Open For Business

Today, we explore the story of a café that’s redefining the art of artisanal baking. Set in a warm, inviting atmosphere and with carefully crafted baked goods, Dou Dou Bake combines sustainability, mindfulness, and impeccable design to create a unique sensory experience. Keith Koay, the Founder of Dou Dou Bake, shares his journey, from the inspiration behind this iconic café to the challenges of scaling an artisanal business, and uncover what makes it stand out in both taste and experience.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From supplying kopitiams to launching grab-and-go kiosks, this 81-year-old Penang coffee roastery is determined to modernise its Nanyang heritage and scale nationwide, and maybe take on ZUS. In this episode, we explore how a fourth-generation CEO balances family legacy with modern strategy—preserving artisanal roasting methods while introducing newer product lines like instant coffee and Nitro-infused local brews.We delve into the rationale behind concept stores, the challenges of bridging tradition with innovation, and how these shifts cater to evolving consumer tastes. We also discuss why the company is seeking equity funding to fuel its ambitious expansion—while keeping an ACE Market listing in view.Along the way, discover how it manages rising coffee bean prices, invests in equipment upgrades, and pioneers a kiosk model to bring old-world flavours to new generations of coffee lovers across Malaysia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A pregnancy craving launched an online sourdough bakery that now wants to be the homemade alternative to Subway and O’Briens. In this episode, we explore how this husband-wife duo shifted from online to B2B and B2C retail—testing cloud kitchens, kiosk models, and central production to carve a niche in Malaysia’s competitive F&B space. DIve into how they balance product quality, branding, and expansion plans as they strive to become a go-to local sandwich chain.Here are some AI-generated highlights of key areas covered in the conversation:- Pandemic Beginnings: What started as a personal sourdough craving in Kota Bharu led to an online store and unexpected demand, fueling the move into the Klang Valley.- Cloud Kitchen Trials: To minimise overhead, the business initially relied on a cloud kitchen model, offering a lower-risk way to test the market in Kuala Lumpur.- B2B to B2C Pivot: After supplying major retail marts, the founders realised that consignment-based sales lacked control, steering them to build their own brand presence via brick-and-mortar outlets.- Focus on Sandwiches: Adapting to local breakfast and lunch habits, they are shifting to a sandwich-centric model—blending artisanal sourdough with grab-and-go convenience to meet Malaysia’s F&B needs.- Scaling with Central Kitchens: Centralising production ensures consistent product quality while reducing costs, allowing for multiple retail kiosks and expansion into mature neighborhoods.- Balancing Costs and Margins: They share insights on navigating overhead challenges, from refining kiosk concepts to adjusting product offerings, in pursuit of healthier profit margins.- Sights on Expansion: Future plans include opening more sandwich outlets, securing potential funding through equity sales, and leveraging strategic partnerships while maintaining control of product quality.- A Homegrown Vision: Aiming to become a recognised local sandwich brand—on par with global chains—the founders remain committed to artisanal quality and a distinctly Malaysian identity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on Open For Business, we speak to Edwin Wang, Co-Founder and CEO of Signature Market, a brand that’s making nutritious meals and healthy snacking more accessible to Malaysians. From its humble beginnings to becoming a household name both online and in stores, Signature Market’s journey is one of resilience and growth. We uncover the story behind its success, explore the challenges faced, and discover the exciting plans that lie ahead for the brand.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why and how did a B2C storage company pivot into a B2B e-commerce fulfillment platform, now supporting over 38 local and international brands and managing fulfillment for more than 100 online stores across platforms like Shopee, Lazada, TikTokShop, and Shopify? In this episode of Open For Business, we uncover the story of FlyBear, a Malaysian e-commerce fulfillment company, with Co-Founder and Managing Director, David Buri.FlyBear’s mission is clear: to help businesses focus on growth while it handles the complexities of warehousing, picking, packing, and delivery.Join us as we dive into FlyBear’s origin story, its spin-off from Storage Bloc in 2021, the journey from storage to fulfillment, and the pivotal milestones along the way. We’ll also discuss the challenges of building a logistics business, key areas of growth ahead, and whether an M&A or IPO could be in FlyBear’s future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on the show, we’re joined by Wan Emir Astar and Falah Hamidi, Co-Founders at ReMeal, a platform aiming to help cafes and restaurants sell their surplus food at discounted prices. ReMeal's journey began in 2023, with the launch of their app on the App Store and Google Play Store by mid-2024 and today, they have expanded to 16 active stores and over 40 vendors in the onboarding process with some notable ones including Celsius Coffee and Gula Cakery. We speak with two out of the four co-founders to discuss the mission and vision of ReMeal to successfully tackle the issue of food waste, the challenges they’re facing to achieve this and their ambitions to further develop ReMeal going forward.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How does a Malaysian-based SaaS company challenge global giants like Adobe and Canva? Meet Pixlr Group, an AI-powered creative tools provider with over 10 million active users, transforming how individuals and businesses create content and communicate.In this episode of Open for Business, Warren Leow, CEO of Pixlr Group, takes us through the company’s journey from its origins in Sweden to its acquisition by Imagine Group in Malaysia. Learn how Pixlr evolved from a basic photo editing tool to a comprehensive AI-driven creative ecosystem, catering to semi-professional and professional users worldwide.Here are some AI-generated highlights of key areas covered in the conversation:- Pixlr’s Evolution: Originally founded in 2008 by Swedish developer Ola Sevandersson and later acquired by Autodesk, Pixlr transitioned to Malaysian ownership in 2016/17 under INMAGINE Group. With a complete rebuild using HTML5 and AI integration, Pixlr has transformed into an ecosystem of creative tools catering to global audiences.