Open For Business

For many of us, coffee is a daily need. However, premium or specialty coffee is often seen as a luxury only to be enjoyed on special occasions. ZUS Coffee is bucking this trend by making specialty coffee more affordable and accessible to all. They are also a digital-focused coffee chain enabling online order to offline delivery via their own app. We speak to Venon Tian, Chief Operating Officer at...

It is commonly known for the MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) business event industry to be one of the lucrative businesses in the market. But it is also an industry that was impacted severely by the pandemic. Evenesis is a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) technology that provides event management solutions for event planners. Being in business for more than 13 years, its CEO...

Pickiddo was developed as a platform that enabled SMEs in education, such as training or tuition centres to operate better. Local SMEs are looking for digital solutions because their businesses cannot be managed effectively through manual work. Therefore, the development of the Pickiddo platform has enabled them to accelerate their business and their management. We hear from Rasid Maasom, the foun...

Workplace rewards are great. In fact, workplace rewards have traditionally been an all-important motivation for employees. That said, this form of incentive has always been a one-size-fits-all approach because it assumes that all employees feel equally rewarded by the same form of rewards. This begs the question, is it high time we took a long hard look at the system and made appropriate adjustmen...

People love their pets, but do they love them enough to buy pet insurance? That’s certainly something that Oyen is hoping for. The digital pet insurance player is aiming to insure 100,000 pets in Southeast Asia within 3 years, fueled by its seed funding round of around RM1.7 million back in 2021. That said, 100,000 is a big number, how far is Oyen from achieving that goal? We get into this, the vi...

Ejen2u is a cloud-based agent management platform that is seeking to help digitalise the agentship industry. With leadership spanning years of experience in the agentship and business digitalisation, Ejen2u is an integrated data driven platform with the goal of helping product founders increase their business productivity and profitability. Imran Hadi, co-founder of Ejen2u joins us to give us an i...

Many businesses can no longer solely rely on traditional mediums to market and improve their company, and hence turn to firms and agencies to handle the nitty gritty so businesses can focus on what they do best. But with the boom of digital marketing agencies, how are business solution providers differentiating themselves in the market? We hear from Chan Leong Teng, CEO and Goh Wei Wen, Head of Op...

We’re all familiar with the different scenarios of how AI has played a role in our lives. NexMind. AI decided to take it one step further by integrating AI Machine Learning into their Search Engine Optimisation software. With a goal to create smarter search robots known as SEO automation software, NexMind. AI provides an enterprise SEO platform that can help brands boost their presence and visibil...

There are plenty of food options available in Malaysia, and we’re often lauded with just how good our food options are. And there are some foods that are an institution here in Malaysia – Nasi Lemak, and even the humble Ramly burger. Nazri and his team at Sausage Sizzle have started to introduce something that isn’t exactly Malaysian, but does have a familiar roadside setting. They produce a premi...

The need for cybersecurity has never been greater. Technology is everywhere and whether the digitisation of society is good, bad, or ugly, what is indisputable is that we are incredibly reliant on tech. According to research and advisory company Forrester, 68% of enterprises in Asia suffered from at least one security breach in 2021. While this is an incredibly scary problem, it’s also a giant opp...

The wedding industry is one of Malaysia's most lucrative industries, worth up to RM7 billion a year, according to the Malaysia Reserve in 2019. But we cannot forget that this industry has suffered one of the worst hits during the pandemic. Some couples even had to go through online weddings. But Precious Wedding Bridal Studio weathered through it all despite having no sales at all during the two y...

WeHantar is a digital startup logistics company looking to bridge ASEAN by providing solutions for businesses and individuals to move goods across the region. Where many couriers charge based on weight and size, WeHantar seeks to differentiate themselves by adopting the approach of sending anything that fits into their box, within the limit of 75kg. We speak to Ash Najwan, Co-Founder and Operation...

Back in 2017, two passionate youths were dedicated to reimagining the way people eat and creating food products that are healthy, enjoyable, and convenient for people. In just two years, they are able to expand their markets into 6 different countries. Until now, their products are available in over 1000 retailers across multiple countries. They are also one of the 12 companies for the Endeavor Sc...

