Malaysian couple on Forbes Asia list
Published on: Friday, June 13, 2025
Published on: Fri, Jun 13, 2025
By: FMT Text Size: Eswaran and Renuga had not expected to make it on the Forbes list. (Andrea Edmonds) PETALING JAYA: Eswaran Mohan and Renuga Nair have joined the ranks of fellow Malaysians like professional squash player Sivasangari Subramaniam; Lee Zhe Xi, co-founder of Eat and Cook; and Raudhan Nazran, founder of the social enterprise Accelerate Global, who have all made the Forbes list in previous years. They were Asia's first official Snapchat lens creators, and among the first 30 globally. Through their company Exar Technologies, they have helped put Malaysia on the (virtual) map.
Advertisement 'The recognition means a lot to us – reinforcing the belief we had in ourselves. Sometimes when you are in your own world, you feel a bit demotivated. When you get recognised, you start reinforcing your belief that you are on the right path,' said Eswaran. For Renuga, the recognition was 'a confidence boost' in the midst of hardship and business slowing down. 'This makes you go, 'You know what? Let's just keep going'.' Since launching Exar Technologies in 2018, Eswaran and Renuga have levelled up in every way, together with their creative director Arun Mohan, Eswaran's younger brother. What started as a passion for creating augmented-reality (AR) filters for social media has now evolved into a full-blown immersive tech-solutions agency. 'We integrate these technologies to be able to create interactive content for you to boost engagement awareness for marketing campaigns,' Eswaran explained. Some of their clients include multinationals such as Nestlé, Fujitsu, Honda and FoodPanda. Eswaran and Renuga, who met while studying at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Johor, attribute their success to each other, saying they keep each other accountable for their work while challenging and spurring each other on. 'You need someone who believes in you more than yourself,' said Eswaran, an electrical-mechatronics graduate. He shared that during tough times when he gets discouraged, Renuga is his pillar of support. Indeed, through many ups and downs, they have stuck to a piece of advice someone close to them once offered. 'This person told us, 'Life has a lot of junctions, but you need to go to the junction to make the next decision. So, why don't you go to the junction first and then decide?'' added Renuga, a chemistry graduate. We still talk about this whenever we need to make decisions.' Their advice to young dreamers in the tech space? 'Make use of whatever you already have. If you're waiting for something to happen, especially today with so many tools available, you don't have any reason not to start,' said Eswaran. As for the future, the husband and wife hope to build their own media company to create more awareness about AR, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence. 'We are very much excited to keep going in this industry instead of branching out into other technologies because we love this. This is what excites us all the time,' said Eswaran. 'My belief is that if you're going to spend time doing something, you might as well do something you like,' Renuga concluded. * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available.
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