Huxter co-founder dabbles in financial advisory, wealth management programmes to master the trade

SINGAPORE (Aug 5): Huxter co-founder Ray Tan knows how important it is to be a jack-of-all-trades.

The 24-year-old is the director of sales and marketing at the e-commerce start-up. Huxter is riding on the rising trend of vending machines in Singapore – and taking it one step further by including interactive marketing platforms and data analytics.

Noticing that vending machines here are often outdated, poorly maintained and not user-centric, Huxter says it aims to bring Japan's vending culture to Singapore to make it more convenient for vendors and customers.

In the first phase of development, Huxter’s vending machines will come with full high-definition touchscreens and allow for cashless payments via its app.

For vendors, the machines will also include a cloud management system, which enables data analysis as well as remote monitoring and configurations.

"Our company aims to help bridge the gap between different generations using technology, in a manner that is palatable to both the young and the old," shares Tan.

"Because of this, we are able to garner solutions for a range of people across different age groups," he adds.

The start-up is currently in due diligence talks with partners in the F&B and technology industries, among others.

Slated to be launched in early 2020, Tan tells The Edge Singapore that the business idea is valued at $1 million.

Tan is one of four shareholders, whose ages range from 24 to 50.

"This is helpful for us because it allows the start-up to integrate perspectives across different experiences, backgrounds and cultures," says Tan.

But even as Tan worked on setting up his own company, he recognised that he needed to learn more about Singapore’s financial sector. And this drove him to join a local insurance company as a financial advisor.

Tan was also a participant of the OCBC GENesis 2019 – a pilot programme launched on July 15 for the children of the bank’s “more affluent” customers.

The programme focuses mainly on entrepreneurship, innovation and personal portfolio management. In order to qualify, a family has to have at least $1 million worth of investable assets to its name.

Tan says his parents are “informed investors”. Their diversified portfolio meant that they had emerged relatively unscathed from the Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008.

"While it was realatively easier for my parents to accumulate wealth, this generation has it tougher due to more competition. It's not enough to work hard, we need to shift our focus to working smart instead," Tan says.

According to Gregory Choy, head of OCBC’s Premier Private Client segment, the launch of the inaugural OCBC GENesis programme saw a total of 15 participants. Of these, only two are in the midst of setting up their own companies, both of which are tech-related.

“For us, we are partners to millennial investors like Ray who come in to help him manage the financial risks in their personal businesses,” Choy shares.

He also notes that millennial investors, partly due to better education, have a better understanding of the financial sector and have higher appreciation levels towards risk.

And for jacks-of-all-trades like Huxter co-founder Tan, it is perhaps this versatility and more well-rounded knowledge that allow them to master their own destinies.