On Feb 11, Kay Woo, the founder and CEO of MVL, was invited to attend a live broadcast of CNA938(Channel News Asia 938 at 2:40 AM GMT. First aired in 1998 as News Radio 938, CNA938 is an English language Asian news network established by Singapore's largest content creator and transmedia platform, Mediacorp. It reports on global developments with Asian perspectives, covering diverse business, lifestyle, human stories, and current affairs.
Kay was invited as a guest of Money Mind, a program hosted by Stanley Leong, and had an interview on TADA. Based on blockchain and the zero-commission policy, Kay explained why he had decided to expand the TADA business from ride-hailing to on-demand delivery and Fresh Market and how he could get success.
Please refer to the link below to listen to the full version of Kay’s interview beginning from 11:40.
๐ https://sg.radiocut.fm/radiostation/cna/listen/2022/02/11/10/00/00/
Thank you.
Trust-driven
MVL
[Host M]
Now let's talk about ride-hailing, something that I tapped upon that service this morning just coming into work which was a business model that started more than ten years ago, challenging the traditional taxi industry.
[Host M]
The pandemic has since disrupted the taxi and ride-hailing sector as more people tended to stay at home but many would say the worst is now over for the industry as countries learn to live with the coronavirus.
[Host W]
Well, in Singapore most of the office workers have returned to their workplaces instead of
working from home. Now employers are also embracing a hybrid way of working, giving staff the option to work from home on some days and to go back to the office on other days, and this has led to a rebound in demand for taxis and right hailing services.
[Host M]
But I think that the landscape for ride-hailing companies might have been permanently changed and many have pivoted to provide more than just right hailing services.
Time to get more insights! Kay Woo joining us, founder of TADA, a ride-hailing app. Kay, thank you for joining time, making time, and joining us here on CNA938.
[Kay]
Hi. Nice to meet you all.
[Host M]
Now, Kay, you set up tada in Singapore back in 2018 all before the pandemic ever started now. Has covid 19 changed the way that you operate your business now than when it first was, you know, back in 2018?
[Kay]
Now actually it's the same as we promised to the drivers as still zero commission and actually, even we are growing further more than before.
[Host W]
Now you know, I'm looking at what you're offering from your services.
it's quite interesting that you're offering on-demand delivery grocery delivery from wet markets even and on top of this, on top of the usual ride-hailing service, it is really interesting to have fresh products from wet markets be delivered straight to one's doorstep has this demand overtaking that of ride-hailing.
[Kay]
No actually, ride-hailing is the main focus in the traffic. It's much bigger than the fresh grocery deliveries, but the reason why we started this fresh grocery delivery during the pandemic time is to support our drivers and while they didn't have enough jobs of fetching the customer and also their store owners on the wet market. But still, it’s growing but it's slow because we don't let it burn the cash excessively like other e-commerce stores, e-commerce players, or ride-hailing players.
[Host M]
Alright. So it's really more a chance for the drivers to continue to have
a work to do I suppose especially during the lockdown of a circuit breaker period and such where no one was actually riding and people prefer just staying home and therefore there was still, you know, some income generated from the delivery of foods to their doorstep. But what is the percentage if we could gather a sense of, was it eighty percent ride-hailing still twenty percent fresh product delivery?
[Kay]
I will say like ninety percent of ride-hailing and ten percent of fresh delivery.
[Host M]
Do you expect this to be the trend moving forward or do you think that there will be more pick up in ridership by passengers rather than food deliveries?
[Kay]
So there are two separate questions I understand. On the ride-hailing side actually, the demand has returned and it's growing. And even though from the beginning that you mentioned that people are working from home, nowadays, more and more people are actually coming out for dinner and joining the lunch. So the demand has been returned and also the delivery of the fresh ingredients, it’s mixed up both.
So people are coming out and they can go to the market but still, people are ordering food online so it's okay to grow but ride-hailing is actually growing further.
[Host W]
True. And I was just going back to your grocery delivery and fresh food delivery. Do you have special things in the vehicles to do that?
[Kay]
Actually, we were utilizing those special boxes for the delivery of the cold ingredients but other than that cold ingredients delivery, we were using the normal paper bags or plastic bags.
[Host M]
Right. And looking back here at the time where there were fewer passengers on the roads getting the rides from the drivers.
