Bell Beh, FOUNDER AND CEO, BuzzAR
Every powerful journey begins with a choice—a radical exchange of the known for the uncertain. It’s the moment when safety is traded for significance, and a steady paycheck is swapped for the terrifying, beautiful freedom of creation. This is the moment that defines the true entrepreneur.
We live in a world obsessed with disruption, yet we often overlook the sheer courage it takes to become a disruptor. It requires not just a brilliant idea, but the willingness to abandon a life others dream of, to step onto the shifting sands of an unknown future.
This is the story of Bell Beh, the architect who rejected the lines between corporate law, deep technology, and global finance. Her odyssey proves that the most valuable asset an entrepreneur possesses isn’t capital or code, but the profound courage to change her own destiny.
Her journey is not one of a simple pivot, but rather a deliberate and intellectual synthesis. It began far from the tech hubs, rooted in the resilience learned from her parents’ small business in Malaysia—a place where she first understood that creativity and grit could redesign a life. That foundation led her to the structured precision of corporate law in Singapore, where she learned the rules of the global playing field.
The true collision occurred when she won a scholarship to UC Berkeley. There, exposed to the anarchic, boundary-breaking spirit of Silicon Valley, the legal scholar realized her calling was not to interpret the future, but to build it. She traded a predictable career for the exhilarating challenge of the unknown, giving birth to BuzzAR (founded in 2020 for tourism, evolving into travel fintech by 2025).
The Equation of Innovation
BuzzAR’s founding team, including CTO Ken Lim and Payment Head Sun Lumin, was built on this premise of convergence: to inject human empathy into deep technology. The core vision was to fuse Augmented Reality and AI to create experiences that transcend the screen.
Reflecting on the monumental leap from legal advice to startup reality, Bell shares the key to overcoming analysis paralysis: “Don’t wait for perfect timing—clarity comes from action, not planning.” She understood that the only way to validate the idea—redefining how people “discover, interact, and transact”—was to act.
Forging a Bridge in the Fire
The ultimate test of BuzzAR’s adaptability came with the global crisis that shattered the tourism sector. A company built on movement suddenly had to survive immobility. This moment became the crucible for a necessary and profound pivot.
Instead of waiting for travel to return, Bell and her team saw the opportunity to solve the deepest friction point in travel: finance. They launched BuzzPay, transforming the company into an AI driven travel and fintech platform that powers cross-border transactions, bridging cultural and financial gaps.
This pivot was validated through strategic alliances with giants like the Saudi Tourism Authority (STA) and the Badan Pengelola Keuangan Haji (BPKH). Bell’s ability to navigate immense regulatory complexity, leveraging her background in law to bypass market bottlenecks, is a testament to her unique leadership.
She is frank about the reality of this high-wire act, particularly for a female founder tackling complex B2B markets: “Success is not a straight line—it’s a dance between failure, courage, and persistence.” This purpose-driven agility is why BuzzAR has solidified its position on the global stage.
The Borderless Vision
Today, BuzzAR’s platform is designed as an engine for empowerment, targeting the high-growth APAC–MENA corridor. It ensures that travelers, from Indonesian pilgrims to Middle Eastern tourists, experience a financially seamless journey. This laser focus on the underserved is what drives the company’s ambition: to become the first AI-native travel operating system born in Asia to publicly list.
This momentum has earned Bell high recognition, including the Phocuswright Scale-Up Winner 2025 for emerging markets, honors at the UN Women in Tech Middle East 2024, and a spot on the Founders Forum Top 100 Women Founders to Watch list.
For the entrepreneurs who now look to her for guidance, she offers one final, immutable truth: the only thing that sustains you through the turbulence of innovation is your core mandate.
“Never lose your ‘why.’ That’s your true north when everything else gets blurry.”
Bell Beh is the definitive proof that the next generation of global economic leaders will be the unifiers—those who build bridges where others see boundaries.