Malaysian entrepreneurs, his advice was characteristically humble: “Don’t try to teach people, that’s arrogance. Share instead. Teaching implies superiority; sharing means I’ve experienced something, paid the price through my mistakes, and learned valuable lessons. If this hard-won knowledge can help you avoid making the same costly errors, then use it.”
When asked about retirement, his response was characteristically unconventional: “People always ask when I’m going to retire. The truth is, if financial freedom was my only goal, I could have achieved that much earlier in my career. But money was never the driving force. I continue because of the fulfilment. It’s about purpose, not profit.”