Did you see any accidents that some drivers that hadn’t worked with TADA during the pandemic are now coming back and saying “Hey, we're seeking a pickup demand and we'd like to come on board again”?
[Kay]
Actually, there was no ex with us but drivers need to drive to bring food for their family table. So no matter how hard the situation was, they had to be on the road. But that's actually the saddest part because they couldn't find a new job if they quit driving during the pandemic time. So they were forced to be on the road. Because of this situation, during the pandemic, our services actually grew further because drivers have nothing to lose with our zero commission concept. They're just trying with us and then they're getting a job and 100 percent income. That actually helped us to retain our demand and drivers. So it keeps on growing even during the pandemic time as well.
[Host W]
It’s interesting that you mentioned the zero commission from drivers. So how does TADA make your profit?
[Kay]
We don't position ourselves as just ride-hailing-only services. We are actually a blockchain software company that happened to prove ourselves by utilizing this ride-hailing with providing zero commission.
These days, there is a concept of web2 and web3. The web2 is more like a traditional platform that charges a commission to those participants and web3 is more like building the community and building the platform service together and then sharing the benefit together. That's the concept that has existed since 2018, which we introduced to the market with zero commission. And how we make a profit here is very simple and straightforward. We're a software company. We find the way that we can actually make a property by selling the software, not just the personal data. We don't sell personal data because there is a privacy issue. But if there is a way that we can actually populate this data and provide it to any secondary services such as insurance or any other services, that's how we can actually make a profit.
[Host M]
Once again, we are speaking to Kay Woo from TADA. He is the founder of TADA and we're finding out more about their operations.
As you said, TADA is the first world's first blockchain-based zero commission ride-hailing app. There is a lot of data that's shared. How do you reassure customers who might feel uncomfortable about having their transport data shared with advertisers?
[Kay]
Sure, I mean like if you don't sell the data to the advertiser. This is more like a blockchain. So then we can sell all the private information and the information goes into the blockchain database, and then anybody who wants to utilize this information to populate data, for example, AI services of root optimization need such data of traffic and all those information if they need to utilize these data, they could get access to the blockchain and by doing so we can get the certain benefit for our profit from them and then we distribute these incentives to our drivers and users from this platform. This is the beauty of the flow and connection between the demand of those data or services and then our drivers and our contributors on our platform.
[Host W]
Now your company also operates in Vietnam and Cambodia. How does the ride-hailing market in those two countries differ from Singapore?
[Kay]
Well, Singapore is in very good condition. The economy is recovering in a very interesting way. The numbers are growing very fast. Cambodia, it got very much impacted, and Vietnam also. And speaking of Cambodia, the number went down seriously but now it's been recovered to almost the same level and the market is actually coming back. I think it's because of the opening border between the countries. So that's actually helping us to recover to the normal level like before.
[Host M]
Kay, how do you determine where to have your presence and which markets, I mean, you've chosen Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, but why these markets? And are there plans for expansion into others?
[Kay]
The simple choice was made when I was traveling around Southeast Asia including Northeast Asia, there was news about measuring the condition of Uber and then back in 2018, the pain level of drivers and even riders were very high. And then we saw that there is an opportunity to utilize our philosophy of our blockchain and the zero commission, so that's why we chose Singapore as the first market. Because the pain level that we thought was extremely high at that time, that's the reason why Singapore we choose, and Cambodia, Vietnam followed by. And for the new market, we are also looking into the Indian market because we are now producing electric three-wheeler in Cambodia that supply to our drivers in Cambodia but this electric three-wheeler will be used in India so that we are preparing the joint venture together with the local partner and then they will be introduced in India.
[Host W]
Now in Singapore your ride-hailing services you've ventured into fresh food delivery as well. Do you have any plans to branch into other areas such as cooked food delivery, digital payment services, with all the data that you have as well?
[Kay]
Well, so cooked food delivery is not our pipeline, so we don't have any intention to do so. But if there are any players who need to utilize the delivery pool of drivers, we can plug our driver pool into those services but otherwise, we don't have any plan to do so.
[Host M]
Alright, thank you so much Kay for joining us and we wish you and all TADA much success as we progress more into 2022. Kay Woo is a founder of TADA joining us for this edition of Money Mind and you can visit their website to find out more about them in their services at TADA global.com. Thank you for your time Kay.
[Kay]
Thank you.
