Open For Business

KERB is a marketplace/platform business connecting car park space owners with drivers. It began in 2016 in Australia as a mobile app to optimise under-utilised parking spaces in residential properties, and recently entered the Malaysian market for a new challenge. We speak to Regional Director of Kerb Southeast Asia David Albaiceta about providing solutions for a neglected segment, working with re...

Next Generation Oil (Group) is a Malaysian based company that has developed a commercially viable process for the cultivation of microalgae and the extraction of carbon neutral crude algae oil, on an industrial scale. Dato Indera Mohamed Moiz, Executive Chairman and Melvin Rohan, its COO, join the conversation to discuss the future of energy generation. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy info...

What do two café owners do, stuck in the middle of a pandemic, unable to just sit still and wait it out? Why, they open another F&B venture, of course. Their mission is very simple – to show everyone, especially non-vegans who have a very negative perception of vegan foods/cakes – that vegan goodies can be as tasty, if not tastier, than non-vegan goodies, and definitely friendlier to animals....

One thing’s for sure, the pandemic has taught us you cannot be prepared for everything. However, you can most certainly try your best to be prepared, and what better reflects that in life than applying for insurance? The matter of insurance can get complicated, confusing, and inconvenient, so John Tan, CEO of online insurance aggregator Fatberry, explains his idea to simplify the entire process an...

Research found that 50.1% of adult Malaysians are either overweight or obese. PB Health is a social enterprise aiming to improve Malaysians’ health by eating clean. They curate tasty and healthy plant-based meals, and have programmes where consumers’ health is guided and monitored by doctors and nutritionists. Co-founder of PB Health, Tim Polkowski, expounds. Image Credit: PB Health Official Websi...

Troopers was founded in 2017; since October 2021, they have achieved an average turnover of approximately RM5 million and a total headcount of 130,000. Focusing on part-time recruitment, human resource management and event consulting, its founder Joshua Tan unfolds what it takes to be in the gig economy. Image Credit: Troopers Official Website See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cultivated from the passion to save the environment, Palmy is a lifestyle brand that specialises in beautifully handcrafted paper and textile goods made from agricultural waste such as pineapple leaves, banana, stems and bamboo shoots. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Book lovers know the feeling well - there are certain paperbacks you’ve read time and time again that are falling apart, hardbacks with the pages slowly coming away from the cover, but you can’t bring yourself to throw away the literature that gave you such joy. So instead of having to discard, what about giving your pre-loved books a new life? Philip Yong Kee Chung, founder of pre-loved bookstore...

Pete Teo & Lisa Ngan, Founders of A Little Farm On The Hill Description: Husband and wife team musician-filmmaker Pete Teo and architect Lisa Ngan bought the farm 10 years ago. Over the years, in addition to it being an organic farm, it has turned into a community space of sorts for food and other activities. How sustainable has it been and what keeps them going? Pete and Lisa look back and sh...

Ai Phing Goh, Founder of Florette The Label, has been trying to change the designer landscape, breaking old stereotypes, and making fashionable clothes affordable since 2018. She is a one-woman show for Florette the Label, which currently possesses almost 18 thousand loyal followers on Instagram, and joins the conversation as she shares her journey diving into the fashion industry. Image Credit: F...

Established in 2010, WQ Park Health & Rehabilitation Centre is a one-stop centre providing comprehensive rehabilitative services following injury and illness to patients of all ages from children to adults. Their services include paediatric rehabilitation, adult rehabilitation, general clinic and more. Farah Nawal Zulkharnain, CEO of WQ Park shares its journey and sheds light on a park for hea...

MyFarm Lab is a social enterprise that empowers socio-economically disadvantaged communities through sustainable agro-technology solutions. They’ve recently formed a strategic partnership with MySkills Foundation to set up a Microgreen facility in its Kalumpang Campus. We speak with the COO Kamalan Rajagopalu and CEO Thanaselan Rajendran about the future of microgreens, urban farming and how this...

Combining science and nature and working together Asian skin scientists to sustainably utilise this Asian flora, B&B Labs unlocks the magic of their cosmeceutical potential for high performance skincare. Co-founder and CEO of B&B Labs, Julius Lim discusses more. Image Credit: B&B Labs Official Facebook Page See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted every industry and person in the world. While most have been negative it has also certainly led to some interesting unintended effects that from certain perspectives, are more positive in nature. Take for instance the used car industry, sales have gone up over the past two years, owing to a series of factors including the semiconductor shortages in the manufactur...

Unfortunately, there are many unnecessarily gendered products out there. From razors to toys to even pens, it seems like anything can be strangely stuck to this outdated notion. So what’s the issue? Do products really need to be designed and marketed in this way? How about the products that we assume are only for one side of the customer demographic - could there be a better alternative? Dr. John...

Scentses + Co. is Malaysia’s designer perfume subscription service that allows subscribers to discover different designer perfumes every month. Sadira Yeong, a 26-year-old University Malaya graduate who is the Founder of Scentses + Co shares her journey with us with the mission to inspire and intrigue more consumers into the perfume world. Image Credit: Scentses + Co. Official Facebook Page See om...

Kejap Food is the new drive-thru in town offering local delights like Nasi Lemak, Karipap or Teh Tarik on the go. We speak to the team behind Kejap Food about their local food drive-thru concept, the recent cash injection from Kawan Food’s, and their plans to make local delicacies a drive-thru convenience for everyone. Image Credit: Kejap Food Official Website See omnystudio.com/listener for priva...

Sustenir has the ambition to improve health spans of consumers by growing fresh superfoods at the heart of Asia's mega cities. Through their disruptive superfoods growing technology that's the world's 1st ISO22000-certified indoor farm, they serve their consumers with the freshest locally grown produce. Their philosophy is that eating well will not just add years to your life, but life to your yea...

Gyoza For Life offers Innovative and Premium quality handmade Gyozas (also known as Dumplings). They take something that's been traditionally done for thousands of years and they spin it with their out of the box flavours like Bak Kut Teh, Thai Kra Pao, and Japanese Curry. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In times of crisis, it can be terrifying to have to wait for minutes or even hours on end for assistance; when it comes to emergency situations, efficient and effective service is the goal. Syaril Mirza, founder of towing operator aggregator ResQ, had his own brush with crisis when his car broke down and instead of being beaten down by the experience, sparked this business idea with the determinat...

Sleep wellness engineering startup Girafthepillow spent 17 years of research and development to create a pillow that will supposedly help enhance your sleep, posture and much more. We speak to engineer turned entrepreneur Ken Leong about disrupting the sleep industry, getting consumers to invest in their Zzz’s, and putting a price on a good night’s sleep. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

Food Market Hub is an end-to-end procurement management platform that automates all back-end operations for F&B businesses. It is currently building towards the future of F&B by enabling this massively underserved segment with a complete ecosystem covering sourcing, supply chain and financing. Founder, Anthony See, and Co-Founder, Shayna Teh joins us to discuss more. Image Credit: Food Mar...

Malaysia has been leading the Islamic digital economy for 8 years driven by a strong Shariah-compliant finance ecosystem and creative initiatives. However, to keep pace with global innovations, Malaysia needs more than just talent, funds and education. Forward-thinking, tech-centric service providers are necessary to mature Malaysia’s Islamic digital economy so that  it can offer a wider rang...

There’s an old stereotype regarding Asian families where their progeny are pressured into being doctors, engineers, or lawyers; but as the pandemic raged on, many took to the risky business of entrepreneurship instead. Ivor Lim Xian Z and Chew Hoi Meng, lawyers-turned-co-founders of natural beauty brand hygr, discuss the way they utilised the jumping off point of a viral TikTok for long-term victo...

Wa Sushi is an F&B Ecommerce company, building “Quality Food-Made For Delivery” as they sell quality Japanese cuisine. They are the new boys in the cloud kitchen industry and also one of the top 20 Companies of ScaleUp Malaysia Cohort 3 and have successfully raised funds through ECG as well as from Quest Ventures. We speak to Felex Tan, founder and CEO of Wa Sushi to explore more on the quest...