From student to serial entrepreneur, young Malaysian finds his footing in Zhejiang

Detailed summary

For many 25-year-olds, starting a business is still a distant ambition. But in Zhejiang, a Chinese province known for its entrepreneurial spirit and thriving private sector,…

For many 25-year-olds, starting a business is still a distant ambition. But in Zhejiang, a Chinese province known for its entrepreneurial spirit and thriving private sector, Malaysian entrepreneur Monish Mithra Waran Maheswaran has already become a serial entrepreneur, having launched two ventures in China.

When Monish arrived at International Campus, Zhejiang University in 2021, he was a student with an interest in solving real-world problems.

Five years later, he is helping small and medium-sized businesses streamline their operations, particularly those whose owners struggle to step back because company data, standard operating procedures and key decisions still depend heavily on them.

One client, an Indonesian energy-equipment manufacturer with 30,000 customers, relies on about 15 Excel spreadsheets and more than 30 WhatsApp groups across six departments. After 13 years in business, its owner hopes to hand over the company to the next generation, but daily operations still depend heavily on him.

"We're not trying to sell you another piece of software. We're trying to organize your entire company into one system," Monish said.

The roots of Monish's entrepreneurial journey can be traced back to his student days at Zhejiang University. In 2023, he recruited classmates to build a digital platform that better connects waste recycling to supply chains.

Running a startup while studying was demanding. Monish traveled to Malaysia for business meetings on weekends and returned to university for final exams during the week.

But he was not navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship alone. Between 2023 and 2025, Zhejiang University and its Zhejiang University International Business School gave him opportunities to present his ideas at various events.

"Even for an ordinary course project, professors would encourage you to enter competitions and see whether you could put the theory into practice," he recalled.

Opening of the article, excerpted from China Daily Business. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.