Most of us are probably familiar with cashless and ticketless parking, in fact, smart parking in Malaysia is valued at USD 450 million from 2022-2030 whereas the figure stands at USD 8 billion in Southeast Asia. However, surprisingly, the Southeast Asian market for parking is still 90% cash-based. This could be down to parking space owners not understanding or fearing the switch to digital. Starte...

Insurance - it’s a crucial part of any good financial plan and it’s more than just life insurance, medical card, or critical illness cover. More importantly, it’s not just for individuals, businesses need insurance as well. Senang Insurance is an insuretech that’s trying to make insurance easier for businesses, gig workers, and more. Armed with a new round of funding from TIM Ventures, we speak to...

Arus Oil provides convenience solutions for households, F&B, and hoteliers to recycle their Used Cooking Oil (UCO) waste. The first of its kind to focus on the household market in terms of collecting UCO waste, where households can recycle as little as 5 kgs of UCO from the convenience of their homes and Arus Oil's digital platform. Transactions of payments made are transparent and also a carb...

Many Malaysians own pets and are always on the lookout to provide the best service and care for their ‘fur babies’. Petotum is looking to revolutionise the pet care ecosystem by using technology to connect both pet owners and pet businesses on a single integrated platform. We speak to Afifah Basir, Co-founder and CEO of Petotum to hear about her unique platform and motivations behind starting a pe...

Digital marketing agencies have sprouted up in abundance over the last few years, addressing all of the needs of many businesses. To some people, digital marketing can seem like a different language, or even a different universe; so who best to help you with your digital marketing campaigns? Digital natives. We hear from Brandon Lee, Co-Founder of Pandan Social about what it's like to head up a yo...

Digital assets are slowly becoming more mainstream with people having at least heard of cryptocurrency and NFTs. Unfortunately, just like physical assets, assets in digital form are also vulnerable to theft and loss. Web3Gate is looking to offer a secure yet convenient way to enjoy token gated benefits without requiring holders to connect or carry their crypto wallets. We speak to Edwin Yin, co-fo...

A new vegan brand from Indonesia has entered the Malaysian market – Green Rebel Foods. Helga Angelina Tjahjadi, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Green Rebel Foods started the business with her partner Max Mandias in September 2020. She shares about the demand for plant-based meat alternatives in Indonesia and Malaysia, and what it takes to expand regionally.   Photo Credit : Fac...

Established in 1974, FireFighter Industry Sdn Bhd is a manufacturer of fire extinguishers and also a one stop fire safety service provider. They are also the only Malaysian fire extinguisher manufacturer with both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certifications. They’ve recently been the only business accepted into Endeavor Malaysia’s ScaleUp Program under Cohort 3. Interestingly, they are the only non-star...

The concept of Earned Wage Access (EWA) is actually a simple one: giving employees immediate access to the salary they have earned, rather than having them wait for paycheck week. With the rise in cost of living, timely access to finances and salaries have become more vital than ever. As the competition to hire and retain employees grows ever more important, EWA can make a big difference in attrac...

Hayley Chang and Chew Si Khai started Del’cs back in 2020 and Hayley was only 16 at that time. They talk about their concept store located in Taman Paramount which curates thrift clothing and stocks as they want to push for sustainable fashion.  Photo Credit : Shutterstock | antoniodiaz See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

MakeTimePay is a web and mobile app-based ‘on-demand work’ ecosystem that is designed to help job seekers and posters find on-demand tasks and opportunities that are matched to their skills, interests and free time. With the growing number of people getting involved with gig work platforms, how does ‘MAKE TIME PAY’ differentiate itself from other job platforms? Shahryn Azmi, Executive Director and...

According to a study published by WHO in 2020, 84% of adults will experience back pain at least once in their lifetime. This means over 22.3 million Malaysians are exposed to such risks.  Physiomobile, is a tech-enabled healthcare company that provides physiotherapy services at the convenience of its patients. As staunch believers in tech-based solutions, Physiomobile complements the previous...