BeyondFest 2026 brings ‘System & Soul’ to Kuala Lumpur for founders, operators and business leaders

●The programme spans eight interactive formats, including Knowledge Share, Eavesdrop Sessions, Pitch Fight, Unconference and Startup Fxckups
● Speakers include founders, operators and business leaders with backgrounds spanning VaynerMedia, GoJek, AWS, Ferrari, Bugatti, Rimac, FAVE, PineLabs, Cradle, Sidec, fintech, AI, sales and creative industries

Kuala Lumpur, October 21, 2026 – BeyondFest returns to Kuala Lumpur on 13 November 2026 for a one-day festival built for founders who want to create businesses that can grow beyond their own time, energy and individual output. Taking place at Greybox GMBB, the experience will bring together entrepreneurs, operators, creators and business builders under this year’s theme, “System & Soul”.

“System” refers to the frameworks, tactics and repeatable processes that enable businesses to work, while the “Soul” is the human truth that makes customers, teams and communities care. The theme builds on BeyondFest 2025, which brought together more than 120 founders, marketers, creators and business leaders, while expanding this year’s focus across business, brand, communication, systems and scale.

“A business needs systems if it is going to grow beyond its founder, but systems alone are not what make people believe in something,” said Jeremiah Su, Founder of The Beyond and BeyondFest. “That is what System & Soul is about. We want founders to leave with frameworks they can actually use, but also a clearer understanding of what they are building, who they are building it for and why anybody should care. BeyondFest has always been about getting beyond inspiration and into honest conversations and action.”

The conversation comes at a timely point for Malaysia’s business ecosystem. Micro, small and medium enterprises contributed 39.7% of Malaysia’s GDP in 2025, while their GDP grew 5.7%, slightly ahead of the overall economy, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia. As MSMEs continue to play a significant role in Malaysia’s economy, how founder-led companies build frameworks, teams, and operating models for sustainable growth is increasingly relevant.

A founder festival built around participation, not passive listening

Rather than relying on a sequence of keynote presentations and conventional panels, BeyondFest 2026 is organised around eight formats designed to encourage participation, practical learning and candid discussion. These include Knowledge Share, pairing practical frameworks with the human thinking behind them; Eavesdrop Sessions, featuring candid founder conversations; and an Unconference, where participants help shape the agenda around challenges in the room. Pitch Fight challenges and refines pitches in real time, while Lightning Rant brings audience perspectives on stage and Startup Fxckups examines decisions, failures and lessons that rarely make it into polished founder stories.

The day will move across three broad tracks: Business & Brand, Content & Communication and Systems & Scale.

Operators, founders and practitioners take the stage

The 2026 speaker line-up spans entrepreneurship, technology, branding, sales, finance, AI and consulting. Among them is VJ Anand, Founder of Ballsy and former Executive Creative Director at VaynerMedia EMEA, who previously helped grow VaynerMedia’s APAC team and built GoJek’s in-house creative agency. Also returning is Ghazanfar Iqbal, Former Founder, Big Tech Operator and Angel Investor, whose experience spans founding a venture-backed startup, helping grow MENA’s first unicorn and working with AWS.

“The most useful founder conversations are rarely the ones where everything worked perfectly,” said Ghazanfar Iqbal, former Senior Investor Manager at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Angel Investor. “Building and scaling a company involves decisions made with incomplete information, systems that have to evolve and plenty of lessons that only become obvious afterwards. What makes BeyondFest interesting is the willingness to have those conversations openly and turn experience into something another founder can actually use.”

The line-up also includes Marco Iannitto, Founder of TechDel Consulting and formerly with Ferrari, Bugatti and Rimac. Other speakers include Grace Yeo, TEDx speaker and sales coach; Daniel Woodroof, Founder and CEO of Pandan Social and Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2026 honouree; Teng Chan Leong and CEO of Skribble and Founder of the Strategic Asia Marketing Alliance; Shi Mei Chin, Finance Lead at Spark Systems.

Why BeyondFest 2026 is built differently

For founders deciding whether to spend a day away from running their businesses, BeyondFest is designed around application rather than observation. Through live pitch feedback, founder conversations, audience-led discussions, practical frameworks and demonstrations, attendees are encouraged to participate rather than simply listen, with sessions addressing sales, brand, AI, financial discipline, team building and founder dependency.

The event is supported by partners including Gutsy, SYNC PR, Synapze, GMBB, Strategic Asia Marketing Alliance (SAMA), Kee Nguyen Vietnam Coffee and Let Me Be, with more brands onboarding to the mission.

BeyondFest 2026 tickets and event information

Date: Friday, 13 November 2026
Venue: Greybox GMBB, 2, Jalan Robertson, Bukit Bintang, Wilayah Persekutuan 50150 Kuala Lumpur

Passes are available across General Access, Planetary Access and Universal Access tiers, with higher tiers offering additional benefits including speaker lunches, priority seating and, for Universal Access holders, access to the Rebel Scale Intensive and Eclipse Afterdark. For programme updates, speaker information and tickets, visit thebeyondfest.com.

About BeyondFest 2026

BeyondFest is the flagship gathering of The Beyond, a community for founders and operators building businesses beyond founder dependency. Its 2026 edition, System & Soul, takes place on 13 November 2026 at Greybox GMBB in Kuala Lumpur, bringing together founders, operators and practitioners for interactive discussions on business, brand, communication, technology and scale.