Open For Business

Media and entertainment is all about capturing and retaining your attention, and digital content and technology has been incredibly successful in capturing your eyes, ears, and time. That said, the entrepreneurs behind the BREAKOUT Escape Room, HAUNTU and Spy Game, know that immersive experiences aren’t the monopoly of tech companies and the digital world.The immersive gaming company is bringing excitement, challenge and social interactions back to the physical world. They started with The Breakout Escape Rooms in 2014, then launched a fully immersive haunted attraction called Hauntu in 2018. During the pandemic, the company adapted and took the product online and last year Superdough launched Spy Game, a game concept that wants to deliver an adrenaline-fueled adventure. Today, Superdough has 70 escape rooms across four countries – Malaysia, Korea, Canada, and the United States, and says its games have been played by over 1 million people globally. We speak with Superdough’s founders, Kelly Low and Johnny Ong about how and why they built this business, the business viability and what lies ahead.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Tin Men Capital is on a mission to unlock the potential of B2B tech startups within Southeast Asia, focusing on markets where industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, and sustainability are flourishing, particularly Malaysia.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Founded by mother-son pairing Gwen and David, King Living had its humble start at Paddy’s Markets in Sydney over 40 years ago.Today, with its steel construction and modular sofa designs, King Living is a leading Australian furniture manufacturer-retailer with 18 branches across Australia, with another 10 overseas spread across Singapore, Malaysia, the UK, New Zealand, Canada, and China.King Living’s journey entered a new chapter around 8 years ago when David King stepped away from the day-to-day and Anna Carrabs took up the role as CEO. After 7 years in charge of the company, Anna stepped down in November and today’s guest on the show took up the baton.Photo Credits: LinkedIn | David WoollcottSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s no running away from it, gig work is becoming a bigger part of the labour market, and gigwork isn’t just ride hailing or food delivery, it can encompass freelancers, project-based workers and part-time hires. Managing this kind of work force can be complicated for businesses and troublesome for temporary gig workers due to potential exposure to unsafe working environments, delayed payments, and exploitation.Cidekick is a platform that wants to manage this balance by making gig work management easier on both sides of the equation. This include the screening, hiring, and monitoring of on-ground workers for events, creative talent for marketing and promotion, or other temporary manpower needs.While a clear need in the market, how does it stack up against other more notable players like Fiverr or Upwork or job matching platforms like GoGet or TROOPERS, that was recently acquired by BetterPlace?To find out, we’re speaking with Philip Phua, Founder and CEO of Cidekick. We’ll get into how they have built this solution, where it fits in the talent management stack, and what lies ahead for this startup.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Promo Partners is a company that specialises in redemption programs and licensed character promotions that has access to intellectual property from Disney, Pokemon, Universal Studios, Warner Bros, and DreamWorks. With this they have worked with companies like AEON, Giant, Guardian, 7-Eleven, Shell, and Family Mart to build marketing initiatives and redemption programs that are generally used to acquire new customers and boost short-term sales, but it can also help build customer retention over the long term.To learn more about this, we speak with Gary Chin, Founder and Director of Promo Partners.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Itxotic, a Malaysian visual AI startup. Currently in its market penetration stage, Itxotic has secured a significant contract with a key player in the oil and gas industry, despite fierce competition from advanced-stage competitors in Australia and France. Itxotic's solution not only enhances efficiency in the oil and gas sector, but also positively impacts the environment with potential applications across industries like road transportation and plantations. We speak to the founder Amar Zolkipli.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a key issue that many tenants or potential renters face when they’re looking to rent a property - that’s the initial cash deposit that can significantly impact a renter’s liquidity position. At the same time, landlords want that deposit to help financially protect themselves and their properties.And the answer to this conundrum is? Well, tech it seems.Founded in 2018, Blue Duck Tech is a fintech company that provides financial services in the real estate landscape in Malaysia. Their key offering, a Zero Deposit Program to help replace the old rental deposit model with one that strikes a balance between tenants and landlords.Earnest Wong, Founder and CEO of Blue Duck Tech, joins us to get into the business model and technology that drives this startup, how they manage the associated risks, and what’s next for them.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

80% of Malaysians don’t have valid wills and there’s more than RM90 billion worth of unclaimed assets nationwide. That’s what the President of the Malaysian Institute of Estate Planners (MIEP) said 9 months ago.Wills and estate planning are some of the least appealing areas of personal finance, but they are essential in ensuring that your money and assets are distributed in a way that you feel best protects your loved ones and dependants. Sure part of the issue lies in the taboo around talking about death, but another part is the potential expense of the process and the inaccessibility of writing solutions or services. CreateWills is trying to address this by digitalising the process, but can a digital product truly replace a lawyer or estate planning professional’s expertise in this nuanced and sensitive space? We speak to Raymond Gabriel, Founder and CEO, CreateWills to find out.We also get into CreateWills business prospects, trajectory, and future plans.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Usually what you’d see a business do is build itself up in its home country before venturing overseas, but that’s not what the engineers at INTRIX Group did.INTRIX began as an R&D consultancy company that was initially trying to build its business locally, but following some not-so-favourable inquiries, they then shifted their focus to countries that were willing to pay for intellectual property, which then led INTRIX to the UK. 20 years later, they have expanded their range of products, attaining 19 patents, serving some of the biggest clients in the UK and the world, and even moved into the consumer market, selling all-in-one purified water taps directly to customers.Founder and Managing Director Tee Tone Vei joins us to discuss their journey over the last 20 years, why they explored foreign markets before tapping local opportunities, the value proposition of its water purification system INTRIX One Tap, and more.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prepare to dive into an intriguing quest of self-discovery — not of personality, but the secrets encoded in your DNA, the key to your past, present, and future. Dr. Rachna Kairon, the innovator behind myPreciseDNA by Synapse Laboratory, is making genetic testing more accessible for a healthier Malaysia. As a seasoned pathologist, Dr. Rachna has pushed microbiology and molecular diagnostics to new frontiers, pioneering genetic testing in Malaysia's digitised healthcare landscape. Despite challenges, from naysayers to significant investment demands, she persisted, driven by the vision of empowering everyday Malaysians to understand and manage their genetic health. Synapse, her brainchild, is the first in Malaysia to offer private newborn screenings and affordable direct-to-consumer genetic tests. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.