BizWeek: Asia's best young entrepreneurs

"After scouring suggestions from readers and BusinessWeek reporters in the region, we have come up with our finalists, 26 young Asia-Pacific business whizzes.

Although this stellar lineup of entrepreneurs includes many people with glamorous IPOs, from-zero-to-hero revenues, and industry recognition for their products, they took the tough decision to leave the comfort of day jobs for the risky yet potentially rewarding chance to go it on their own. And they're confident that, once the turmoil subsides, Asia will remain a growth engine for the global economy and will reward entrepreneurs who step out and take chances."

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Aileen Sim
Age: 25
Company: First Meta

Aileen Sim saw the potential of starting a business in the virtual world before others did. In 2006, Sim co-founded First Meta, a leading provider of financial services for virtual worlds. A year later, her company launched the first virtual-world credit card, the MetaCard. A graduate of the National University of Singapore, she has helped raise $1.7 million for her company and together with her team has brought First Meta to the forefront of integrating real and virtual economies. Her company has been featured in such leading media as TechCrunch, CNET Asia, Wired, and BBC World Service.