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Candice Lee · · 12 min read12 lawsuits and a liquidation later, legal brawls continue for Hearti Lab’s founder
At 3:00 p.m. on January 28, 2022, stony-faced creditors of Singapore-based Hearti Lab dialed into a Zoom call with its founder, Keith Lim, and learned about the insurtech company’s winding-up plans.
The liquidators were also present during the meeting.
Keith Lim Chee Seng, founder of Hearti Lab / Image credit: Timmy Loen
The announcement shocked Hearti Lab’s creditors, a group consisting of vendors and investors, including seasoned entrepreneurs and the CEOs of publicly listed companies.
Hearti Lab owed debts amounting to more than S$2.5 million in total, and most of them would be annulled by the liquidation.
Keith, whose registered name is Lim Chee Seng, was personally on the hook for S$325,000 of the debt after the liquidation, which was completed on July 19, 2023, according to Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) documents. A bankruptcy order of above S$500,000 was also filed against him.
Described by investors as an intelligent and eloquent salesman, Keith founded Hearti Lab in 2014 to bring insurance services to the uninsured.
The goal was to use blockchain to decentralize insurance, enabling the firm to offer flexible, affordable, and personalized products covering single flights, gadgets, and even farm animals.
In 2022, the company raised a series A round with a valuation of above S$15 million.
It touted big insurance and banking customers like United Overseas Insurance Limited (UOI), a member of the UOB Group; SOMPO Insurance, an insurance provider under Nikkei 225-listed SOMPO Holdings; and Malaysia-based Maybank.
And yet, Hearti Lab struggled to meet its financial projections or turn profitable, according to documents seen by Tech in Asia.
By 2022, the company and Keith had accumulated 12 court cases in total, including a criminal charge by Singapore’s Central Provident Fund Board for missing mandatory CPF payments to its employees.
An email from liquidators said that while Hearti Lab “is not denying liabilities,” it “has minimal assets” and is unlikely to “pay any of the creditors.”
What made creditors angry, however, was not Hearti Labs’ failure or debts. Instead, they were mad at how Keith persuaded them to invest and at how he communicated the company’s financial status and liquidation.
Dispute over shares
Alleged lack of information
The aftermath
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Founder Keith Lim has denied creditors’ allegations, saying, “If anyone has evidence of fraud, they should contact the relevant authorities.”
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