In a market ruled by swipes, one 20-year-old matchmaking agency is keeping dating alive IRL.

In this episode of Open For Business, Violet Lim—Co-Founder and CEO of Lunch Actually, and now Group CEO of the newly formed Lunch Actually Paktor Group, shares how her team is navigating the swipe-saturated dating landscape with an 8-figure concierge-style business.

We unpack Violet’s journey from lunch dating pioneer to regional category leader, and how the group is tackling online dating fatigue with curated matches, coaching, and long-term relationship outcomes, not quick dopamine hits.

We explore:

• Why Lunch Actually targets busy professionals over casual swipers

• How coaching, tech, and human matchmaking come together

• The economics behind an 8-figure love business

• Their M&A-fueled expansion across Asia

• What a potential IPO or strategic exit could look like

If you’re curious how a high-touch service is scaling in a tech-first world—or how to build a love business that lasts—this episode is for you.

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Pickleball is booming, but is it a bubble? In this episode of Open For Business, we speak with Au Kai Zen and Antony Au, Co-Founders of Pickle Park, about why they believe they’ve found the winning formula both on and off the court.

Backed by the team behind Kenny Hills, Pickle Park is a lifestyle-driven pickleball concept that goes beyond court rentals, blending sport, social connection, and hospitality to deliver a premium experience.

We unpack:

• Why Pickle Park fuses F&B, design, and sport to build a lifestyle brand

• How they monetise underutilised real estate and unlock revenue beyond bookings

• Key revenue streams from events, partnerships, F&B, and future merchandise

• 2025 expansion plans, and why they prioritise location and loyalty over speed

• How their in-house app and tiered rewards program could drive retention

Whether you're curious about the economics behind pickleball or the strategy behind building an experiential consumer brand, this episode delivers sharp insights—and a few spicy serves.

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Drowning remains one of Malaysia’s silent epidemics, yet few talk about who’s truly responsible for water safety, or how it can be turned into a viable business.

In this episode of Open For Business, we explore how Red Rescue is addressing this urgent concern not just by placing lifeguards poolside, but by building a full-fledged academy, running training programmes, and offering safety solutions to clients like international schools, sports centres, and major waterparks.

We dive into the business of lifesaving with Manigandaa Keertan, Founder & CEO of Red Rescue — exploring the demand for certified water safety professionals, and how Red Rescue is tackling lifeguard shortages with a purpose-first, solution-oriented mindset.

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CoachHub has raised $350 million to build a global digital coaching platform, but can coaching really scale like software?

Matti Niebelschütz, Founder and CEO of CoachHub, unpacks how the Berlin-based startup transformed coaching into a scalable, tech-powered solution serving 1,000+ enterprise clients and backed by a network of 3,500+ coaches across 90 countries.

We explore CoachHub’s journey from a scrappy WordPress MVP to a $231M revenue business, its transition to profitability in Q4 2024, and its strategy to stay competitive in a tighter capital environment. Matti shares insights into CoachHub’s enterprise sales engine, rigorous coach vetting (with a 3% acceptance rate), AI-powered coaching with “AIMY,” and the company’s land-and-expand model driving global growth.

He also discusses their expansion across Asia, use of debt financing for AI and product development, and what the path to IPO—or continued private growth—might look like.

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What if leadership training didn’t look like another workshop or classroom but more like stepping on stage, facing your fears, and performing with a live band?

That’s exactly what Gig For Good sets out to do — using music and performance not just to entertain, but to transform. It’s a bold, human-centred approach to leadership, teamwork, and personal growth, built on courage, creativity, and connection.

We speak to the Founder and Programme Director of Gig For Good, Tan Hui Choon, and Co-Producer and Co-Lead Trainer, Alesia Dhana, about why stepping out of your comfort zone (and into the spotlight) might just be the ultimate lesson in leadership, and how businesses today need to rethink the way we build brave teams and future-ready leaders.

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CardUp started as a simple idea: let people pay rent with credit cards to earn rewards. But that consumer-centric product evolved into a scalable B2B payments solution, unlocking credit card-based cash flow for SMEs.

In this episode of Open For Business, Diana Lim, Vice President of Partnerships and founding team member at CardUp, walks us through the platform’s early days, their product-market fit journey, and the pivot into SME solutions. We also unpack the rationale behind CardUp’s 2022 acquisition by Funding Societies, and how the deal supercharged expansion, cross-selling, and new product development.

Diana breaks down CardUp’s current product mix, its receivables solutions, and why their installment plan rollout in Malaysia could reshape SME financing. We also explore post-acquisition autonomy, regional expansion into Indonesia, and what it takes to make a payments model profitable in an era of lean startups and capital efficiency.

From USD 1B in transaction volume to doubling growth post-acquisition, this is the story of how and why CardUp tackled the payments space.

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Limitless Technology built a profitable 9-figure gifting machine, and it all started with Google Search optimisation. CEO and Co-Founder Niklas Frassa gets into how they scaled brands like Flower Chimp, LVLY, and CakeRush through SEO, smart M&A, and shared infrastructure, turning flowers, cakes, and gifts into an e-commerce powerhouse.

Founded in Kuala Lumpur in 2016, Limitless powers DTC brands such as Flower Chimp, CakeRush, LVLY, and Happy Bunch, and has evolved into a vertically integrated e-commerce platform with nine-figure annual revenues and operations across five markets, including Australia.

Niklas unpacks how Limitless bootstrapped its way to profitability, scaled operations using a shared infrastructure model, and used customer insights to drive product localisation and brand differentiation. We dive into their acquisition strategy, M&A financing structure, and how they balance backend efficiency with brand autonomy.

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What if we could supercharge photosynthesis and boost crop yields using science born right here in Malaysia? That’s exactly what Qarbotech is doing. In this episode of Enterprise Explores, we speak with the startup’s three co-founders, Dr Suraya Abdul Rashid, Amirul Merican, and Chor Chee Hoe, about their groundbreaking technology, their global recognition, and the surprising struggle to gain local support.

They discuss the science behind QarboGrow, the challenges of scaling up, and what needs to shift in Malaysia’s investment mindset for deeptech to thrive.

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A golf superapp raised USD $2M — but is the problem really big enough to justify that kind of funding? In this episode of Open For Business, we speak with David Wong, Founder and CEO of Deemples, a Malaysian-born golf-tech startup that began as a simple way to find golf buddies and has evolved into a full-fledged super app for golfers.

From tee-time bookings and group game matchmaking to bundled golf trips and community events, Deemples is building a regional golf ecosystem. David shares how the company tripled its GMV since 2023, closed a USD $2 million round in 2024, and launched in Thailand, Southeast Asia’s largest golf market.

We unpack how Deemples is driving stickiness through social features, cashback incentives, and brand engagement, and how it’s earned partnerships with 80% of Malaysia’s golf courses. David also reveals why larger platforms haven’t cracked this vertical, how offline activations are fueling growth, and why Deemples could be on track for a global acquisition.

If you’re into vertical marketplaces, super apps, or niche community platforms — this one’s for you.

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Staying cool in Malaysia’s tropical heat is tough, but Ultifresh has a solution. Founded by Frank Yap and Gerald Eng in Singapore in 2018, Ultifresh creates sustainable, anti-microbial garments that eliminate 99.94% of bacteria. The result? Clothes that stay fresh longer, require less washing, and help conserve water — all without sacrificing comfort.

In this episode of Open For Business, we speak with Frank and Gerald about expanding Ultifresh from Singapore to Malaysia, the challenges of making sustainable fashion accessible, and how their innovative fabrics are changing the way we think about everyday wear.

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