On Feb 11, Kay Woo, the founder and CEO of MVL, was invited to attend a live broadcast of CNA938(Channel News Asia 938 at 2:40 AM GMT. First aired in 1998 as News Radio 938, CNA938 is an English language Asian news network established by Singapore's largest content creator and transmedia platform, Mediacorp. It reports on global developments with Asian perspectives, covering diverse business, lifestyle, human stories, and current affairs.
Kay was invited as a guest of Money Mind, a program hosted by Stanley Leong, and had an interview on TADA. Based on blockchain and the zero-commission policy, Kay explained why he had decided to expand the TADA business from ride-hailing to on-demand delivery and Fresh Market and how he could get success.
Please refer to the link below to listen to the full version of Kay’s interview beginning from 11:40.
๐ https://sg.radiocut.fm/radiostation/cna/listen/2022/02/11/10/00/00/
Thank you.
Trust-driven
MVL
[Host M]
Now let's talk about ride-hailing, something that I tapped upon that service this morning just coming into work which was a business model that started more than ten years ago, challenging the traditional taxi industry.
[Host M]
The pandemic has since disrupted the taxi and ride-hailing sector as more people tended to stay at home but many would say the worst is now over for the industry as countries learn to live with the coronavirus.
[Host W]
Well, in Singapore most of the office workers have returned to their workplaces instead of
working from home. Now employers are also embracing a hybrid way of working, giving staff the option to work from home on some days and to go back to the office on other days, and this has led to a rebound in demand for taxis and right hailing services.
[Host M]
But I think that the landscape for ride-hailing companies might have been permanently changed and many have pivoted to provide more than just right hailing services.
Time to get more insights! Kay Woo joining us, founder of TADA, a ride-hailing app. Kay, thank you for joining time, making time, and joining us here on CNA938.
[Kay]
Hi. Nice to meet you all.
[Host M]
Now, Kay, you set up tada in Singapore back in 2018 all before the pandemic ever started now. Has covid 19 changed the way that you operate your business now than when it first was, you know, back in 2018?
[Kay]
Now actually it's the same as we promised to the drivers as still zero commission and actually, even we are growing further more than before.
[Host W]
Now you know, I'm looking at what you're offering from your services.
it's quite interesting that you're offering on-demand delivery grocery delivery from wet markets even and on top of this, on top of the usual ride-hailing service, it is really interesting to have fresh products from wet markets be delivered straight to one's doorstep has this demand overtaking that of ride-hailing.
[Kay]
No actually, ride-hailing is the main focus in the traffic. It's much bigger than the fresh grocery deliveries, but the reason why we started this fresh grocery delivery during the pandemic time is to support our drivers and while they didn't have enough jobs of fetching the customer and also their store owners on the wet market. But still, it’s growing but it's slow because we don't let it burn the cash excessively like other e-commerce stores, e-commerce players, or ride-hailing players.
[Host M]
Alright. So it's really more a chance for the drivers to continue to have
a work to do I suppose especially during the lockdown of a circuit breaker period and such where no one was actually riding and people prefer just staying home and therefore there was still, you know, some income generated from the delivery of foods to their doorstep. But what is the percentage if we could gather a sense of, was it eighty percent ride-hailing still twenty percent fresh product delivery?
[Kay]
I will say like ninety percent of ride-hailing and ten percent of fresh delivery.
[Host M]
Do you expect this to be the trend moving forward or do you think that there will be more pick up in ridership by passengers rather than food deliveries?
[Kay]
So there are two separate questions I understand. On the ride-hailing side actually, the demand has returned and it's growing. And even though from the beginning that you mentioned that people are working from home, nowadays, more and more people are actually coming out for dinner and joining the lunch. So the demand has been returned and also the delivery of the fresh ingredients, it’s mixed up both.
So people are coming out and they can go to the market but still, people are ordering food online so it's okay to grow but ride-hailing is actually growing further.
[Host W]
True. And I was just going back to your grocery delivery and fresh food delivery. Do you have special things in the vehicles to do that?
[Kay]
Actually, we were utilizing those special boxes for the delivery of the cold ingredients but other than that cold ingredients delivery, we were using the normal paper bags or plastic bags.
[Host M]
Right. And looking back here at the time where there were fewer passengers on the roads getting the rides from the drivers.
