When bicycle-sharing caught the frenzy in China around 2017, Kelvin Ng and Justin Seow sensed a similar opportunity in their home country Singapore. So, in 2017, the pair launched an e-scooter-sharing business Popscoot.
“Together, we sought to revolutionise first and last mobility while firmly aware of the obstacles in our way. Our years of experience in brand-building helped us create a platform that was gaining an enthusiastic following. However, in the end, restrictive legislation along with its associated cost almost did us in,” says Kelvin.
According to Seow, Popscoot was founded based on a trail to test out the market and gather feedback for travelling patterns and various other requirements.
“From the very beginning, we wanted to learn more and collect more information from riders and commuters. We singled out gaming and rewards as the most sought-after interest in our commuters. Moreover, it also aligned with our interests in creating a gamification add-on not just for Popscoot but also on other mobility platforms,” Seow adds. “This paved the way for the birth of FOUND,” adds Seow.
What is FOUND
FOUND, a morph of Popscoot, positions itself as a provider of mobility-related solutions for commuters as well as brands. FOUND is essentially an app that gamifies your daily commute and rewards you for it. On the flip side, it unlocks the opportunity for brands to engage and interact with commuters.
“In a nutshell, commuters pick tasks or quests to complete along their journey. Available tasks are triggered based on commuters’ proximity to certain locations. Upon completion, users can claim their rewards in the form of coupons, offers, FOUND coins,” explains Kelvin, who developed the product, along with Seow and Wee Kong.
“For brands, it is an opportunity to develop task storylines and content that match commuters’ ‘I-want-to-know and I-want-to-buy’ moments along their journey,” says Kelvin.
“Think Pokemon GO + rewards + mobile ad campaigns. This is what we are,” Kelvin adds.
Once rolled out, FOUND can be integrated with various mobility players such as Neuron Mobility, Bird, Lime, SMRT, etc.
A massive opportunity
According to Kelvin, traditional out-of-home (OOH) advertising provides poor interaction and return on investment (ROI) despite its reach to the extremely-high throughput of shoppers and commuters daily. Besides, it is relatively expensive and out of reach of smaller brands and businesses.
“This is where FOUND fits in. This app provides an avenue for brands to interact with commuters in an affordable and engaging way,” claims Kelvin. “We see opportunities in partnering with brands, retail and tourism to develop content that is relevant to commuters along their trips.”
In Singapore, digital ads marketing spend is projected to reach US$500 million in 2022. FOUND is targetting this market.
Partnership with Enterprise SG
FOUND is all set to showcase at Intelligent Transport System World Congress (ITSWC) which will be held in Singapore from October 21-25. The event is organised by Enterprise SG (ESG).
“Our association with ESG started when we were still developing PopScoot. We sought their help with marketing opportunities for Popscoot,” continues Kelvin.
“This was when they introduced us to EZ-Link, which identified synergy in the FOUND platform we were developing. Together with Viatick, our Bluetooth-solutions strategic partner, we applied for a grant from ESG,” Kelvin shares.
FOUND, still in the beta stages, will intially be launched in Singapore, and then will expand to other parts of Asia in partnership with EZ-Link.
Founders’ background
Both Kelvin and Justin are hardened entrepreneurs, albeit in the more traditional vein. Both their fathers founded and led their own companies, perhaps that was where they derived their entrepreneurial streak.
“We ourselves founded Creative Agencies, helping to position, design and activate brands for SMEs and global market leaders for over a decade. Justin cut his teeth in a global branding agency before embarking on a stint at his family business in Suzhou, managing a team of over 100. I am a Certified Management Consultant, who graduated from NUS Business School, successfully launched a retail concept at a public listed company, before going back to Design School. This is where I met Justin and joined him at the branding agency. The rest, as they say, is history,” Kelvin says.
Their business partner Keong has eight years of experience in Singapore and Vietnam and has previously founded and managed Interactive Media Maven.
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