CASE STUDY · VENTURE BUILDER

Building early traction for one of Southeast Asia's first venture builders

Bebop Asia ran PR, content, SEO and events for Sugar Ventures and its startups, winning media coverage for 10+ ventures and 200K+ monthly active users. Outcomes included Folr's US$5M acquisition, Lawr.co's acquisition of LawFarm and Dropfoods' growth to 120+ vending machines in Ho Chi Minh City.

10+startups receiving media coverage
200K+monthly active users acquired
US$5Mexit achieved for one startup sale

THE GOAL

Establish a new venture builder. Sugar Ventures was among the first few venture builders in Southeast Asia. It created startups from the ideation stage, injected seed funding, found suitable CEOs, and supported fast-growing businesses from its HQ. It needed to raise funds for Sugar and also create early traction for every venture.

WHAT WE DID

  • Content creation
  • Press conference
  • Events
  • Video production
  • SEO/SEM
  • Public relations

We focused on industry-specific media coverage to show the disruption each startup brought to its sector. We optimised the web content of each business to improve its searchability on Google, and organised a variety of events to acquire users quickly.

THE RESULTS

All of Sugar Ventures' businesses received extensive, high-value media features across multiple countries. The publicity led to rapid growth in monthly active users (MAU) for the startups. During our campaign, one high-profile personnel tracking startup, Folr, was acquired for US$5M.

STARTUPS THAT SUCCEEDED

  • Folr A mobile location-tracking app, covered by Singapore Business Review, Yahoo News Singapore (Vulcan Post), The Next Web and The Guardian. In 2015 it was acquired by Rhodes Edge, a US data analytics and security firm, as reported by The Business Times, The Straits Times and Bloomberg.
  • Lawr.co A Singapore legal tech start-up that operated in stealth mode from mid-2015. In February 2016 it acqui-hired India's LawFarm, as reported by DealStreetAsia.
  • Dropfoods Smart vending machines in Ho Chi Minh City. By March 2022 Dropfoods ran more than 120 machines across shopping malls, residential and office buildings, as reported by The Business Times.

PRESS COVERAGE

The Business Times, August 2015: US data analytics firm buys Singapore startup Folr
The Business Times, Aug 2015: US data analytics firm buys Singapore startup Folr.
Bloomberg Business, September 2015: Rhodes Edge buys geo-location tracking startup Folr
Bloomberg, Sep 2015: Rhodes Edge buys Folr.
The Straits Times: geo-tracking firm Folr acquired by American firm Rhodes Edge
The Straits Times: Folr acquired by Rhodes Edge.
DealStreetAsia, February 2016: Singapore-based stealth mode startup Lawr.co acqui-hires India's LawFarm
DealStreetAsia, Feb 2016: Lawr.co acqui-hires India's LawFarm.
The Business Times, March 2022: Greater convenience with smart vending machines in Ho Chi Minh City, featuring Dropfoods
The Business Times, Mar 2022: Dropfoods runs more than 120 vending machines.
Singapore Business Review exclusive, September 2014: Folr introduces a real-time geo-location tracking mobile app
Singapore Business Review, Sep 2014: Folr's launch.
Yahoo News Singapore and Vulcan Post, September 2014: Folr lets you keep an eye on your children through their phone
Yahoo News Singapore (Vulcan Post), Sep 2014.
The Next Web: permission-based tracking app Folr keeps tabs on your kids and other family members
The Next Web: permission-based tracking app Folr.
The Guardian app roundup featuring Folr, a location-tracking app for keeping tabs on family
The Guardian: Folr in an app roundup.

“Bebop Asia wasn't just a provider; they looked at our product from the user's point of view.”

Natalie Ip, Co-founder and Business Development Lead at Folr

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