These Airbnb and WeWork vets proved their biz concept by helping Carousell expand abroad

Hype’s co-founders (L to R): Henek Lo, Robert Hao, Patrick Lee / Photo credit: Hype

When Henek Lo was exploring the idea for venture builder Hype, he had just completed a successful run with WeWork, helping it set up its offices in Seoul, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.

Before that, Lo and co-founder Robert Hao were part of the team that expanded Airbnb in Asia. Third co-founder Patrick Lee spent eight years with Google in Korea and was also Airbnb’s general manager in the country.

Based on his experience, Lo thought there was a market need to help startups expand to new territories in Asia. But first, he had to prove his idea worked.

The opportunity came when a common acquaintance got him in touch with the founders of Carousell, Singapore’s classifieds success story. Lo offered to use his knowledge of the local market to help Carousell enter Hong Kong, and within three quarters, he had an office up and running for the startup.

Hype takes a different approach compared to most venture builders in the region. Instead of building startups from the ground up, it engages companies that are around their series A stage, already generating revenue, and looking to spread their wings abroad.

The Hype model

Hype works with companies in a couple of ways. One is a two- to four-week consulting service for which the company charges a fee. It is mainly aimed at startups from the US or Europe that are considering expansion and want to better understand Asian markets.

The other service requires much more time and involvement. Hype comes in and effectively manages the whole process of a startup’s expansion in a new market, from hiring to operations. Once the operation is all set, Hype assists in choosing a country manager and then the company can take it from there. “To use the engineer analogy, we tune up the car and we give it back to them when it’s race-ready,” Lo says.

We tune up the car and we give it back to them when it’s race-ready.

For this, Hype charges fees and takes an equity stake in the client startup. The stake depends on the size and valuation of the company Hype is working with. “We engage the startups directly to discuss those [terms] on a case-by-case basis,” Lo says.

Proving the concept with Carousell

Carousell already had users in Hong Kong when the team met with Lo. But he convinced the startup that he could help grow the business, establish an office, and put a team in place there at a fraction of the time it would have taken had they done it themselves.

There were differences between the markets that Lo saw right away, such as how buyers and sellers meet and transact. “People in Singapore meet largely at MRT stations and pay in cash,” he says. In Hong Kong, the Carousell app needed to communicate information such as areas that are not safe for meet-ups or ways to verify transactions.

After Lo met with Carousell’s founding team, he signed on for two quarters that eventually got stretched into three. On behalf of Carousell, he recruited an initial four-person team in Hong Kong and helped them create the strategy, manage the budget, and engage the community.

Lo also handled performance marketing, social media marketing, and product listings and localization. He even signed up a local celebrity to increase brand awareness for Carousell through TV and social media.

From hype to practice

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