Founders Alex Ong and Willynn Ng
It has been a gruelling 2020 for businesses everywhere, and it’s no different for Singapore startup piggyback. Willynn Ng, Founder of Piggyback, shared how she has to contend with roadblocks just as they were making growth plans for their business.
“A lot of people from our outsource team suddenly had to be bound by certain kinds of regulations in Singapore,” she begins. “Some of them are [also] not used to working from home because all their assets are in the shared office.”
This, at a time when Piggyback is looking at seizing the chance, forged inadvertently during the pandemic: the abrupt rise in e-commerce demand. For context, the company implores digital transformation as an end product from the traditional delivery service it used to be — operated with only one truck and one handphone.
“It was supposed to be our opportunity to expand,” Ng explained, as the pandemic hit when they were right smack in the middle of developing their app.
Adding to this predicament is the difficult call to vacate their physical office, which to Ng is akin to letting go of corporate branding and “face value” (in the Chinese context).
“But [if we don’t have] money, we don’t even have any face,” she muses.
This is where e27 caught up with the resilient founder: at a pandemic-induced crossroad, dealing with tough choices. Ng interweaves piggyback’s current business journey with their e27 Fundraise Programme experience.
How the e27 Fundraise Programme exceeded initial expectations
In a nutshell, the e27 Fundraise Programme aims to address its members’ fundraising woes with increased visibility, access to global investors, and an end-to-end SaaS platform to manage their capital-raising process. This programme is in partnership with Wholesale Investor (WI), Australia’s leading investment platform that connects innovative, emerging companies that are looking to raise capital.
At first, Ng joined e27 Fundraise for branding and visibility. Indeed, being part of the programme gives members exposure not only among the vast e27 community but also among the global reach of investors under WI, which currently has over 29,300 high-net-worth investors, fund managers, family offices, PE and VC firms, government bodies and industry participants.
Of course, fundraising was on her mind especially these days, but admits, “we don’t want it to be like a business model whereby we just rely on it for funds.”
Even then, Ng was surprised to discover that investors in the Fundraise Programme were keen to meet with her.
“I’m just a very small company,” she admitted, “but when I get five investors to come to the deal room … I wasn’t expecting any, to be frank. Because at that time, it was just a concept. There’s no prototype that I can show anyone. It was just an idea. I never thought that an idea can actually get that certain kind of interest.”
Also read: e27 partners with Wholesale Investor to help startups raise funds
Through the Programme, the team received much-needed validation and motivation
Ng revealed how she never thought her idea would get any kind of attention. “But when I get five investors from the deal room, it’s something like, ‘hey, not bad huh?’” This recognition gave the founder validation at a time when she felt she was merely eating the bigger players’ dust.
“Previously, there was an investor who told me that my idea doesn’t work because there are bigger players.” However, with the kind of reception she received from the investors in the e27 Fundraise community, Ng became more motivated to persist in her startup’s business journey.
Prompt support and engagement during COVID-19
According to Ng, the WI team has been very active in engaging its members since the pandemic started. This interaction came in the form of newsletters and personal emails delivering helpful tips on what to do and what not to do. WI also opened the communication line by encouraging its members to ask tough questions.
These efforts have added much-needed guidance to Ng and her team as they navigated through the new normal.
Also read: How leveraging e27’s ecosystem platform complemented XNode’s community-building efforts in Singapore
The future looks hopeful for small businesses like piggyback
While settling into the work-from-home set up and with great things brewing over at their Fundraise membership, Piggyback is also busy seizing the opportunities offered by the Singapore government.
Entities such as the Economic Development Board (EDB) and Enterprise Singapore (ESG) have been instrumental in guiding piggyback in its app development and in working out its initiative to educate the mum and pop store owners in their digitalisation journey after app launch. Ng affirms that they’re also running this educational component with the help of IMDA’s “go digital” concept.
At the moment, piggyback may be focussed on staying afloat, but Ng remains optimistic that small businesses such as hers will make it through the hurdles. Not only does she have a dedicated team willing to ride this out with her, but she also has the unwavering support of the government, plus the various benefits and opportunities generated by the e27 Fundraise programme.
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Piggyback became part of the e27 family when they joined the e27 Fundraise Programme late last year. You too can leverage the reach, support, and network of e27 and Wholesale Investor (WI)! Visit our e27 Fundraise Programme page to learn more.
The post Beyond branding and visibility: Piggyback’s e27 Fundraise journey appeared first on e27.