A tech wiz, Mohamed Afzal, has made history by becoming the first Maldivian national to be named on the Forbes list of top 30 young entrepreneurs in Asia.

Apo, 29, and his business partner Jevin Singh, 25, are co-founders of Rage Coffee; a coffee chain that has 12 outlets in Malaysia. Both of the entrepreneurs made it to Forbes Asia 30 Under 30 2020 under Retail and E-Commerce.

The coffee chain is known for using technology to determine their customers’ preferences and minimize waste in order to keep its coffee affordable.

Its customers can preorder coffee for pick up or request delivery through its app.

Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia was selected from over 3,500 nominations, researched by a team of reporters and vetted by industry veterans.

Forbes described them as a group of relentless individuals who are “disrupting industries and tackling major global issues.”

Their ideas and unstoppable determination to better the world is ample inspiration to stay hopeful, it said.

Before launching his coffee chain, Apo had earlier worked as a developer for Maldivian media outlets. He then moved to Malaysia and launched Rage Coffee with his business partner.

About making it to the Forbes list, Apo said, “any young person would succeed if they worked hard enough.”

He said he believed his own success to be proof of the high success rate of startup ecosystem.

“This, I believe, is an achievement for the young men and women of Maldives who are working hard to realize their dreams. Success is yours to have if you work hard with perseverance and hope. I have proved that to you,” Apo said in an interview with Sun.

Rage Coffee had been borne out of a conversation he had with Singh regarding creating an app to provide high quality and affordable coffee, over a cup of coffee.

Rage Coffee, which opened in January 2019, now has 12 outlets in Malaysia.

Rage Coffee uses data on customer preferences it collects through its DrinkRage app to update and expand.