The idea of a “last mover advantage” may sound counterintuitive, but it explains how latecomers can sometimes move faster and smarter than early pioneers.
In fintech, it is often called the leapfrog effect. Instead of taking the slow road through decades of legacy systems, Southeast Asia skipped ahead directly into the digital age.
With little legacy infrastructure holding it back, the region went mobile-first. High smartphone use and a large unbanked population created a once-in-a-generation opening for fintech founders.
E-wallets and QR code payments were just the start, followed by super apps, lending platforms, insurtechs, and wealthtech reaching hundreds of millions.
Funding poured in, too. Between 2015 and 2021, fintech investment in Southeast Asia surged tenfold to US$6.4 billion. Even after global corrections, ASEAN held steady, showing investors see it as a long-term growth engine. Unicorns tell the story best.
GCash in the Philippines serving 94 million users, Indonesia’s Akulaku and Kredivo reshaping digital lending, Singapore’s Nium and Aspire going global, Vietnam’s MoMo becoming a household name, Thailand’s Ascend Money raising US$195 million, and Malaysia’s Touch n Go joining the billion-dollar club.
Faces Driving This Fintech Wave
The next chapter is being written now. Cross-border payments are knitting ASEAN markets together, AI is redefining services, and digital banks are changing how people save, borrow, and spend. But technology alone doesn’t explain the rise.
It’s the founders who took risks, spotted gaps, and built solutions millions now rely on.
That’s why, in line with our 10th year anniversary, our list of founders is based on the Fintech Frontiers 50 Awards, held on 5 August 2025 in Kuala Lumpur during Malaysia’s MyFintech Week.
Unlike pay-to-play awards, this programme stood out for transparency and merit. With over 200 nominations, 15,000 votes, and a final judging panel, it celebrated real builders over noise.
From that came the Fintech Frontiers 50, with the Frontier 15 representing the most exceptional founders handpicked for their vision and impact.
A heartfelt thank you also goes to all our sponsors and partners who helped make the Fintech Frontiers 50 Awards possible. Our Platinum Sponsor, Amazon Web Services (AWS), supported the mission with unwavering commitment.
So did our Gold Sponsors, PayNet and Cloudflare, our Silver Sponsor, Thredd, and our Bronze Sponsor, Boost.
We are equally grateful to our Industry Partner, the Fintech Association of Malaysia (FAOM), and to our Knowledge Partner, EY, whose expertise shaped a credible judging process.
Not to forget our Association Partners, the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA), Fintech Alliance.Ph, and the Asia Fintech Alliance, whose networks helped us reach across ASEAN and surface outstanding nominations.
Thank you again to all of them.
Without further ado, here are the Top 15 Fintech Founders in Southeast Asia.
Top 15 Fintech Founders in Southeast Asia
Rob Schimek, Founder & Group CEO, bolttech
With over 35 years of insurance industry experience, Rob Schimek launched Singapore-based insurtech bolttech in 2020 to build a more connected insurance ecosystem.
Under his leadership, bolttech has become a global force, operating in 37 markets and achieving a valuation of US$2.1 billion after raising US$523 million in funding.
A champion for innovation and inclusion, Rob is a key figure in the fintech community, dedicated to closing the world’s protection gap.
Nguyen Manh Tuong, Co-Founder & CEO, MoMo
What started as an idea at a sugarcane stall in 2010 is now Vietnam’s leading fintech platform, MoMo. Co-Founder Nguyen Manh Tuong has scaled his vision into a digital ecosystem serving over 30 million people.
With backing from giants like Goldman Sachs and Standard Chartered, MoMo has raised over US$433 million to become an indispensable financial assistant, now leveraging AI to expand into BNPL, personalised investments, and accessible public service payments.
Liu Tianwei, Co-Founder & CEO, StraitsX
From a rented apartment with a team of four (and a Pomeranian), Liu Tianwei launched StraitsX (formerly Xfers) in 2014.
Today, he leads a 700-strong team across Singapore, Indonesia, and Taiwan, processing over $10 billion in annual transactions. StraitsX, backed by Y Combinator and Tiger Global, earned its reputation by launching the MAS-recognised stablecoins XSGD and XUSD.
A key contributor to Singapore’s Project Orchid and cross-border QR payments, Tianwei is also a decorated partner of the Singapore Police for his work in creating a safer digital payment ecosystem.
Prajit Nanu, Founder & CEO, Nium
Frustrated by slow, expensive remittances, Prajit Nanu founded Instarem in 2014 to fix a personal pain point. That solution evolved into Nium, a global payments infrastructure powerhouse.
Nium today powers real-time payouts in over 100 currencies and holds licenses in more than 40 jurisdictions. As CEO, Prajit has scaled the company worldwide, raising over US$300 million while remaining focused on product innovation and driving financial inclusion for the gig economy.
Eng Sheng Guan, Group CEO, Fiuu
For over two decades, Eng Sheng Guan has been a titan of Malaysian digital payments.
After spotting a gap in the market in 2005, his venture evolved into Fiuu, a fintech powerhouse that now processes 23% of the nation’s e-commerce transactions, which is over RM44 billion annually.
He has steered the company through tech shifts and a pandemic to achieve regional expansion and consistent profitability, all while serving over one million unbanked users monthly.
Xing Xian Ang, CEO & Co-Founder, CapBay
As a fisherman’s son, Xing Xian Ang saw how late payments could cripple a small business. That memory, fused with a fintech education from Oxford, became the blueprint for CapBay.
Bootstrapped with his team’s own savings in 2016, the company has since disbursed over RM4 billion to thousands of SMEs across Southeast Asia.
