Open For Business

In November, local upscale restaurant Dewakan picked up a second Michelin Star at the second edition of the Michelin Guide Kuala Lumpur and Penang, making it the first two-Michelin starred restaurant in Malaysia. An honour that has backed up the establishment's name that translates to ‘food from god’.

On this episode of Open for Business, you will learn what turned an educational entrepreneurial effort at a local college into this two starred Michelin restaurant, what it takes to survive and strive in the highly competitive culinary scene, and whether the restaurant business makes business sense, with Chef Darren Teoh, founder and head chef of Dewakan.

In November, local upscale restaurant Dewakan picked up a second Michelin Star at the second edition of the Michelin Guide Kuala Lumpur and Penang, making it the first two-Michelin starred restaurant in Malaysia. An honour that has backed up the establishment's name that translates to ‘food from god’.

On this episode of Open for Business, you will learn what turned an educational entrepreneurial effort at a local college into this two starred Michelin restaurant, what it takes to survive and strive in the highly competitive culinary scene, and whether the restaurant business makes business sense, with Chef Darren Teoh, founder and head chef of Dewakan.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are an estimated 500,000 newborns in Malaysia every year generating RM3.3 billion in maternity-related spending. Aiming for a slice of that market, Happy Preggie began with the mission of providing the first platform in Malaysia to connect today’s generation of educated and discerning young parents with a curated range of quality maternity health services and professionals.

The temptation to provide more offerings in adjacent areas is ever present to a startup in the product development stage. After a few forays, the company decided to return to its core mission of providing new parents with better knowledge of and access to health and wellness services, including areas of customer demand hidden by cultural taboos, such as post-miscarriage support.

We speak about gathering customer insight, refocusing the company’s offerings, the importance of mission, and much more in this conversation with Yoong Poh Joon, founder of startup Happy Preggie.

Guest Presenter: Nell Omar

There are an estimated 500,000 newborns in Malaysia every year generating RM3.3 billion in maternity-related spending. Aiming for a slice of that market, Happy Preggie began with the mission of providing the first platform in Malaysia to connect today’s generation of educated and discerning young parents with a curated range of quality maternity health services and professionals.

The temptation to provide more offerings in adjacent areas is ever present to a startup in the product development stage. After a few forays, the company decided to return to its core mission of providing new parents with better knowledge of and access to health and wellness services, including areas of customer demand hidden by cultural taboos, such as post-miscarriage support.

We speak about gathering customer insight, refocusing the company’s offerings, the importance of mission, and much more in this conversation with Yoong Poh Joon, founder of startup Happy Preggie.

Guest Presenter: Nell Omar

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Homegrown job solutions platform Qwork recently announced an investment from Artem Ventures that will power its growth into more industries that are prime to tap into the utilization of gig workers to help them better optimise their manpower.

Founded in 2017, Qwork has worked with over 100,000 gig workers serving clients in 11 countries in Southeast Asia, notably Zalora, Busybees Asia, Dynapack Asia, J&T Express, and Jakel, and has paid out over US$3 million to giggers, while helping saving up to 60% of operational costs for these businesses.

In 2023 alone, Qwork has connected more than 15,000 individuals with companies throughout the region who have clocked in close to 2 million working hours and spent over 280,000 hours working with partners worldwide to upskill its giggers.

On this episode of Open for Business, you will hear from Muna Munirah, CEO and Co-Founder of Qwork, about how these newly raised funds will be utilised, their plans for growth and how they will execute, and the origin story behind this startup.

Homegrown job solutions platform Qwork recently announced an investment from Artem Ventures that will power its growth into more industries that are prime to tap into the utilization of gig workers to help them better optimise their manpower.

Founded in 2017, Qwork has worked with over 100,000 gig workers serving clients in 11 countries in Southeast Asia, notably Zalora, Busybees Asia, Dynapack Asia, J&T Express, and Jakel, and has paid out over US$3 million to giggers, while helping saving up to 60% of operational costs for these businesses.

In 2023 alone, Qwork has connected more than 15,000 individuals with companies throughout the region who have clocked in close to 2 million working hours and spent over 280,000 hours working with partners worldwide to upskill its giggers.

On this episode of Open for Business, you will hear from Muna Munirah, CEO and Co-Founder of Qwork, about how these newly raised funds will be utilised, their plans for growth and how they will execute, and the origin story behind this startup.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sweatspa is a wellness spa whose journey started 9 years ago. Now, Sweatspa has 5 outlets with its most recent outlet in Bukit Jalil opening just a few months ago. In a bid to grow this much bigger, Sweatspa also recently acquired their franchise licence, something we will explore in more detail.

Beyond their consumer facing retail business and their upcoming franchising, Sweatspa also offers installation services for those seeking personal saunas at home and has a commercial solutions arm for those looking to start their own sauna business or for those looking to enhance their existing businesses in adjacent industries such as fitness, healthcare, and wellness sectors.  

On this episode of Open for Business,  you will learn about SweatSpa’s origin and growth story, how it markets itself and acquires customers, and most importantly, plans to leverage the new franchise licence to accelerate the growth. All this with Sabrina Tang, Founder of Sweatspa.

Sweatspa is a wellness spa whose journey started 9 years ago. Now, Sweatspa has 5 outlets with its most recent outlet in Bukit Jalil opening just a few months ago. In a bid to grow this much bigger, Sweatspa also recently acquired their franchise licence, something we will explore in more detail.

Beyond their consumer facing retail business and their upcoming franchising, Sweatspa also offers installation services for those seeking personal saunas at home and has a commercial solutions arm for those looking to start their own sauna business or for those looking to enhance their existing businesses in adjacent industries such as fitness, healthcare, and wellness sectors.  

On this episode of Open for Business,  you will learn about SweatSpa’s origin and growth story, how it markets itself and acquires customers, and most importantly, plans to leverage the new franchise licence to accelerate the growth. All this with Sabrina Tang, Founder of Sweatspa.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pilgrim is an Indian-based, all natural, vegan, direct-to-consumer (D2C) skincare startup brand that has caught the attention of some prominent investors. Just two months ago, Vertex Ventures, Fireside Ventures and Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office, were part of Pilgrim’s $20 million Series B funding round, which will help them accelerate the company’s growth in India.

Having generated $9.59 million in revenue in the last financial year, the company is expecting 3X growth to hit around $30 million in the next financial year, and another 2X growth to achieve $60-70 million the year after. It is also expecting to hit profitability next year.

All that and more in this conversation with Anurag Kedia, the co-founder of Pilgrim. We explore Pilgrim’s origins and growth story, insights into how to build a consumer beauty brand while optimising your marketing budget, as well as future plans including the path to profitability and IPO thoughts.

Pilgrim is an Indian-based, all natural, vegan, direct-to-consumer (D2C) skincare startup brand that has caught the attention of some prominent investors. Just two months ago, Vertex Ventures, Fireside Ventures and Narotam Sekhsaria Family Office, were part of Pilgrim’s $20 million Series B funding round, which will help them accelerate the company’s growth in India.

Having generated $9.59 million in revenue in the last financial year, the company is expecting 3X growth to hit around $30 million in the next financial year, and another 2X growth to achieve $60-70 million the year after. It is also expecting to hit profitability next year.

All that and more in this conversation with Anurag Kedia, the co-founder of Pilgrim. We explore Pilgrim’s origins and growth story, insights into how to build a consumer beauty brand while optimising your marketing budget, as well as future plans including the path to profitability and IPO thoughts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.