Nelson & Terence Loh

THEY ARE COUSINS IN BLOOD, but brothers by nature. Ever since they were kids, Nelson and Terence Loh did everything together, so it was only natural that when they left their respective investment banking jobs in 2008, they would go into business together. Born two years apart, Nelson, 38, and Terence, 40, set up the investment vehicle Dorr Group (named after Danny Ocean and Rusty Ryan - their favourite characters in the heist movie Ocean's Eleven) which manages over US$4 billion in assets.

But their real passion lies in the Novena Global Lifecare Group which they started in 2010 to offer no-frills, affordable aesthetics treatment to a booming middle-class population across Asia. Their disruptive formula worked, as Novena is now the largest medical aesthetic chain in Asia with over 100 clinics treating more than two million patients in Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Indonesia, India and Malaysia. It currently has 10 clinics in Singapore with a database of 150,000 patients, and recently opened a clinic in Madrid, the first of many planned for Spain to gain a foothold in the Latin American market.

Their success comes despite being hit by a major crisis in 2015 when their Singapore partner - the founding doctor of the PPP Laser Clinic chain - quit. The clinics started shutting down, leaving clients with prepaid packages in the lurch. A lawsuit ensued between the two parties, which the Lohs won.