Investment products, digital banking, growth in Asia, and key partnerships. Roshan Kanesan speaks to Venkatesh Saha, Head of APAC Expansion at

London based fintech Wise, about all this and more.



Wise is one of Europe’s most valuable unicorns, worth around $5 billion dollars as at July 2020. Formerly known as TransferWise, the company started with 2 people swapping money to pay mortgages and moved on to helping move billions of dollars across the world. 10 years since starting, the company has changed its name to signal to the world its ambitions to be more than just a cross-border payments solution.



Image credit: Shutterstock.com and Wise

Investment products, digital banking, growth in Asia, and key partnerships. Roshan Kanesan speaks to Venkatesh Saha, Head of APAC Expansion at
London based fintech Wise, about all this and more.

Wise is one of Europe&rsquo;s most valuable unicorns, worth around $5 billion dollars as at July 2020. Formerly known as TransferWise, the company started with 2 people swapping money to pay mortgages and moved on to helping move billions of dollars across the world. 10 years since starting, the company has changed its name to signal to the world its ambitions to be more than just a cross-border payments solution.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com and Wise

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The Breakfast Grille

Featuring the cream-of-the-crop as well as the controversial, the Breakfast Grille is the flagship show of BFM. Expect no-holds-barred interviews to get to the truth and into the minds of business leaders, policymakers and changemakers.

What's Next For Profitable Unicorn As It Wises Up?

UCSI University, which in 2024 found itself at its highest position in the QS World University Rankings since its inception, slipped slightly in the 2025 list. Datuk Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir, the university's Vice-Chancellor, discusses whether UCSI University can sustain its position as competition intensifies and weighing in on Malaysia’s higher education system.

UCSI University, which in 2024 found itself at its highest position in the QS World University Rankings since its inception, slipped slightly in the 2025 list. Datuk Dr Siti Hamisah Tapsir, the university's Vice-Chancellor, discusses whether UCSI University can sustain its position as competition intensifies and weighing in on Malaysia’s higher education system.

UCSI University: Competition in the Higher Education Space

Telco tower veteran Suresh Sidhu launched EdgePoint Infrastructure in 2020, scaling the regional venture to over 16,000 sites across Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with backing from DigitalBridge, and then later the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

However the infrastructure model now faces a more complex reality: carrier consolidation and a higher for longer interest rate environment that creates a more challenging environment, in particular for a PE-backed player. Can ASEAN’s underlying tide of data demand outrun these mounting structural pressures?

Suresh Sidhu joins the show to discuss navigating private equity expectations in a high-rate climate, the shifting economics of a consolidated customer base, and the new growth engines driving the TowerCo model.

Telco tower veteran Suresh Sidhu launched EdgePoint Infrastructure in 2020, scaling the regional venture to over 16,000 sites across Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with backing from DigitalBridge, and then later the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.However the infrastructure model now faces a more complex reality: carrier consolidation and a higher for longer interest rate environment that creates a more challenging environment, in particular for a PE-backed player. Can ASEAN’s underlying tide of data demand outrun these mounting structural pressures?Suresh Sidhu joins the show to discuss navigating private equity expectations in a high-rate climate, the shifting economics of a consolidated customer base, and the new growth engines driving the TowerCo model.

Can ASEAN’s Digital Needs Push EdgePoint Past Key Pressures?

Pharmaniaga officially exited PN17 status in March, having taken three years to complete its regularisation plan. The firm is now vying to become the most valuable pharmaceutical company in Malaysia by 2030 leveraging on its ongoing government concession in logistics and biopharma manufacturing capabilities. We catch-up with Managing Director Dato’ Zulkifli Jafar to find out how he intends to achieve this goal.

Pharmaniaga officially exited PN17 status in March, having taken three years to complete its regularisation plan. The firm is now vying to become the most valuable pharmaceutical company in Malaysia by 2030 leveraging on its ongoing government concession in logistics and biopharma manufacturing capabilities. We catch-up with Managing Director Dato’ Zulkifli Jafar to find out how he intends to achieve this goal.

What's Next For Profitable Unicorn As It Wises Up?

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