- AI-Powered Creativity: Pixlr integrates cutting-edge AI features, including generative fill, background removal, and animation tools, enabling faster, smarter, and more cost-efficient content creation. The tools reduce production time from weeks to minutes, offering transformative value for semi-professionals and businesses alike.- Warren’s Leadership: From his beginnings in Ipoh and a corporate career in energy trading at BP and consulting at Bain, Warren brought his global experience to Pixlr. As CEO, he has driven the company’s professionalisation and positioned it for growth, balancing the founders’ vision with operational execution.- Global SaaS Strategy: Pixlr’s revenue is 99% global, with key markets in North America, Europe, and APAC. Its SaaS model leverages freemium offerings, subscription-based products, and partnerships to scale internationally.- Competitive Positioning: Positioned between Canva’s simplicity and Adobe’s high-end professional tools, Pixlr targets the semi-professional market. Its user-friendly tools offer powerful features without the prohibitive costs of competitors like Adobe.- Recognitions and Milestones: Pixlr was the only Southeast Asian company recognised with an ‘Add to Chrome’ badge at Google I/O 2024, affirming its position as a world-class product.- Bootstrapping Success: As part of INMAGINE Group, Pixlr has been largely bootstrapped, growing organically while maintaining profitability. Despite limited funding, it has achieved eight-figure revenue and continues to invest in product innovation and operational rigor.- Future Growth Plans: Warren outlines Pixlr’s ambitious target of 50% compounded annual growth, with plans to deepen its existing product offerings, introduce new AI-powered tools, and explore corporate exercises like IPOs or M&As to maximise value.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you teach kids financial literacy while ensuring their spending is safe? Enter Vircle, a Malaysian fintech that blends cashless payments with a child-safe, parent-friendly financial platform.Vircle was born out of a need to address challenges in managing children’s spending in an increasingly digital and cashless world while improving financial literacy and safety. Inspired by personal experiences, Founder Gokula Krishnan Subramaniam set out to create a solution that empowers parents to monitor and manage their children’s financial habits while safeguarding them from risks like bullying and unauthorised transactions.The fintech platform initially tackled issues within schools, introducing cashless payment cards with parental controls, but today is evolving into a more comprehensive family financial management solution with programmable Visa cards, real-time transaction monitoring, and advanced spending controls. While its B2B model caters to schools, the company’s expanding consumer offerings focus on broader family financial needs, all rooted in a commitment to safe and responsible spending.Gokula and Vircle won the Cradle’s Trailblazer Startup of the Year at the PLUGIN 2024 conference in December.Here are some AI-generated highlights of key areas covered in the conversation:- Purpose-Bound Money Innovation: Vircle’s proprietary entitlement-based system lets parents allocate, track, and control their children's spending without transferring money directly into a child’s account. This ensures legal compliance while fostering financial literacy.- Cashless School Ecosystem: Vircle’s school-focused cashless payment cards integrate real-time alerts, meal-ordering systems, and marketplace features, offering financial oversight for parents and operational efficiency for schools.- Programmable Visa Cards: Advanced parental controls restrict spending categories and channels, ensuring safe financial management for children. Unexpected use cases have emerged, such as adoption by families for elderly relatives and domestic staff.- Growth Through Partnerships: Collaborations with institutions like U Mobile have helped Vircle penetrate public schools, while ongoing partnerships with banks and telcos aim to expand their ecosystem and address diverse family financial needs.- Overcoming Funding Challenges: Starting as a bootstrapped venture, Vircle has raised over RM3 million from investors like 1337 Ventures, 500 Global, Gobi Partners, Dana Impak, and Kumpulan Modal Perdana. Founder Gokula even sold his car in the early days to keep operations running, reflecting the resilience behind its success.- Future Expansion and Innovations: Plans include regional expansion, a spinoff brand for non-school segments, a college education savings platform, and white-label solutions to support large-scale partnerships.- Resilience in Entrepreneurship: Gokula Krishnan’s journey underscores the challenges of building a fintech in a regulated space, navigating funding hurdles, and developing unique, family-centric features.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the show today, we’re joined by Kenn Leandre, Founder & CEO at Kakuchopurei, a multi-platformed business based in KL aiming to tick all the boxes when it comes to video games, pop culture and esports media. After his previous role as the first editor of IGN Asia in 2012, Kenn started Kakuchopurei in 2017with ex-Gamespot Asia editors to make gaming more accessible to everyone - content and events wise. Today, the company has hit over 4 million monthly views on YouTube with over 400 thousand monthly social media reach as of 2024. We’ll be taking a deep dive into Kenn’s journey from IGN Asia to now an active entrepreneur, the challenges and hurdles he faced to not only to start a business in a very underrated industry here in Malaysia but also to stay unique and relevant with their target audience as well as their ambitions ahead in 2025.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Founded in 2018, Singapore-based Portcast leverages AI and machine learning to optimize global supply chains through real-time transportation visibility and predictive analytics. By processing over 5 million data points daily from 370 carriers, 800 ports, and sources like geolocation and ERP systems, Portcast wants to deliver actionable insights that drive efficiency and transparency.Led by Nidhi Gupta, Portcast recently raised $6.5 million in Series A funding to accelerate its mission of transforming global trade. With clients like Sumitomo Warehouse, FreshCo, and AIT Corp, Portcast is positioning itself as the go-to platform for supply chain efficiency in a competitive landscape.In this episode of Open For Business, Nidhi Gupta, Founder and CEO of Portcast, shares her journey from working at DHL to launching her own venture. We delve into the company's origins, the challenges of scaling a data-driven business, and its future ambitions. Discover how Portcast is redefining logistics with AI-driven insights, tackling inefficiencies, and building a global moat.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.