12 promising Southeast Asian entrepreneurs under 30

When it comes to building a successful company, most people would look at entrepreneurs with a wide skillset, deep network, and a track record for carrying out their vision. Those things develop with age.

However, today we want to shine the spotlight on 12 young people who are doing awesome stuff in the region.

These 20-somethings have dared to create promising businesses in a range of sectors, including ecommerce, logistics, mobile apps, and even renewable energy.

In no order of merit, here’s our dynamic dozen:

Siu Rui Quek of Carousell

Age: 28

Carousell’s genesis goes back five years, when Siu Rui and his friends went to Silicon Valley to serve as tech interns while squeezing in some classes at Stanford. Once back in Singapore, they joined a Startup Weekend event and came up with the concept for a shopping app out of their own frustration trying to sell and buy things on the web. Today, Carousell boasts of 35 million product listings put up by its community across 12 cities around the world. The company, which recently raised US$35 million in series B funding, is backed by prominent investors like Sequoia Capital, Rakuten Ventures, and 500 Startups.

Chang Wen Lai of Ninja Van

Age: 28

Any Singaporean who’s done mandatory military service for the Singapore Armed Forces is familiar with “ninja vans” or food vans that turn up out of nowhere to cater to fatigued people on the field.

Those ninja vans are the inspiration for a startup Chang Wen co-founded, which specializes on next-day delivery for ecommerce companies.

Ninja Van supports over 3,000 clients and delivers about 15,000 parcels per day in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It’s working with brands such as Lazada, Zalora, Qoo10, and Shopee.

In April, it raised a a series B round of US$30 million to expand across Southeast Asia.

Leandro Leviste of Solar Philippines

Age: 23

Iman Usman and Belva Devara of Ruangguru

Ages: 25 and 26

Benny Fajarai of Qlapa

Age: 26

Sasha Tan of Favful

Age 26

Chee Hau Goh and Nadhir Ashafiq of TheLorry

Age: Both 28

Raeesa Sya, Bfab

Age: 26

Ye Wint Ko of Bindez

Age: 26

Lusarun “Trumph” Silpsrikul of Page365

Age: 26