Making moves in entrepreneurship
October 28, 2022
The Curated Culture team (from left): Shu Wen Sew (Science ’20), Shermaine Heng (Science ‘20) and Christian Eviston-Putsch (MBA ‘22) (Photo: Curated Culture)
Every entrepreneur’s journey begins with a single step. “If you have a good idea for a business, do it. You can talk to others and think about it, but at some point, you have to stop thinking, and just do it,” said Ms Shermaine HENG, Chief Operating Officer of Curated Culture, a start-up that creates and sells healthy and all-natural probiotic beverages.
Ms Heng and Ms SEW Shu Wen, the firm’s Chief Technology Officer, co-founded Curated Culture in February this year with Mr Christian EVISTON-PUTSCH, a fellow NUS alumnus, share their story of their business to date, and their advice to aspiring entrepreneurs.
They noted that Singapore has various funding and incubation programmes for start-ups and people with viable business ideas. These include NUS Enterprise’s Startup SG Founder Grant and Hangar, and the NUS Graduate Research Innovation Programme (GRIP).
The speakers sharing their journey on getting the word out on their new business.
Shemaine elaborated that finding the right mentors, advisors and partners, especially through incubation programmes and networking events, is crucial. “Our advisors are key pillars of support for us. They tell us when we are missing out on important things, and remind us when we need to focus on certain things.”
Shu Wen added that the firm is exploring collaborations with researchers, dietitians and medical professionals to improve its beverages. “For the next few years, we plan to go in depth, and look at different ways we can help people’s gut health through our drinks,” she explained.
Shermain urged budding entrepreneurs to go after their dreams, noting that there are many ways for start-ups to get support in Singapore.
“NUS has given us many opportunities, during our education, when we were establishing our company, and even now. When we participated in the InnovFest 2022 conference organised by NUS Enterprise in June, we got to network with start-ups and businesses, and showcase our products,” Shermaine said.
This was first published on NUS Giving and adapted with permission from DVO.
