How this Singapore startup avoided a costly misstep with its innovative platform

In 2020, Alexandra Zhang and Hardik Dobariya finally decided that enough was enough.

Following stints in various manufacturing and engineering-related roles, they realized that something had to be done about the process for obtaining custom parts in manufacturing.

“It’s a really painful and time-consuming process,” Zhang says. “Typically, it takes three days to a week just to get a quote because the [supplier’s] machinist needs to look into various costs and double-check that everything is accurate.”

Alexandra Zhang, co-founder of Factorem / Photo credit: Factorem

It got especially bad during the pandemic, as the restrictions slowed the process to a crawl. Subsequently, many manufacturers began looking online, hoping to link up with suppliers more quickly.

Zhang and Dobariya knew that this was the right time to bring in a tech-based solution. They visited over 500 manufacturers and suppliers to get a better sense of whether an online custom parts platform was something the industry actually needed.

The answer was a resounding yes.

With that in mind – and armed with the latest AI and cloud solutions – Zhang and Dobariya founded Factorem in September 2020, offering a platform that connects manufacturers and suppliers to produce high-quality custom parts on demand.

Putting in the legwork

Factorem’s key solution is a system that could take 3D design models from manufacturers and provide a quotation for custom parts in seconds – a first for machining parts in this region, according to the co-founders.

“We use machine learning algorithms to analyze more than 85 parameters, and using the data points we have from past transactions, we are able to price confidently with 80% acceptance rate and automatically identify the best supplier for the job,” Dobariya explains.

Hardik Dobariya, co-founder of Factorem / Photo credit: Factorem

The company also recently introduced generative AI to its platform, which scans intricate technical drawings to develop a checklist of manufacturing features that could otherwise be missed by the human eye. This helps to ensure manufacturing gets done first time right and provides assurance to their clients.

“The increased productivity and operational efficiency for buying teams reduced lead times from months to days,” says Zhang.

Zhang and Dobariya had an innovative solution and a growing list of customers. Now, they just needed a way to ensure that it didn’t end up in a competitor’s hands.

The path more taken

The co-founders’ first step was to secure legal rights for their solution.

“When we started off, we didn’t know much about intellectual property (IP) management aside from what we’d read online,” Dobariya says. “We mostly thought it had something to do with patents, and it didn’t help that many investors came in asking whether we had patents, as well as the fact that our competitors had them too.”

However, getting a patent isn’t easy or cheap. Typically, companies need to research how novel their solution is and employ a patent agent to draft an application – and those are just for starters. The overall registration process could take several years, Dobariya points out, and the fees required can quickly add up.

Sample of a technical drawing that Factorem uses / Photo credit: Factorem

That’s not to say patents have no use at all, as they’re one of the strongest forms of IP protection. Rather, patents aren’t applicable for every type of invention, especially those that can be effectively kept a secret – think the formula for WD-40 or Google’s search algorithm.

For startups with limited resources, the most important thing is understanding their overall IP strategy and whether patents make sense, as other – perhaps more suitable – forms of IP protection exist. This is a point that’s often lost on founders, says Dobariya.

“Getting patents is definitely prevalent among startups – a lot of us end up doing what the market says we should do even if we’re not that well-informed,” he explains. “Some companies might end up patenting early on even if it doesn’t suit them.”

With the two co-founders none the wiser at the time, Factorem was originally poised to be one of those companies, going down a path that would take up key company resources.

But fate had other plans.

In November 2022, Factorem joined Pollinate, an incubator and startup ecosystem, to expand its network and access new opportunities. Pollinate is one of the partners in IP Start, a program run by IPOS International, a subsidiary of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore.

IP Start aims to help early-stage startups learn about IP management and other similar topics. It was through this program that Factorem got introduced to IPOS International and started on its IP management learning journey.

Under lock and key

After getting in touch with IPOS International in March 2023, Zhang and Dobariya took on an intangible asset (IA) audit and strategy project, which helps businesses identify their key IA and IP, recognize the associated opportunities and risks, as well as align their management of IA and IP to their commercial goals and business strategy.

“Through the consultations with IPOS International’s IP strategists, we assessed that our solution couldn’t be reverse engineered,” Dobariya says. “It’s a black box. That means that by its very nature, our technology can be kept secret.”

Dobariya speaking at an IPOS International event / Photo credit: Factorem

Instead of spending considerable resources on patents, Factorem would be better off keeping its solution a trade secret. The co-founders’ efforts would be better spent elsewhere, such as building the company’s brand name and the value that users associate with it.

“To show that we’re serious about this brand, our next step was to trademark it,” Zhang explains. “It assures our users that we’re not going to just up and disappear the next day.”

To get help with the process, Factorem engaged a trademark agent through IPOS International’s GoBusiness IP Grow platform. Using the platform saved Factorem a lot of time, as it contains a full list of service providers, contact forms to reach out to them, as well as details such as hourly rates and areas of specialty, Dobariya notes.

Trademark protection is also a good thing in the eyes of investors.

“It creates a really good narrative,” she says. “Investors usually only invest with minimal risk, especially in early stage startups. Beyond sales, your valuation depends a lot on how much you can reduce that risk, and having a trademark is a huge part of that. It was a big mindset shift.”

With this in mind, Factorem is about to set off on its next round of fundraising.

Laying the groundwork

With its IA and IP strategy in place, Factorem is able to focus on what really matters: enhancing its solution to benefit users even further.

“Instead of worrying about losing our information, we’re looking at how to better organize our R&D team and improve the algorithm,” Dobariya points out.

Because it helped Factorem to avoid a potentially costly misstep, Zhang and Dobariya believe that learning to manage IA and IP effectively – and early – is essential for every founder.

“It builds a strong foundation, and if you’ve got the end goal to build the least risky and most scalable business possible, then things like proper IP and IA management have to come into the picture,” Zhang says. “In turn, that’s the basis for the highest potential for growth.”

IPOS International is a subsidiary of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. It helps enterprises manage their IA and IP effectively for transformation and growth.

Interested in how its programs can help in those areas? Get in touch here.

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