SGAssist aims to make Singapore a better place to live in

Written by Medium on March 18, 2019

SGAssist wants to create a self-sustaining and self-help community spirit among Singaporeans, to make the country a better place to live in
Sharing the same pain of not being able to help their loved ones while being physically apart from them, the founders of SGAssist decided to come together to create this solution

A conversation with Greg, Co-founder of SGAssist

Tell us more about your company.
SGAssist aims to foster a strong community of initiative responders, trained to support needy and vulnerable residents in the neighbourhood to live independently and healthily at the comfort of their own homes. We are the community connector and integrator, bringing the right sources of help (from community-care services to corporate partners) to our group of beneficiaries.

Our goal is to be the company that everyone will think of when they face critical situations at home. We want to create a self-sustaining and self-help community spirit, instilling the right values in people, especially in our next generation of Singaporeans, to make the country a better place to live in.

Why did you decide to create SGAssist?
It all started when I was overseas-far away from home, and my father suddenly had to go for an operation. At that point in time, not being able to provide any assistance to him left me feeling helpless and dejected. I wished there could have been a way for me to help him out while being physically apart from him.

Coincidentally sharing the same pain as me was my close friend and now, co-founder, Adrian. As we both felt strongly about the need for such a solution, we decided to take the plunge and create SGAssist!

How was the process of building your initial product like?
It took us months of research, various meetings with key experts from the social sector, and many conversations with family and friends, to finally create a solution that would benefit the community in the most effective way. The conversations we had with professionals in the healthcare, elderly care and social sector were exceptionally beneficial as they gave us useful insights into the real needs and struggles of the needy and their family members.

However, we also faced certain struggles along the way, such as having to design a solution that is tailored to the needs of each unique individual. Our end goal has always been to provide purposeful and valuable service to the community. Therefore, we will continue to seek validation and be open to feedback, so as to create a final product that will best benefit the community.

Share with us about your startup journey so far!
Our team was formed in September 2018 with just 2 co-founders- Adrian and myself. Following the formation of our team, we spent months speaking with different individuals and organisations to test their receptiveness towards our idea.

Several months back, we heard about The Start Pre-accelerator programme when Adrian came across it in a Facebook post. We spent time reading up on the programme and realised that it was exactly the type of help we needed at such an early stage, thus we applied for it. Since joining the programme, we have been introduced to a wide network of mentors and like-minded people who have been very motivating during this journey. The mentors in the programme constantly provide us with their experienced views and opinions on our product, aiding us in improving and delivering a better product experience to our users.

We hope that by the end of the programme, our product will be launched and validated by various targeted organisations from the network of contacts we have attained during the programme. Network is key, so of course we hope to maintain a good relationship and trust with the people we have crossed paths with during this journey in The Start!

Where can we go to learn more about you and your company?
You can find us on: