Forbes Asia
From micro-investment apps to startup accelerators and early-stage VC funds, this year’s Finance & Venture Capital listees are reshaping their industries.
When Gaby Rosenberg was looking to invest in Australia’s fixed-income market as a young graduate, she encountered daunting entry barriers: a minimum investment requirement running into the tens of thousands of dollars or more and long lock-up periods. To make bonds and other debt instruments more accessible, she and her elder sister, Ali, 32, launched Blossom App in 2021. At the end of March, it had more than 26,000 users and funds under management of A$112 million ($72 million), generating over A$5 million in revenue since inception, according to Rosenberg.
Rosenberg is one of 30 young entrepreneurs, investors and finance professionals on this year’s 30 Under 30 Asia: Finance & Venture Capital list.
Forbes Asia
Blossom’s two products, Blossom Save and Blossom Plus, managed by financial services firm Fortlake Asset Management, aim for returns of 5.7% and 6.75% a year, respectively. Rosenberg says the average client invests A$12,000, but anyone can start with as little as A$5 in Blossom Save, which allows investors quick access to their money. (Blossom Plus has a A$5,000 minimum and a three-month lock-up period.) There are no sign-up, transfer or withdrawal charges, according to the Sydney-headquartered company. Any gains above the targeted return, after netting off a 1.2% management fee, go to Blossom App. The low-fee approach has attracted millennials, says Rosenberg, with the average user aged 31.
Up next: a third product with a higher yield but a longer lock-up period. Building Blossom has been difficult but rewarding, says Rosenberg. “You need to just put your head down and keep doing what you’re doing.”
Women On The Rise
In the male-dominated world of finance, young female professionals from Southeast Asia are forging paths forward, whether by playing a role at storied firms or helping shape the early-stage startup investment scene.
Victoria Kongoasa is a principal on Blackstone’s real estate team in Singapore. Born in Indonesia and raised in the Philippines, she joined Blackstone in 2017 before relocating to Singapore in 2022. Kongoasa says she was involved in some of Blackstone’s landmark deals, including the firm’s acquisition of Australian data center group AirTrunk. The A$24 billion ($15.2 billion) deal was one of the largest data center transactions globally and Blackstone’s largest investment in the region.
Victoria Kongoasa, Principal at Blackstone
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Meanwhile, in the Philippines, Raya Buensuceso is managing director of Kaya Founders, which invests in early-stage startups in the Philippines and across Southeast Asia. With over 50 investments, Kaya Founders says it has $29 million in total assets under management. Since its launch in 2021, Buensuceso says she has been involved in every aspect of Kaya’s operations, including research, marketing, strategy and investments. She graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in economics.
Shefali Dodani joined Insignia Ventures Partners in December 2021 and was promoted to vice president two years later. Last March, she became country head for Indonesia. At the VC, she says she worked on deals including social commerce company Super and property platform Pinhome. Previously, Dodani worked in the director’s office at Shopee and spent three years at Skystar Capital. She graduated from the University of Hong Kong with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.
Nurturing New Technologies
Also on this year’s list are pioneering accelerator programs that offer capital, connections and other resources to budding startups.
Emmanuel Hui leads Pebble, a Hong Kong-based startup accelerator backed by Chinese billionaire Ye Xiaoping’s biotech giant Tigermed, investment firm Morningside and the Nan Fung group. It provides initial investments of around $200,000 to biotech startups and has a portfolio of 12 companies. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Hui cofounded gene therapy company Moogene Medi in 2016. After the company listed in Korea in 2020, he joined private equity firm Sagamore Investments in 2019 as a healthcare and life sciences specialist.
Emmanuel Hui, CEO of Pebble
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And in India, former executive at Japan’s Suzuki Motor, Vipul Nath Jindal launched Next Bharat Ventures to invest in Indian social enterprises. The VC fund, a wholly owned subsidiary of Suzuki Motor, manages a total of $40 million. Launched in July 2024, Next Bharat Ventures operates a four-month-long accelerator program and offers direct investments of up to 50 million rupees ($585,000). It has backed 13 companies, selected from a pool of around 1,500 applicants. Jindal says he aims to invest in 100 entrepreneurs over the next three years.
Read our complete Finance & Venture Capital list here – and be sure to check out our full Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2025 coverage here.
