Since May 2020, four local start-ups, founded by SUSS students, have been doing their part to help the community during the COVID-19 period. The students introduced initiatives to learn a new skill; cultivate a passion for learning among children; connecting and bonding loved ones through virtual celebrations; and helping people earn a side income while at the same time providing cost savings for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
The start-ups are:
- COOKI: Set up to help aspiring home cooks recreate their own heritage dishes for future generations, it is founded by Ms Anna Lam Yar Kee, a student from the Alibaba Cloud-SUSS Entrepreneurship Programme, who is a strong believer that personalised food preparation is an essential life skill for everyone to learn.
- Nino News: By making news reading fun and engaging, Nino News helps young children develop problem-solving skills, as well as an intrinsic passion for learning. It is co-founded by Ms Jenine Koh Jia Hui, an SUSS full-time Year 3 student from the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education programme.
- RecomXperience: Mr Lam Yue Ming, is an SUSS final year Business Analytics part-time student, who founded RecomXperience which aims to connect and bond people by planning and facilitating customisable occasions such as anniversaries, birthday celebrations and dates.
- Swapie: This digital marketplace for credit card rewards optimisation helps SMEs who have reached their credit limit and are forced to use cash for their ad-hoc transactions by being matched with consumers with credit cards. It is set up by Mr Koh Kang Liang, a student from the Alibaba Cloud-SUSS Entrepreneurship Programme.
Professor Cheong Hee Kiat, President of SUSS, said: “SUSS is proud of our student start-ups. They are spearheading these meaningful initiatives to create positive impact in the society. These students embody the University’s core values and 3Hs (Head, Heart, Habit) philosophy, developing themselves as professionally competent individuals with a passion for community. We hope their meaningful effort will have a ripple effect in encouraging more people to contribute to the community, and we look forward to seeing more such social initiatives.”