The Silicon Review - Best Business Review Magazine 10 Best Startups of the Year 2019 Asia | Page 22

COVER STORY
We have seen the positive impact
and response from several
markets for our product. The
multiple-market validation tells us
that we are on the right track.
Competing on a global platform
requires us to offer a world-class
product and an equally robust
support structure behind that. This
ambition and attitude to deliver a
world-class solution is ingrained in
our DNA. Continuous improvement
and optimization of everything we
do regularly is a mantra that we
practice diligently at Zeemart.
Tell us about your product
roadmap.
Based on requests from our buyer
community for recommendations
for new suppliers and contacts,
we’ve recently built and rolled
out Singapore’s first F&B-focused
sourcing platform- Zeemart Zoom.
This platform allows suppliers to
list an unlimited number of their
products online on our marketplace.
We expect this platform to improve
sourcing of new products and
suppliers significantly for F&B
operators, while suppliers have
an effective channel to get their
products in front of their target
audience. The response to this
platform has been great with
interest from suppliers and buyers
from Singapore and beyond.
Where do you see your
company a couple of years
from now?
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Notwithstanding our rapid growth,
we believe we have only scratched
the surface of the opportunity to
modernize the traditional F&B
sector. Our journey began with
digitizing procurement, which put
us in a very good position to exploit
numerous other opportunities
leveraging the convergence of digital
& data to unlock enormous value to
both buyers and suppliers. We are
already building and rolling out the
JANUARY 2019
next batch of features that will cover
inventory management, payments,
financing, logistics and last mile
fulfilment.
We have commenced operations
in Indonesia and expect to start in
Vietnam within the next couple of
months. We are running some trials
in Malaysia, Thailand and India
in collaboration with established
restaurant chains. Philippines is
another market that we are on the
verge of entering. In the last 12
months, our team has doubled to be
65-member strong and this figure
will change very quickly to support
our expansion into various regional
markets.
We have some exciting challenges
and opportunities ahead.
Meet the Visionaries
behind the Success
Neeraj Sundarajoo
Acknowledged as one of Singapore’s
top digital agency leaders, Neeraj
embarked on his entrepreneurial
journey in 2002, by co-founding
Comwerks at 21. Within 3 years,
eBay added the agency to its
roster, making it one of the agency’s
largest clients. In recognition of
the early achievements of
Comwerks, Neeraj was awarded
the leading Youth Entrepreneur
of the Year by DBS/SICCI in 2007.
He then led the acquisition of
Comwerks by WPP in 2010 and
continued as CEO. He helped set
up Zed Academy, with the support
of EDB, to train young graduates
from local universities on Digital
and Mobile, increasing the available
talent pool within the industry.
Neeraj then led the group’s
largest digital businesses such as
Wunderman, Enfatico, AdPeople and
Comwerks. He also helped to set up
and established WPP’s Government
and Public-Sector Practice and was
part of the WPP faculty in Lee Kuan
Yew School of Public Policy. In 2013,
Neeraj was the overall winner of
the DBS/SICCI Entrepreneur of the
Year Award as well as the overall
winner of the OCBC/ASME Young
Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
In Dec 2016, Neeraj left WPP to fully
devote himself to his next venture,
Zeemart.
Keith Tan
Keith co-founded Comwerks in
2002 with Neeraj Sundarajoo. He
played a pivotal role in growing
the business into one of Singapore’s
top digital agencies, working
with some of the world’s leading
brands and corporations, NGOs
and government organisations.
Following the acquisition of
Comwerks by Wunderman, part
of WPP, the world’s largest
marketing communications
company, Keith rose to be the
Executive Creative Director of
Wunderman South East Asia.
As its creative leader, he was the
driving force to expand their
digital services offering which
resulted in iconic account wins
such as adidas, Starbucks, Energizer
& Lego. One of Keith’s early
successes that demonstrated his
product development talent was
the launch of a site called
PetrolWatch which helped motorists
share and receive tips on fuel pump
prices. Developed as a side project
with Neeraj in 2005, it attracted
global media attention, including
coverage by the Associated Press
and the BBC, due to its rapid organic
growth that saw over 25,000
drivers register in just 2 weeks.
Keith is also regularly involved
with students from his local alma
mater, Temasek Polytechnic
where he helps to groom and
inspire budding entrepreneurs
and designers to transition from
academia to the industry.
SR