All in, together

• Co-founder of 500-backed startup Fave, Chen Chow Yeoh, shared his views on resilience and how its response to the pandemic has unexpectedly benefitted the startup.

• When lockdown measures were in place, many businesses suffered, especially those that relied on foot traffic like F&B outlets and health and beauty retailers. The worst-hit were those that did not have an online presence.
• Many tech platforms stepped in to help them go digital — Fave being one of them. The startup is a fintech and consumer rewards platform that provides e-payment solutions to offline businesses and merchants and opens them up to bigger pools of customers through online marketing methods. This includes customer loyalty programs, virtual gift cards, review ratings, and more.
• When many of these offline businesses couldn’t operate during the first lockdown in Malaysia in March 2020, Fave asked, “how can we help?” and took on the role of supporting merchants through this phase.
• In came ‘Save Our Fave’, a campaign conceived in less than two days after the lockdown announcement and implemented across the platform by the third day.
• According to Chen Chow, the campaign was made possible thanks to collaborations with social media platforms, celebrities, and other corporations.
• ‘Save Our Fave’ allows consumers to save their favorite restaurants by buying eCards containing varying amounts of extra credit on top of the original amount paid. For instance, a consumer can pay USD20 and get USD25 worth of credits in return.
• Businesses that participate in the campaign will be paid even before the eCards are utilized. This provides the cashflow required to stay afloat. Also, Fave waived all transaction fees and commissions, with 100% of revenue going to merchants.
• Chen Chow said, “Ultimately, we want to build a long-term relationship…We are in it with them through good times and bad times.”
• Serendipitously, through the campaign, the startup found new opportunities in expanding its footprint via the partners they connected with, such as Facebook, Instagram, DBS Bank, and telco Singtel.
• “A lot of these brands, we don’t get a chance to work closely with as startups. This pandemic and in our fight against it opened up doors,” Chen Chow shared.
• Fave found itself strengthened in helping its merchants, reflecting the truth in how a business’s success depends on its partners’ success.
• He concluded, “The way people run and plan for their businesses have changed permanently…People are evolving, and so should companies.”
• Read the full interview here.

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500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Southeast Asia family of funds. The 500 Southeast Asia funds have backed over 240 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.

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