From beta to Facebook, strong bonds held Zopim together on its way to the top

Singapore-based live chat startup Zopim has seen some bumps and bruises since it set out on its journey in 2008. As co-founder and CEO Royston Tay said during a fireside chat on stage at the Tech in Asia Singapore 2015 conference, there were plenty of times when the obstacles seemed too daunting – for its first two years, the company’s founders barely made any money themselves. However, strong bonds forged between the people in the company ultimately held it all together. That also became the team’s motivation to go forward.

When Zopim started out, the term “live chat” was barely a thing, Tay said. The team just figured that there had to be a better way to get customer support for ecommerce than picking up the phone and calling somebody. Tay described the live chat apps available back then as tanks; they might look bright and shiny on the outside, but the operators inside have to deal with all the dust, heat, and complex controls. So the team sought to create a simpler, more streamlined experience.

Zopim’s perseverance was eventually rewarded. The company’s growth more than doubled every year since it launched in 2010. It was eventually acquired by San Francisco-based customer support company Zendesk for US$30 million in 2014. And just a couple of months ago, it announced it’s going to be working with Facebook on the social network’s Messenger for Business initiative.

Tay recounted how he mentioned the partnership to Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, only to be met with disbelief. But there was no denying the team of Zopim engineers that flew to Facebook’s Menlo Park campus to work on the integration of Zopim’s software with Messenger for Business (and to brag about working really close to Mark Zuckerberg’s office, naturally). Tay pointed out that he was happy to see that engineers from Singapore could hold their own side by side with Silicon Valley’s finest.

The project is currently in private beta, with two major customers using it and more expected to join. But Zopim is already looking to the future of customer support via live chat. As more people use instant messaging services, Tay says it makes a lot of sense for customers to get in touch with a business via their own messaging app such as Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or Line. Combined with mobile constantly gaining ground as the platform of choice for people engaging in ecommerce online, that makes the company want to look into improving their mobile support in order to provide a better experience going forward.

This is part of the coverage of Tech in Asia Singapore 2015, our event running on May 6 and 7.