Up and coming startups, particularly in Malaysia and Singapore, paint a picture of a robust region with ample tech-driven opportunities

“Opportunities” was one of the first words that kick-started a panel at WiT Indie a few weeks ago that focused on rising startups in the region – two from Malaysia and one from Singapore. When asked to describe the Malaysian startup scene, Low Wan Xin (Founder of Wanderworks Lab and Remote Work Malaysia) emphatically said that “opportunities” characterise the local scene, noting, “We are a country with a lot of problems, yes, but Malaysia sits in Southeast Asia, which is the largest economic bloc after the US, China, Japan, and Germany. So, a lot of attention and resources are available here.”

Her fellow panelists, Raudha Zaini (Strategic Partnerships & Projects Lead at HalalTrip) and Faizal Abd Kadir (Founder of Loka) described the Malaysian space as “dynamic” and “in demand” respectively, with Faizal adding that there are now “government initiatives in place to support the local ecosystem”. 

Achievements and lessons in a competitive landscape

The conversation soon turned to the significant achievements of each startup. Raudha highlighted the resilience of CrescentRating, HalalTrip’s parent company, stating, “Surviving in this space is an achievement, especially through the pandemic. In fact, post-pandemic, we actually grew our team, which is quite an accomplishment considering we’ve never received external funding.” She also mentioned the development of a unique in-flight prayer calculator, which allows Muslim travellers to determine prayer times and directions while in the air—a feature that has given HalalTrip a niche in the travel industry.

After launching CrescentRating in 2008 to rate hotels, and building up a solid research, advisory and consultancy business around halal travel, the company turned its focus to the competitive waters of B2C with its consumer brand, HalalTrip. Raudha’s goal as Strategic Partnerships & Projects Lead was always to lead the consumer brand to target younger generation Muslim travellers.

Meanwhile, Wan Xin discussed the success of Remote Work Malaysia, a community she built before launching her startup, Wanderworks Lab. “The largest achievement so far is creating a very self-sustaining, healthy community of 69,000 people within just over a year. The quality of discussions and the positive engagement have been incredible,” she said, emphasising the importance of community building in her journey.

She shared, “One of the largest lessons I’ve learned is that when we think about remote workers, we often imagine digital nomads, typically foreigners. But Malaysia has a lot of local digital nomads who have been working remotely or hybridly for years. The kinds of jobs they do are incredibly diverse—from software development and marketing to architecture and interior design.”

Wan Xin (Left) and Raudha discuss their companies’ significant achievements. Photo: WiT Indie, Penang

For Faizal, the key achievement of Loka has been maintaining an average session time of six to ten minutes on their platform during the pandemic. This level of engagement reflects the platform’s ability to keep users interested and coming back for more. Faizal’s startup, Loka, is a tours and activities booking platform that is hyperlocalised to Langkawi. This is to work around stiff competition in the region, especially from the giant OTAs. 

“It’s about the competition, yes, and also there’s a social impact element involved,” added Faizal. “It’s also about exploiting the untapped market in Langkawi. We saw a gap in the market and decided to tackle it with Loka.”

Funding realities and strategic allocation

Needless to say, funding is a perennial challenge for startups, and the panelists were asked where they would allocate funding if they could secure a realistic amount. 

Raudha prioritised marketing and technology, areas she believes are crucial for HalalTrip’s growth. She added that one of the challenges in the halal market is the “lack of awareness among Muslim consumers about the availability of Muslim-friendly options.” She pointed out that while the demand is high in the region, the content is often not easily discoverable, making it difficult for consumers to find halal options when travelling.

“That information is not reaching them, and to raise awareness we need marketing. Because, as you know, the customer acquisition cost is very high,” she explained.

Wan Xin, on the other hand, emphasised the need for team expansion. “Right now, I have a lot of expert advisors who are lending their brains, but I need to ensure they can join us with stability and longevity,” she said. “They’re just people who say, I love this remote community, I want to make it happen, I want to convince my boss that remote is possible and productive. So, they’re just lending us their resources. So yeah, it’s just me and a lot of goodwill.” 

Faizal also highlighted marketing as the primary area where funding should be channeled, noting the importance of keeping development costs low.

However, when it came down to marketing stategies, the approaches varied among the panelists. Faizal emphasised the use of game designers, gamification and guerrilla marketing strategies. Wan Xin shared that her community’s growth was largely organic, driven by the quality of discussions and the positive engagement in the group, on top of social media reach. “We haven’t spent a single ringgit on marketing yet, but the community grew by 2,000 people every three days at one point,” she noted. Raudha stressed the importance of collaboration and partnerships, alongside creating meaningful content that resonates with various market segments within the Muslim community.

Faizal explains that Loka is hyperlocalised in Langkawi to work around competition and exploit a relatively untapped market. Photo: WiT Indie, Penang

Ultimate goals and long-term plans

Looking ahead, all three panelists discussed their ultimate goals for their startups. Wan Xin envisions a nation where “every remote worker has a desk available within a 15-minute radius,” aiming for zero instances where a remote worker cannot find a place to pop open their laptops to get some work done. 

Faizal aims to develop a “unified platform” where users can manage all their travel-related needs, while Raudha, aligning with HalalTrip’s updated tagline, “Exploring Purpose,” aspires to create a world where Muslims can travel with ease while also building bridges to all communities. She added, “If we become a unicorn in five years, that would be the icing on the cake.”