Why we built this.

In the United States alone, Asian-owned businesses generate $1.2 trillion in receipts annually, with Pacific Islander-owned businesses contributing an additional $13.8 billion (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Business Survey). Globally, these communities represent billions of people, hundreds of languages, and thousands of years of distinct culture and tradition. Yet aggregators tend to collapse this extraordinary diversity into a single label: "Asian."

This directory does not do that.

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Communities in this directory

This directory covers East Asian, Southeast Asian, South Asian, Central Asian, and Pacific Islander communities and their diaspora, consistent with the United Nations geoscheme for Asia and Oceania. This list represents countries and major cultural communities, not an exhaustive list of every ethnic group within each country.

East Asia

(UN geoscheme: Eastern Asia)

Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Taiwanese, Hongkonger, Macanese, Okinawan, Tibetan

Southeast Asia

(UN geoscheme: South-Eastern Asia)

Filipino, Vietnamese, Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian, Singaporean, Cambodian, Khmer, Laotian, Hmong, Mien, Burmese, Bruneian, Timorese

South Asia

(UN geoscheme: Southern Asia)

Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Nepali, Bhutanese, Maldivian, Afghan

Central Asia

(UN geoscheme: Central Asia)

Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Tajik, Turkmen

Pacific Islands

(UN Environment Programme Pacific Island Countries Network; US Census Bureau NHPI classification; US National Park Service Pacific Islander Heritage documentation)

Cook Islands Māori, Fijian, I-Kiribati, Marshallese, Chuukese, Pohnpeian, Kosraean, Yapese, Nauruan, Niuean, Palauan, Papua New Guinean, Samoan, Solomon Islander, Tongan, Tuvaluan, Ni-Vanuatu, Native Hawaiian, Chamorro, Carolinian, American Samoan, Tahitian, Tokelauan, Rapa Nui, Rotuman, Torres Strait Islander, West Papuan, Kanak

Sources: United Nations geoscheme for Asia and Oceania; UN Environment Programme Pacific Island Countries Network; US Census Bureau Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander classification; US National Park Service Pacific Islander Heritage documentation.

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Human categorization in the age of AI

Many directories that list Asian and Pacific Islander-owned businesses rely on automated categorization, which struggles to make the kind of cultural distinctions this requires. Every business in this directory was categorized by a person, not an algorithm, and goes through a human review before it goes live. We are not perfect, but someone is always accountable for this directory.

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Static lists don't scale

A long list of businesses published on a community page is a generous act, but it puts all the work on the reader. You scroll through everything to find one thing, with no guarantee what you're looking at is still current, and no easy way to filter for what you actually need. Anything relevant gets saved somewhere — a screenshot, your notes app, a browser tab that's open forever — for a thing you might do later, maybe. This directory works the other way. You come when you need something and search for it.

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We use maps because spatial, searchable information is easier for the brain to process than a flat list

We pair each city directory with a map. Every storefront business is pinned, searchable, and filterable by community and category. Aside from a map being a prettier way to show data, it's closer to how your brain actually wants to navigate.

Who built this.

This directory is a collaboration between Hi From Business Camp and Ruoom Inc., both led by second-generation Filipino American Stephanie Gupana. She and her team built something they wanted to exist and hope you find your good place using this tool.