Startup Story: Waste Management For A Better World

Follow the journey of Joleen Seam, SUSS Part-Time General Studies degree student, a participant under the Alibaba Cloud - SUSS Entrepreneurship Programme, and founder of Growerck, a startup that enables households to eliminate waste through the use of invertebrates.

Joleen started her entrepreneurship journey back in early 2021 and had always felt a duty to improve the environment she lived in. She noticed a trend of growing waste and garbage and became concerned about society’s “throwaway” mentality. There, she saw her opportunity in waste management and started her own company Growerck, whose mission is to empower households to reduce waste. The company’s name, Growerck, is derived from the words – Grower and Cytokines. It fully reflects Joleen’s desire to build a green community and a sustainable business model that will help move society towards zero-waste living.

While her journey is rewarding, it was not without its challenges. Not only did Joleen have to source for partners of best fit to collaborate with, she was also alarmed that visitor traffic on Growerck's social commerce platform was not converting into buyers. Joleen then decided to launch her products on online marketplaces that facilitated free publicity and community selling. Over time, she gained her first batch of customers as well as partners.

Currently, Joleen is working to further develop Growerck’s social commerce platform. In the long term, she has expansion plans for Growerck. Joleen credits her mentor from the SUSS - Alibaba Programme for propelling and supporting her through her business journey. Joleen’s advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is “First, consider ways to grow a business with the least amount of capital and make the most value out of it. After that, have the resilience to never give up on your business and never stop learning.”