All Aboard the Doggy School Bus!

In 2022, former news presenter Amanda Andrea Koh asked a dog hotel what would happen if her dog boarded for 30 days without paying extra for walks. The answer: she would stay in her playpen for 30 days straight. That conversation became Doggy School Bus, a dog daycare, boarding and enrichment busi…

From Longhouse to Landmark: Tanoti Weaves Its Way to Kuala Lumpur

In 2012, a banker took over a struggling songket workshop in Kuching that was about to close. Fourteen years later, Tanoti works with more than 800 artisans across 25 rural and remote communities in Sarawak, weaving songket, pua kumbu ikat and rattan into fashion, accessories and homeware. This ye…

Rooting for Every Child: Sejolly and the System Around Neurodivergent Kids

A neurodivergent child might see a therapist once a week, spend five days in a classroom and every evening at home. But the therapist, the teacher and the parent are rarely on the same page. Sejolly, a Malaysian social enterprise founded in 2022, builds tools to close that gap. Its app, Rootin, le…

Slow Cooked, Fast Growing: The Biryani Company’s Recipe for Growth

Malaysians love biryani, but husband-and-wife Jatinder Singh Badwal and Kishpreet Bakshi, both from Punjab, felt something was missing here in KL: true dum biryani, sealed with dough and slow-cooked in a clay pot the way it’s made in Lucknow. So in July 2025 they started The Biryani Company: birya…

Behind the Glow: The Real Business of Deepavali Retail

As homes across Malaysia prepare to light up for Deepavali, three friends are having their busiest weeks of the year. Parveena Selvarajah of Saray, Vinodhini Gangadara Vadivel of Muse by Vino, and Nithya Pushpanathan of Tablescapes by Nithya, each grew their own brand independently, from sarees t…

How a Bata Shop Kid Built a Malaysian Heels Brand

Alex Koh grew up in a Bata shoe store run by his parents, and spent more than 20 years designing and developing shoes for brands like Hush Puppies, Vincci and Bata, and making hardware in China for factories that supplied Jimmy Choo and Burberry. In January 2024 he launched his own label, Scenshuz…

From Ubisoft to Albrite: Building a Malaysian Game Studio

After nearly two decades working with international game studios including Ubisoft, EA and Unity, Alitt Khaliq returned to Malaysia to build a game development company of his own. Founded in 2024 with Brian Kim, Albrite Studios is developing its first original title, Project XII, while taking on se…

Inside the Z21 Ecosystem

Daryl Diong started Z21 in 2019, when he was 20, with RM5,000. Today Z21 is the centre of three companies. Z21 builds online stores designed to turn visitors into buyers, Convex focuses on web optimisation, and A22A trains companies to use AI in marketing and content. Together they help brands conn…

Old School, New Brew: The Business of a Modern Hainanese Kopitiam

Malaysia’s kopitiam culture owes a great deal to the Hainanese: the kopi roasted with butter and sugar, the kaya toast, the chicken chop. But many of the old recipes and methods are being simplified, or quietly disappearing. JJ Phun grew up in that tradition. His family’s story goes back to a 1938…

Beyond Networking: Turning Founder Loneliness into a Business

Everyone glamorises entrepreneurship. Jeremiah Su would rather talk about the part nobody posts: going broke, losing friends, and the loneliness of running a business with no one who really gets it. After nearly two decades in branding and video production, including co-founding the agency Superm…