UOB ASEAN Conversations: How is UOB FinLab empowering Womenpreneurs for long-term success

Audrey Siek:  

ASEAN Conversations is brought to you by UOB. You’re listening to Money FM 89.3. I’m Audrey Siek. 

Women entrepreneurs are breaking barriers, driving innovation and change, and UOB FinLab is right by their side. As the bank’s innovation accelerator, UOB FinLab’s ongoing initiatives, including the digitalisation innovation programme womenpreneur, DIP, aim to offer more than just digital tools. They provide womenpreneurs with strategic support, expert advice, and access to a powerful network. Backed by UOB’s extensive industry expertise, these programmes are shaping a new era for women-led businesses across ASEAN.  

So to explore how UOB FinLab is fueling long-term success for businesswomen, we have Shannon Lung, head of UOB FinLab with us today. Shannon, welcome to Money FM. Thanks for being here with us today. 

Shannon Lung:  

Hi, Audrey. Good morning. It’s great to be here.  

Audrey Siek: 

Good morning. It’s great to have you here. We know that UOB has been active in this space for a while. Since UOB FinLab started, how has its support for women entrepreneurs evolved, and what are some of the key milestones in that journey?  

Shannon Lung:  

Thanks for that question. So, we started our journey in 2021. As you can see, it was during the middle of COVID-19 at that point in time, but we saw an opportunity to work with communities. Particularly, when we first started the digitalisation programmes with the Digital Mumpreneur Programme, which supports stay-at-home moms who run their own businesses. 

So you can imagine the intensity of managing their business while managing their family, especially with the lack of digitalisation tools and efforts to help support them. We connected with a community called Mums@Work, where we met their founder and discussed how we could offer our support and that started off our journey in supporting the womenpreneurs in this segment. 

Audrey Siek: 

Could you tell us more about the Digitalisation Innovation Programme: Womenpreneur? What are the criteria for women entrepreneurs to join this?  

Shannon Lung:  

Sure. The criteria is very simple, as long as you are a woman in business and feel the need to digitalise your business—not just digitalise but also reimagine it. Many of the entrepreneurs who joined the programme have already been in business for quite some time, often many years. 

Some of the courses or modules we offer, such as the Business Model Canvas, help participants reevaluate and rethink their existing businesses. For those just starting out, it also helps determine whether they are heading in the right direction. Some of these sessions are conducted in-house by our trainers, allowing us to connect past, existing, and new experiences to create a more effective Business Model Canvas for participants. 

Audrey Siek:  

Okay. So it could actually be somebody like me who’s starting a cupcake business at home or it could be somebody who’s starting a whole technology business. That’s like a wide range of different businesses then? 

Shannon Lung: 

Exactly. Based on our past experience running this programme for a couple of years, we have supported close to 2,000 businesses and they come from various sectors like those you mentioned earlier. From technology to small bakeries to even tuition centres and so on, we do get a variety of businesses that join us in the programme.  

Audrey Siek:  

Could you walk us through the process, after participants complete the DIP, what kind of ongoing support would they receive to help them keep growing their businesses?  

Shannon Lung:  

The most unique aspect of our programme is the mentorship we offer. When we evaluate the market today, many programmes supporting businesses or entrepreneurs lack this kind of support. With mentorship in mind, we also considered another component, as many say, entrepreneurship can be a very lonely journey. 

So, we aimed to package this by building a community of like-minded individuals who support one another, coupled with mentorship from industry leaders. For example, we partnered with organisations such as SAP, Google, and Amazon, whose representatives came on board as our mentors. 

Audrey Siek:  

Okay. I love to hear some real-life examples here, Shannon. Do you have a standout success story from the DIPW that really showcases the impact that it’s had on women-led businesses? 

Shannon Lung:  

I think you mentioned bakery just now so we have this business, I think most Singaporeans would know, it’s called Edith Patisserie.  

Audrey Siek:  

Oh, yes.  

Shannon Lung:  

The co-founder, Ethel, joined us this year for the digitalisation innovation programme: Womenpreneur, a 2 week programme that helped her reimagine her business and explore the tools she can use to scale her business, supported by mentorship. This mentorship was quite unique because we had our bank experts coming in. So Ethel and her mentor were able to catch up. 

So you might be wondering how does a bank support her in terms of financial opportunities. For Ethel, what she took back from the programme was very interesting. She actually saw an opportunity to repurpose her business. She also identified some angles in terms of how to grow her business as well. 

After completing the programme and working on her business model canvas, Ethel had her team come together, with her co-founder, who is also her husband by the way. They ideated in terms of how to build a new purpose as she got that concept from the business model canvas workshop. And through that, they started building a different narrative, adding a different layer of how their bakery can be more affordable for everyone. They also established a CSR mission, supporting communities by giving out free cakes. Additionally, they focused on building loyalty within their follower base, fostering stronger connections with their followers. 

Through this initiative, their followers also contributed to the mission by assisting in the distribution of cakes. Initially, Ethel believed it would be simple to define her business’s purpose, but she realised there was much more to it. This prompted her to re-explore the purpose of her business, which not only helped her align her team to support this new business growth.  

Audrey Siek:  

Okay. So actually, my husband bought my birthday cake this year from Edith Patisserie so I have to tell him about this. And Ethel is one of the many women who have participated in this programme. So what kind of feedback have you gotten about their experiences with the DIP and how has it influenced your plans for the programme going forward?

Shannon Lung:  

I think feedback is very important to us. As we run this programme, not just only in Singapore, but we do run this programme across the region as well. Two key things that actually stand out are they enjoy the mentorship support. They enjoy industry experts and like-minded successful womenpreneurs coming in to guide and mentor them.  

They also really appreciate the community, that I just spoke about earlier, which brings these womenpreneurs together. And this community also gives them opportunities to cross work or cross collaborate. We do see womenpreneurs coming together to joint venture and small marketing events. 

So we do see these success cases and what’s heartening to me, if you ask me, is the continuity of that engagement. Even after the two-week cohort concluded, participants continued to meet up. For instance, we came across some photos on social media showing them meeting up, taking pictures, and spending time together. It’s very nice to see the community growing and catching up as and when.

Audrey Siek:  

Yeah. So even though it’s just a 2-week programme, the impacts goes on as time goes by. So Shannon, for those women entrepreneurs out there listening to this who are interested to get involved, when is the next enrollment period for the DIP and how can they apply? 

Shannon Lung:  

What we can share today is, the next programme will start next year. So look out for it sometime in March 2025. And of course, keep yourself updated on our next programmes you can always follow us on our website. It’s www.thefinlab.com. Do check it out from time to time. If you just want some updates into your inbox, feel free to subscribe to it as well. 

Audrey Siek:  

Alright. Well, some great insights into UOB FinLab and how they are empowering womenpreneurs, helping them grow and succeed in a competitive business landscape. Shannon, thanks so much for sharing all this with us. It was a pleasure chatting with you today. 

Shannon Lung: 

Thank you, Audrey. 

Audrey Siek:  

Thank you. That was Shannon Lung, head of UOB FinLab. Keep it here on Money FM 89.3.