Forbes champions success by celebrating those who have made it, and those who aspire to make it. And all this time, Forbes convenes the most influential leaders and entrepreneurs who are driving change, transforming business and making a significant impact on the world.
The Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia Class of 2023 is the eighth annual list, featuring 300 young entrepreneurs, leaders and trailblazers across the Asia-Pacific region. Honorees were vetted and selected by a panel of accomplished and acclaimed judges in each category.
Twenty countries are represented on this year’s list. India leads the region with the highest number of honorees – 75 – followed by China with 34. Japan is third with 33, while Singapore has 30. South Korea takes the fifth spot with 28 honorees.
Several well-known talents continue to innovate and thrive across industries, while Malaysia’s new generation of entrepreneurs burnished their names with successful businesses and meaningful achievements. Meet the Malaysians on Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia’s list below.
Melvin Chee, Founder of RPG Commerce
CEO of RPG Commerce, Melvin Chee began his entrepreneurial journey at the tender age of 18. In 2017, Chee founded RPG Commerce, a Kuala Lumpur group of direct-to-consumer e-commerce brands. Since its launch, the startup has raised a total of USD34.5 million from Temasek-backed Vertex Ventures, East Ventures, UOB Venture Management and others. Its portfolio spans lifestyle and fashion products, such as apparel brand Bottom Labs and kitchenware Cosmic Cookware.
Kai Song Eer & Vicky Tan, Co-Founders of GuruLab
(L-R): Kai Song Eer | Vicky Tan, Co-Founders of GuruLab
The dynamic duo of education social enterprise GuruLab, Kai Song Eer and Vicky Tan are persisting in changing the way Malaysian students learn English. Eer and Tan teamed up in mid-2021 to form the online English platform during the peak of the pandemic.
GuruLab is an education social enterprise in Malaysia that helps teachers provide students with personalised English lessons. The startup says it has grown to a team of 20 and has hundreds of paying customers. It has received MYR4.2 million in seed funding from Maxis to build technology and advanced data analytics tools to improve English learning outcomes for students in Malaysia.
Before their partnership, Eer and Tan had both launched several education organisations and nonprofits, including CollegeLAH, Rakan Tutor, CO: ED Learning and Veritas Academy.
Haris Kamal, Co-Founder of Kualesa
(L-R) Ariff Faisal, Co-Founder and CEO of Kualesa | Haris Kamal, Co-Founder and COO of Kualesa
The 29-year-old Haris Kamal, Co-founder, and COO of Kualesa, previously worked as an engineer for Tamarind Energy and as a manager at Shopee. He then joined forces with Ariff, the mastermind behind the eco-conscious apparel brand Kualesa.
Kualesa makes polos and t-shirts using recycled materials and bamboo – the wood is soaked in nontoxic solvents until it can be crushed and spun into fibres. The brand’s startup is committed to planting one tree in South-East Asian rainforests for every order, aiming to offset carbon emissions and improve biodiversity.
Together, they have evolved Kualesa from a simple set of values to a producer of great-looking and super comfortable bamboo apparel that’s challenging fast fashion.
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