Did you see any accidents that some drivers that hadn’t worked with TADA during the pandemic are now coming back and saying “Hey, we're seeking a pickup demand and we'd like to come on board again”?
[Kay]
Actually, there was no ex with us but drivers need to drive to bring food for their family table. So no matter how hard the situation was, they had to be on the road. But that's actually the saddest part because they couldn't find a new job if they quit driving during the pandemic time. So they were forced to be on the road. Because of this situation, during the pandemic, our services actually grew further because drivers have nothing to lose with our zero commission concept. They're just trying with us and then they're getting a job and 100 percent income. That actually helped us to retain our demand and drivers. So it keeps on growing even during the pandemic time as well.
[Host W]
It’s interesting that you mentioned the zero commission from drivers. So how does TADA make your profit?
[Kay]
We don't position ourselves as just ride-hailing-only services. We are actually a blockchain software company that happened to prove ourselves by utilizing this ride-hailing with providing zero commission.
These days, there is a concept of web2 and web3. The web2 is more like a traditional platform that charges a commission to those participants and web3 is more like building the community and building the platform service together and then sharing the benefit together. That's the concept that has existed since 2018, which we introduced to the market with zero commission. And how we make a profit here is very simple and straightforward. We're a software company. We find the way that we can actually make a property by selling the software, not just the personal data. We don't sell personal data because there is a privacy issue. But if there is a way that we can actually populate this data and provide it to any secondary services such as insurance or any other services, that's how we can actually make a profit.
[Host M]
Once again, we are speaking to Kay Woo from TADA. He is the founder of TADA and we're finding out more about their operations.
As you said, TADA is the first world's first blockchain-based zero commission ride-hailing app. There is a lot of data that's shared. How do you reassure customers who might feel uncomfortable about having their transport data shared with advertisers?
[Kay]
Sure, I mean like if you don't sell the data to the advertiser. This is more like a blockchain. So then we can sell all the private information and the information goes into the blockchain database, and then anybody who wants to utilize this information to populate data, for example, AI services of root optimization need such data of traffic and all those information if they need to utilize these data, they could get access to the blockchain and by doing so we can get the certain benefit for our profit from them and then we distribute these incentives to our drivers and users from this platform. This is the beauty of the flow and connection between the demand of those data or services and then our drivers and our contributors on our platform.
[Host W]
Now your company also operates in Vietnam and Cambodia. How does the ride-hailing market in those two countries differ from Singapore?
[Kay]
Well, Singapore is in very good condition. The economy is recovering in a very interesting way. The numbers are growing very fast. Cambodia, it got very much impacted, and Vietnam also. And speaking of Cambodia, the number went down seriously but now it's been recovered to almost the same level and the market is actually coming back. I think it's because of the opening border between the countries. So that's actually helping us to recover to the normal level like before.
[Host M]
Kay, how do you determine where to have your presence and which markets, I mean, you've chosen Singapore, Vietnam, Cambodia, but why these markets? And are there plans for expansion into others?
[Kay]
The simple choice was made when I was traveling around Southeast Asia including Northeast Asia, there was news about measuring the condition of Uber and then back in 2018, the pain level of drivers and even riders were very high. And then we saw that there is an opportunity to utilize our philosophy of our blockchain and the zero commission, so that's why we chose Singapore as the first market. Because the pain level that we thought was extremely high at that time, that's the reason why Singapore we choose, and Cambodia, Vietnam followed by. And for the new market, we are also looking into the Indian market because we are now producing electric three-wheeler in Cambodia that supply to our drivers in Cambodia but this electric three-wheeler will be used in India so that we are preparing the joint venture together with the local partner and then they will be introduced in India.
[Host W]
Now in Singapore your ride-hailing services you've ventured into fresh food delivery as well. Do you have any plans to branch into other areas such as cooked food delivery, digital payment services, with all the data that you have as well?
[Kay]
Well, so cooked food delivery is not our pipeline, so we don't have any intention to do so. But if there are any players who need to utilize the delivery pool of drivers, we can plug our driver pool into those services but otherwise, we don't have any plan to do so.
[Host M]
Alright, thank you so much Kay for joining us and we wish you and all TADA much success as we progress more into 2022. Kay Woo is a founder of TADA joining us for this edition of Money Mind and you can visit their website to find out more about them in their services at TADA global.com. Thank you for your time Kay.
[Kay]
Thank you.