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Youngrok Kim Is Still Redrawing the Classroom
Before founding Next Challenge Foundation, Youngrok Kim spent a decade in architecture. His work now runs from startup spaces in Jeju to a school in Seoul, with one recurring concern: what people need before they can build something of their own.
Kotaro Adachi and the Business of Being in the Right Room
Before he brought founders and investors together, Kotaro Adachi sold Japanese office equipment in the Philippines. His next business began with a question about a queue.
TechShake Knows Who You Should Meet Next
From startup stories in Manila to a new office in Tokyo, TechShake has built a business around useful introductions. The real test comes after the handshake.
Next Challenge Foundation Is Giving Jeju Startups a Wider Map
From a startup base in Seogwipo to consumer interviews in Kuala Lumpur, the Korean accelerator is building routes into bigger markets. Its hardest test is what happens after the introductions.
Partnerhub Thailand’s Business Plan Has Paws. And Mangoes.
The Bangkok consultancy has built veterinary software and backed a mango-jelly maker. Now it sells foreign brands a practical route into Thailand: registration, imports and somewhere to sell.
Haulio
Haulio is a Singapore-based logistics technology company that digitises container haulage - the first-mile trucking that moves shipping containers between ports and warehouses. Its platform connects shippers, freight forwarders and logistics firms to a regional alliance of about 800 trucking companies and roughly 10,000 first-mile vehicles, coordinating container movements, real-time tracking, billing and financing across Southeast Asia. Founded in 2017 by Alvin Ea and Sebastian Shen, the company is backed by PSA unboXed, Temasek's Heliconia Capital, ComfortDelGro and others.
MoneyMatch
MoneyMatch is a Kuala Lumpur-based fintech founded in 2015 that moves money across borders faster and cheaper than traditional banks. Starting as a peer-to-peer currency exchange, it grew into a licensed money services business serving individuals, SMEs and financial institutions across Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. It uses digital eKYC, machine learning treasury tools and blockchain rails - including Ripple - to settle payments in dozens of currencies, and is now an equity partner in Malaysia's KAF-led Islamic digital bank.
Rahul Tyagi
Rahul Tyagi is Co-Founder of Safe Security (formerly Lucideus), the Palo Alto-based Autonomous Cyber Risk Management platform that processes over three billion signals daily. A Certified Ethical Hacker who graduated from Lovely Professional University in 2011, he co-founded the company at IIT Bombay in 2012 alongside Saket Modi and Vidit Baxi. He has spent over a decade pioneering cyber risk quantification - using FAIR model frameworks and MITRE ATT&CK integration to give Fortune 500 boards a dollar figure on their digital exposure. Featured in Fortune India's 40-under-40, he discovered vulnerabilities in Intel, Sony, HP, TED, and dozens more before pivoting from pen-testing to platform. His most recent chapter: leading Safe Security's CyberAGI vision after closing a $70M Series C in July 2025.