Squid Game star Hoyeon Jung, Olympians Edgar Cheung and Eileen Gu make Forbes Asia’s 30 under 30, but Singapore may be the real winner
- A majority of the Singapore-based entrepreneurs selected are not from there, underscoring the city state’s allure as a base for foreign investors
- The Singapore government’s handling of the pandemic, strong trade freedoms and deep talent pool make it supportive for young entrepreneurs, observers say
Squid Game star Hoyeon Jung, Olympics golden-boy fencer Edgar Cheung Ka-long and skiing sweetheart Eileen Gu were ranked among Forbes’ 30 under 30 list of Asia-based entrepreneurs for “trying new ideas, building on success and in some cases starting their own businesses.”
A record 4,000 entrants applied, from which Forbes selected 300: 30 in each of 10 categories. India had the highest number of honorees with 61, followed by Singapore’s 34 and Japan’s 33.
Singapore, however, could arguably be deemed the winner in terms of nurturing a vibrant start-up ecosystem, as 18 of its selected entrepreneurs do not originate from the Southeast Asian city state.
“As the pandemic forced other international hubs in the region to shut down, Singapore has managed to attract entrepreneurs from across the region to set up their businesses in the city state,” Forbes wrote.
Among these honorees are China natives including 24-year-old Diane Dai, co-founder of Dodo Labs; Mia Deng, 26, partner at Dragonfly Capital; and Xu Yemu, 28 and Felix Xu, 29, co-founders of Penrose Tech. Americans working in Singapore who made the list include 29-year-old Rebecca Xing, CEO at Trustana, and Augustus Ilag, associate at Sequoia Capital. Singapore-based honorees from the UK include Benjamin Harris, 28, founder of watchTowr, and Kushal Patel, 28, co-founder at Una Brands. Other Singapore honorees originated from India, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Ukraine, Malaysia and Argentina.