As CEO, Xing’s primary mission at CapBay is to offer innovative solutions such as P2P lending and BNPL. His ultimate goal is to champion the financial resilience of businesses across the region.
Michele Ferrario, Co-Founder & CEO, StashAway
Frustrated by costly and complex financial products, Michele Ferrario co-founded StashAway in 2016 to democratise investing.
After enduring 124 rejections from VCs, the former Zalora CEO secured funding and pioneered the robo-advisory scene in Singapore. StashAway today operates in five markets, managing over US$1 billion in assets and offering sophisticated products from ETFs to private market access.
Having raised over US$86 million, Michele continues to drive the mission of making smart investing accessible to all.
Walter de Oude, Founder, Chocolate Finance
After founding Singlife and exiting at a S$4.6 billion valuation, Walter de Oude is shaking up finance again with Chocolate Finance.
His new venture is designed to optimise returns on idle cash, and it immediately exploded onto the scene. In less than eight months, a hyper-efficient team of just 18 people attracted almost S$1 billion in assets and 100,000 customers.
Backed by Sequoia and Prosus, Chocolate is now expanding from Singapore to Hong Kong, the UAE, and soon Japan.
David Hanna, Founder & CEO, Finmo
Next in our list of the 15 fintech founders in Southeast Asia is David Hanna. With 20 years of experience at giants like PayPal and Rapyd, David Hanna launched Finmo in 2021 to build the Treasury Operating System he knew global businesses needed.
His platform simplifies payments, FX, and compliance, achieving operational profitability by 2024.
Finmo is backed with US$27 million from investors like PayPal Ventures and Citi Ventures. The company now serves clients across ASEAN, Australia, and the U.S., while David actively shapes a more resilient financial ecosystem.
Georg Steiger, Co-Founder & CEO, Billease
After eight years advising Southeast Asia’s top banks with McKinsey, Georg Steiger saw a massive credit gap in the Philippines. In 2015, he launched Billease to solve it.
His platform leverages alternative data to provide responsible credit to millions of people. Over time, the service has evolved from cash loans to become a full-service buy now, pay later (BNPL) leader.
Georg has secured US$90 million from prominent investors, including TPG’s Rise Fund. This capital empowers his mission to be a key figure in the country’s financial inclusion movement.
Kelvin Teo, Co-Founder & Group CEO, Funding Societies
While still at Harvard in 2015, Kelvin Teo launched Funding Societies to solve Southeast Asia’s SME credit gap. Today, it’s a digital finance titan, having disbursed over US$4.5 billion to 100,000 SMEs.
The platform’s impact is immense, contributing US$3.6 billion to regional GDP.
Kelvin recently cemented his leadership status in regional fintech by winning Malaysia’s Founder of the Year award. His win comes as the company strategically pushes into the payments sector with its Elevate and CardUp platforms.
Moses Lo, Co-Founder & Group CEO, Xendit
Moses Lo leads Xendit, the fintech unicorn simplifying payments across Southeast Asia.
After a failed crypto idea, a pivotal conversation with Y Combinator’s Justin Kan set the company on its path to success. Lo’s defining moment came during the pandemic. With his business down to 80%, he made a high-stakes bet to expand into the Philippines.
The move paid off, sparking record growth and helping Xendit secure US$538 million from investors like Accel and Tiger Global.
Lucy Liu, Co-Founder & President, Airwallex
Lucy Liu’s lightbulb moment came when her friends’ Melbourne cafe was hit with huge fees on a simple cross-border payment.
That real-world problem sparked Airwallex, the fintech unicorn she co-founded, to demolish the barriers of global finance.
Drawing on her experience as an international investment consultant, she helped build a payments giant. The company is now one of the world’s most well-funded private companies. It has secured over US$6.2 billion from backers like Sequoia, DST Global, and Visa.
Vince Iswara, Co-Founder & CEO, DANA Indonesia
With 16 years of fintech experience, Vince Iswara founded DANA to solve Indonesia’s core financial barriers: accessibility and trust.
As CEO, he has built a uniquely open digital wallet that now serves over 180 million users. By integrating seamlessly with banks and other services, DANA provides a one-stop financial hub.
A key voice in policy-making with KADIN and the World Economic Forum, Vince is dedicated to building an inclusive and confident financial future for his home country.
Yen Ming Lee, Co-Founder & Group CEO, PolicyStreet
The final fintech founders in Southeast Asia bring us a story of how a spinal injury in 2016 exposed the flaws in traditional insurance and inspired Yen Ming Lee to co-found PolicyStreet.
Today, his insurtech is a regional powerhouse, uniquely licensed as a reinsurer, insurer, and takaful operator. The company serves over 5 million customers with more than US$10 billion in sum insured.
After raising US$21.5 million from investors like Khazanah Nasional, Yen Ming masterminded a strategic pivot to an embedded, partnership-led model. This move cemented PolicyStreet’s role in making insurance accessible for all.
Setting the Foundations for the Future They’re Building
Southeast Asia is done being the one catching up. From the set of founders, the region can be the sole leader of the industry.
What comes next will not be defined by capital raised or valuations alone. It will be shaped by how these founders continue to solve financial pain points, expand trust in digital services, and inspire the next generation of builders.
And if history is any guide, the next list of top fintech founders of global finance will for sure have Southeast Asia names written all over it.
Discover the remaining Top 35 Fintech Founders in Southeast Asia from the Fintech Frontiers 50 Awards by downloading the full booklet for the complete list and insights.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore based on an image by Freepik.
