Hits at home, now breaking out: The cult Asian personal care brands going global

STEP into a Stryv store and you will find compact hair dryers tailored for Asian markets – premium products sold at competitive prices. Browse Dododots online and you will see acne patches shaped like hearts and butterflies – turning a treatment for visible acne into something users no longer feel compelled to hide.

Both brands were created to solve gaps their founders saw in the market. Personal care products in Asia were largely designed for Western consumers and sold through layers of distributors, driving up prices. Acne patches, while effective, were generic in design and treated as something to conceal rather than wear openly.

Instead of competing on branding alone, the companies reworked the fundamentals of how such products are created, manufactured and sold.

Evo Commerce, which owns Stryv, worked directly with the same manufacturers as global personal care brands, allowing it to offer comparable quality at lower prices. Dodo Ventures, which runs Dododots, invested in in-house design and rapid product iteration using real-time social media feedback, helping it stay ahead in a crowded market where product concepts and designs can be quickly replicated.

This combination of tight operational discipline and product differentiation has helped both companies achieve profitability and expand beyond Asia. They are now among the winners of the 2025 Emerging Enterprise Awards, jointly organised by The Business Times and OCBC.

Closing the gap in Asia’s personal care market

Evo Commerce did not start out to build just another personal care brand. Its founders saw a gap: many grooming tools sold in Asia were designed for Western consumers, yet priced at a premium once distributors and retailers took their cut.

To address this, the Singapore-based company created Stryv in 2023 – a brand built specifically for Asian consumers, with products designed for the region’s climate, lifestyles and beauty needs. The goal was to offer high-quality personal care tools that were both relevant and accessible.

Instead of relying on distributors, Evo built Stryv as a direct-to-consumer brand. This gives the company full control over pricing, product development and customer experience. Its in-house designers and engineers develop products based on local consumer preferences, while partnerships with leading global manufacturers ensure consistent quality.

Co-founder and chief executive Roy Ang said: “We pride ourselves on building premium, affordable personal care products. We use really big factories from all across the world. We have our own designers and engineers, and our products are very locally designed for local customers.”

Today, Stryv’s range spans hair dryers and stylers designed for smoother hair textures, alongside shavers, oral care devices and hair treatment solutions.

The strategy has delivered strong growth. Evo achieved its first full-year net profit in 2025, with eight-digit revenue after sales grew between 70 and 80 per cent. The company now employs close to 200 people across Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

More recently, Evo has begun expanding beyond personal care. In March 2026, Stryv acquired Singapore-based home appliance brand Sterra, adding a portfolio already used in more than 200,000 households. The move reflects Evo’s ambition to build a broader ecosystem of design-led consumer products across Asia.

This momentum also earned Evo wider recognition, including the Emerging Enterprise Award.

Ang said the accolade marked a “major milestone” for the company, supporting its next phase of growth.

“The recognition gave a boost to our confidence, as well as a lot of our partners’ confidence in us. That is something that you can’t actually get elsewhere,” he said.

Looking ahead, Evo plans to expand into Taiwan, supported by new partners and investors, as well as potential acquisitions and product launches.

Redefining acne treatment through design

When Ethan Wong and Esther Erin founded Dodo Ventures in 2021, they drew on something personal: both had struggled with acne and knew first-hand that existing patches, while effective, were designed to go unnoticed rather than stand out. The Malaysia-based company took a contrarian approach, reimagining acne patches as statement pieces instead.

Dododots produces medicated patches made from hydrocolloid – a clinical-grade wound dressing material commonly used in healthcare settings. But instead of conventional transparent dots, Dododots introduces hearts, butterflies and other novelty shapes.

While production of the patches is outsourced, product design is kept in-house, allowing the company to respond quickly to digital trends and youth culture.

Dodo invests heavily in social media engagement, using real-time customer feedback to guide product development and stay ahead of competitors. This direct connection with consumers helps the company refine its designs and strengthen customer loyalty.

Since launch, the brand has built a strong presence across South-east Asia, Hong Kong and China. The company employs about 25 people and generates revenue in the tens of millions of Malaysian ringgit, operating profitably.

While the brand built its following online, much of that traction has translated into commercial success. Most of Dododots’ sales currently come from offline retail channels, including health and beauty chains such as Guardian and Watsons, and pharmacies like Caring in Malaysia. The company plans to expand into new markets including the US, Canada, the UK and Australia, while steadily growing sales through its own digital channels over time.

“Currently, we are still very much focusing on expanding as fast as possible, so basically just knocking on every single door, making ourselves as accessible as possible. And then, later on, once we’ve built up a very, very solid base of customers, we can start considering bringing them in through our own channels,” said co-founder and chief operating officer Wong.

Winning the Emerging Enterprise Award has reinforced Dododots’ growth ambitions. Wong said the recognition has encouraged the founders to “dream a bit bigger”.

The $200,000 interest-free loan from OCBC, which forms part of the award, will support further investment in marketing and channel development as the company expands internationally.