YSE Series YAC S2 Alumni Showcase — Scratchbac
The importance of community building has become much more apparent with the ongoing pandemic. To make a case for how startups are using digital platforms to combat social isolation, we met with Jerry Neo, Co-Founder of Scratchbac — a peer-to-peer ¨P2P¨ social resource sharing platform with ~50,000 sign-ups in Singapore. Scratchbac lets users connect with others around them through a live chat room where they can post and receive offers/requests on a range of topics: from ordering food to helping save a pet.
In this interview, Jerry shared what community means to him, advice for young social entrepreneurs, and what the future holds for Scratchbac.
What prompted the idea for Scratchbac? What is your mission?
Jerry Neo: Scratchbac emerged during the lockdown in Singapore last year when we were unable to leave the house. During this time, people shifted their focus to conducting home and gardening work. It was then when I asked myself the following questions: Why does everyone need to have their own electrical drill? Why does everyone need to have their own printer? Why can’t we borrow these things from the people around us? Scratchbac emerged as an answer to all these questions. Our mission is to help people connect locally so that they can get things done, enable cultural sharing, and foster kindness in their community.
As the traditional Chinese saying goes, 远亲不如近邻, “a good neighbor is better than a brother far off”. This is one of the driving factors behind Scratchbac: when you need help you might be able to rely more on the people living near you than count on your close relatives far away.
How has COVID-19 shaped your initiative?
Jerry Neo: It affected us tremendously! We were born out of the chaos that is COVID-19 and it influenced a lot of what we do. Last month, for example, we launched a new “take away together” feature, for our users to save costs as a result of the new dining restrictions in Singapore. In the future, we definitely have to adapt our platform for a post-COVID world, where users will no longer be restricted to their homes.
Do you have an example of a story/testimony that showcases Scratchbac’s impact?
Jerry Neo: Of course! One recent user story we received was about the repair of a wheelchair for an elderly man. The user posted a request for a new footrest for their grandfather’s wheelchair. Another user reached out, and his father met with the user and helped them find a footrest and serviced the entire wheelchair. The grandfather was ecstatic!
Tell us about your Youth Action Challenge experience.
Jerry Neo: Through the Youth Action Challenge we got the opportunity to learn from experts in various topics, and also got to know people from the social services, members of various ministries, and other key stakeholders. The context-setting sessions helped us a lot to really learn about and understand the challenges that the community is facing. Finally, by the end of the programme we were able to receive financial support to continue our entrepreneurship journey, this has been very helpful for us to redefine and improve our service.
All the founders of Scratchbac are currently students. What is it like to be a student and an entrepreneur at the same time? Any advice for other young students who are looking to start their own social ventures?
Jerry Neo: To be a student entrepreneur is a paradox. A student goes to school and follows the rules and adheres to the curriculum, while an entrepreneur breaks every existing rule. To build this venture, me along with my co-founders Cheryl Low Rui, Min, Poh Jin Heng Princeton, Ryan Yip Weisheng, and
Anantharajan Vivekbala, merged our entrepreneurship activities with our academic requirements and we continue to work as a team and we always support each other. This has also been possible as our university has been very supportive. We were able to do Scratchbac as our Capstone project, and they provided us with many resources to build up our idea.
My advice for other students who are hesitant about solving a real problem through a business idea is to get out of the classroom and just go for it. You can read all the books and material online and do all the research you want but if you don’t go out and do it, 90% of your hypothesis will be proven wrong.
What does the future hold for Scratchbac? What are your plans for the next 2–5 years?
Jerry Neo: Currently, we have our Beta app ready, and we are doing our Beta testing. We are also in preparation for seed fundraising. Our goal is also to expand to other cities in Southeast Asia within the next two years, so we are currently exploring ways we can adapt our concept to other regional contexts.
This blog is part of Singapore Youth Social Entrepreneurship (YSE) Series, where we showcase the voice and experience of different stakeholders in the social entrepreneurship ecosystem. Stay tuned as we continue to publish different knowledge pieces as part of this blog series.
The Youth Action Challenge provides an opportunity for youth to turn their ideas into reality through curated workshops and guidance from experienced industry professionals. The YAC is a key thrust of the SG Youth Action Plan (SG YAP), organised by the National Youth Council in partnership with Citi Foundation in Singapore and UNDP through their Youth Co:Lab initiative.
This blog is part of our Youth Social Entrepreneurship (YSE) Series, where we showcase the voice and experience of different stakeholders in the social innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Singapore. You can read some of our past blogs HERE.
About Youth Action Challenge (YAC)
The YAC provides an opportunity for youth to turn their ideas into reality through curated workshops and guidance from experienced industry professionals. The YAC is a key thrust of the SG Youth Action Plan (SG YAP), organised by the National Youth Council in partnership with UNDP and the Citi Foundation in Singapore through their Youth Co:Lab initiative.
YAC is back for Season 3! Registrations are open till Sept 15th, 2021.
For more information and to apply, click HERE.
About Youth Co:Lab
Co-created in 2017 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Citi Foundation, Youth Co:Lab aims to establish a common agenda for countries in the Asia-Pacific region to empower and invest in youth, so that they can accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship. To learn more about the Youth Co: Lab, visit: https://www.youthcolab.org/
