Meet fintech founders and budding investors on the 2022 list for 30 under the 30s in Asia

XanPool, a provider of cross-border payments infrastructure, is looking to expand beyond Asia-Pacific as global demand for crypto and fiat currency settlements grows. The Hong Kong-based company, which has raised $32 million since its founding in March 2019, plans to enter markets such as Europe also South America. "I see many opportunities for rapid expansion," said Jeffrey Liu, Founder, and CEO of XanPool.

At 27 years old, Liu is among the winners of Forbes 30 under 30 Asia this year in the finance and venture capital categories using technology to disrupt the conservative financial world. XanPool expects its customer base (consisting of consumers and businesses that choose alternative payment methods for cross-border transactions) to grow from 500,000 today to 10 million by 2022.

With XanPool's gross merchandise value doubling to $8 billion this year, the company (backed by investors including private equity firms Antler also Valar Ventures) aims to increase its workforce to nearly 200 by 2022, around its current level of 90. Most of the new hires will be software engineers also product developers who will work in research and development centers the company will build in Southeast Asia, Liu said.

In addition to fintech founders, 15 investors made it to Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia this year, including Augustus Ilag of Sequoia Capital in Singapore. Ilag is driving Sequoia Capital's expansion into new sectors and geographies in India and Southeast Asia, a Stanford graduate and former McKinsey consultant.

He has led or co-led 21 investments, added breakthroughs such as Philippine digital bank Tonik, international recruitment platform Multiplier, and customer service software provider WATI. He also leads Sequoia's investment in blockchain startups and manages eight of the 13 publicly announced deals in Southeast Asia.

Sean Hon is also based in the city-state, one of Asia's liveliest startups. In 2021, Hon founded Motion Ventures, a $23 million venture capital fund investing in startups disrupting the maritime industry. Backed by shipping companies such like Mitsui OSK Lines, Wilhelmsen, HHLA, and Enterprise Singapore's SEEDS Capital, the fund aims to introduce cutting-edge technology to support decarbonization, supply chain sustainability, and workplace safety. Motion Ventures is managed by startup incubator Rainmaking with a total portfolio value of more than $2 billion, of which Hon has been a director since 2020