Jase Lee | Top 40 Under 40 2025

Age: 39

Occupation: Founder and CEO, Ryuko and Visionary Catering

Jase Lee likes to compare himself to Professor X from X-Men — he has the keen ability to recognize and encourage the skills of others. Through this knack for bringing talented people together, Lee has built a small empire of businesses, including the Ryuko Japanese restaurants and Visionary Catering. He is also working to develop Chequemate (an AI-powered restaurant industry efficiency platform) and Merakids Child-care Centre, a nutrition-focused child care service.

“I have a skill to reach people’s talents,” he says. “I can see people and put them together like a puzzle.”

Lee’s family ran a small café, but, when he saw his mother struggling to keep it afloat after two decades of work, he left his actuary career and stepped in. He saw that larger-scale orders could be the business’s saving grace. In 2014, he morphed the small shop into the full-service Visionary Catering.

Lee focused on high-quality food, responsiveness and flexibility, and today Visionary Catering serves more than 800 corporate and government clients. Despite its current success, there were challenges along the way. During the pandemic, catering gigs screeched to a halt, but Lee saw an opportunity to expand his business ventures and opened Ryuko in 2020, an award-winning Japanese restaurant with a modern twist.

Since then, Lee has grown Ryuko from one to three Calgary locations. His experience in the restaurant industry also inspired him to create Chequemate, a hospitality-focused platform that’s currently in development. Chequemate’s goal is to use AI to simplify mobile ordering, payments and restaurant marketing. Beyond hospitality, Lee also plans to launch Merakids, a non-profit child-care service focusing on high-quality nutrition, inclusivity and creativity.

These ventures all stem from Lee seeing opportunities to create roles for his staff, and taking them.

“When I see talented people, I want to put them in the right position and give them the right support,” Lee says. “The reason I want to grow so quickly is for the team.”

Thank yous
“I want to thank my family, friends, and teammates from every part of my journey. In both small ways and big ways, you’ve helped shape who I am and brought me to where I am today. It wasn’t just one person or one moment, it was all of it. I don’t take any of it for granted, and I want to cherish every bit of it.”

[Note: This story incorrectly stated Lee is 35. It has been updated to their correct age of 39.]