From quick commerce for hot meals to innovative local products, this year’s 30 Under 30 Asia: Retail & Ecommerce entrepreneurs are tapping into opportunities driven by shifting consumer demands across the region. Three former colleagues from a cryptocurrency startup that had cratered got together over sandwiches and coffee at a Bangalore café in April 2024 to brainstorm ideas for a new venture. When their order took too long to arrive, they realised they had just stumbled on it. The trio, Aniket Shah, Ujjwal Sukheja and Saran S., invested $32,000 of their savings to set up Swish, an app that delivers freshly prepared food in 10 minutes. After hiring four chefs and setting up an automated kitchen for speedy cooking, they kicked off the service in July. A month later, California-based VC firm Accel provided $2 million in seed money for their fledgling startup. Riding India's explosive quick-commerce wave, the cofounders of Swish are among the entrepreneurs featured on this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia: Retail & Ecommerce list. Swish has since built a network of kitchens, each servicing a 1 km radius in some of the tech city’s dense neighborhoods. It offers a menu of 200 items, including Indian, Mexican and Italian fare. Orders quadrupled to 20,000 a day in the six months to March, says CEO Shah, who claims some kitchens are already profitable. So far, Swish has raised $54 million, including $38 million in a Series B round in March led by U.S.-based Bain Capital Ventures and London-headquartered Hara Global Capital that valued it at $139 million. Proceeds will be used to expand into other cities, including New Delhi and Mumbai. The founders say the future of food delivery isn’t restaurant takeout but providing a quick backup option for the home cook. “In an everyday sort of busy life, you cannot plan your life around an hour of waiting for food,” says Shah. Another Indian listee capitalizing on this momentum is Akshay Gulati, the cofounder and CEO of Slikk, a Bangalore-based quick-commerce fashion and lifestyle marketplace. Slikk combines 60-minute delivery with instant refunds, creating a unique try-and-buy model that blends speed and convenience. Consumers in Bangalore can place their orders, try the clothes on, give what they don't want back to the waiting courier and get an instant refund. In May, Slikk raised $10 million in Series A funding led by Nexus Venture Partners with participation from Lightspeed Venture Partners, bringing the total funding to over $13 million. The funding will be used for further expansion across more cities. Health-focused Businesses As health awareness and spending increase across Asia-Pacific, healthcare products and services remain a key focus for retail startups on the list. In the Philippines, Kiyanusch Braun and Martin Joaquin Palaña cofounded GoRocky in 2022 to destigmatize men's health issues such as erectile dysfunction and hair loss. Promising confidentiality and convenience, the digital platform claims to have connected more than 30,000 customers to licensed doctors and pharmacies. In October, GoRocky raised $2 million in a funding round led by Singapore-based Integra Partners and local VC firm Kaya Founders. Another example is New Zealand’s Kate Gatfield-Jeffries, who cofounded Moodi in 2022 while still studying during her final year at the University of Auckland to fill a gap in the supplements market, where products for women focused on beauty rather than health. The Auckland-based company now offers a portfolio of supplements with vitamins and minerals it claims can help balance hormones. Moodi's probiotic soda is sold in over 500 supermarkets in the country. In China, Fang Shenbo, Zhao Xuechen and Zhu Xuanrui cofounded Regenerative Bio in 2021. The company researches health issues related to aging and uses AI to generate formulas that can potentially boost women's health and promise anti-aging effects. It sells healthcare supplements under the Laife brand mainly in China and Japan. Regenerative Bio has raised $75 million in funding from investors including 5Y Capital, IMO Ventures and K2VC. And in India, Anurag Dani and Rohit Patel cofounded Aroleap, which sells smart home gym machines that replace traditional weights and save space. It offers wall-mounted equipment to middle-aged and senior customers on a subscription basis to help them maintain muscle mass and build strength safely. Aroleap also offers an app to help customers follow exercise routines. The startup has raised $3.5 million from investors that include Accel, Rainmatter and Prosus Ventures. Local Alternatives Often, legacy brands miss market gaps that agile entrepreneurs on the list have identified as perfect opportunities to deliver high-quality, targeted products that resonate with their local consumers. In 2020, partners Lucia Federica Freire Garcia and Zakariah Mardon cofounded men's jewelry brand Lox and Chain to offer their generation more stylish options. From a base in Byron Bay, Mardon designs every piece while Freire Garcia, an ex-engineer, oversees day-to-day operations. The brand is best known for punky silver bracelets, carabiners, pendants and signet rings, all handcrafted in Bali and sold online. Started in the couple's bedroom, Lox and Chain has customers beyond Australia in the U.S. and the U.K. Sisters Amy and Esther Tai cofounded Machino, a Malaysian footwear brand, at the start of the pandemic in 2020 to solve a problem faced by women everywhere: the discomfort that's often paired with stylish shoes. Instead of accepting that pain was part of fashion, they collaborated with their uncle, who runs a shoe factory, to create a brand of durable shoes that blend style with comfort. The brand also incorporates specific Asian cultural elements in most of its designs, such as the use of batik, songket, or saree lace. Machino has an online and offline retail model, with stores in Putrajaya and Selangor, Malaysia. In July 2025, Machino was selected for Scale Up Cohort 6 by Endeavor Malaysia. In India, another sister duo, Ria and Shreya Mittal, founded garment brand CAVA in 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Educated in the U.K., Ria studied fashion management at the University of the Arts London, while Shreya graduated from the University of Warwick's business school. They saw a market in India for high-quality athleisure-wear and loungewear. CAVA emphasizes comfort, durability and versatility, using Better Cotton Initiative-certified cotton and recycled polyester. Targeting Gen Z and millennials, CAVA raised $4.5 million in a Series A round led by Sharrp Ventures in January, following a $1.14 million seed round in 2024.

Source: Forbes

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