• Interviews
  • Fashion & Watches
  • Gourmet & Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Next Gen
  • Events
  • Interviews
  • Fashion & Watches
  • Lifestyle
  • Events
  • Gourmet & Travel
  • The Peak Exclusives
    • The Peak Power List
    • The Peak Next Gen
Subscribe Now!
  • Also available at:
Privacy Menu 1
SPH Magazine

MCI (P) 064/11/2022. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.

  • Interviews
  • Fashion & Watches
  • Gourmet & Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Next Gen
  • Events

Interviews

GetGo’s co-founder Toh Ting Feng makes driving more sustainable

Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Generic selectors
Exact matches only
Search in title
Search in content
Post Type Selectors
Interviews

GetGo’s co-founder Toh Ting Feng makes driving more sustainable

The co-founder of Singapore’s largest car-sharing service explains the importance of purpose in entrepreneurship.

by Mary Lim  /   December 5, 2022
Toh Ting Feng, Co-founder, GetGo

Photo: Vernon Wong

For many businesses, Covid-19 represented a crisis, but Toh Ting Feng made it an opportunity. It led the co-founder of car-sharing company GetGo to send out its first 400-strong fleet in February 2021.

Concerned about contracting the virus on public transport, those who couldn’t work from home commuted by private cars instead. GetGo made it even more appealing. Instead of paying a membership fee or a deposit for using the car-sharing service, users are only charged for the actual mileage and hours they use.

GetGo’s website describes it as “the simplest way to access a car in Singapore”, requiring only a mobile app download, registration, and booking. The app is integrated with SingPass MyInfo, which includes your digital driving licence, so there’s no hassle with verification. Off-peak weekday rates for standard vehicles start at $3, while luxury vehicles cost $240 for a full day. Maintenance, insurance and petrol are included.

https://www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg/gallery/interviews/car-sharing-rental-singapore-getgo-founder-toh-ting-feng/
GetGo's co-founder Toh Ting Feng makes driving more sustainable
custom

With 1,800 vehicles at 1,300 locations, GetGo has grown into Singapore’s largest car-sharing platform, serving 200,000 users. Toh, 39, is not able to provide revenue figures for 2022, but confides that it is several times more than in 2021, when revenue “surpassed $10 million”, say reports.

“Cars have always been a part of my family”, says Toh, whose career spans the military, real estate, and consumer technology. His dad, who owned a used car business, would often drive the family to McDonald’s for supper. He also taught Toh his first lessons in entrepreneurship. “It’s about conviction and focus. My dad encouraged me to find something I truly believed in and to give it my all.”

Entrepreneurship is also about purpose. Many people think it is about value and wealth creation; while these are important, they are not sufficient to sustain an entrepreneurial journey. A strong sense of purpose is what drives entrepreneurs.

This purpose is aptly encapsulated by GetGo’s dual mission. According to Toh, car-sharing offers more than just freedom of movement; it also contributes to a sustainable mobility ecosystem in Singapore.

Related: The best electric cars in Singapore for an eco-friendly ride

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by GetGo Carsharing (@getgosg)

Car-sharing reduces the environmental impact of driving
image

Over 6.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide are released every year by nearly one million vehicles on our roads, which exacerbates the effects of climate change. This compounds the other problem of car ownership — that it is extremely inefficient as most cars are idle more than 85 per cent of the time.

Toh believes a double-pronged approach is necessary to reduce driving’s environmental impact: sharing to reduce the number of cars needing to be manufactured and electrification to lower emissions during use.

A partnership between Hyundai Motor Group Innovation Centre in Singapore and CDG Engie is pushing the latter forward. The agreement allows GetGo to expand its electric vehicles offerings in 2023 with at least 50 Hyundai EVs, including the Ioniq 5, which will be produced in Singapore. It is the first car-sharing platform here to do so.

By 2030, GetGo plans to deploy 10,000 fully electric and hybrid cars. The challenge, Toh says, “is to move towards electrification at a sensible pace, in line with the affordability and quality of electric vehicles from the manufacturers, the availability of charging infrastructure, and government policies.”

Meanwhile, the GetGo team has been working tirelessly to evolve the business. “We are a complex business,” he concedes. “As we are not only a service, we have to build a brand people can trust, a technology platform that’s seamless, as well as data- and tech-driven operational muscle to keep our vehicles in good shape.”

The key to building capabilities with real and long-term benefits is in keeping GetGo’s user journey seamless. “We must be clear about what our users want and need, and more importantly, what they do not. Simple design and technology require a lot of thought, effort, and iteration to reduce any friction,” Toh says.

“As an example, we invested time in technology integrations to make users’ refuelling experience frictionless. Features such as generating an OTP within our app allows them to refuel without taking out their wallet.”

All this will better prepare GetGo for international expansion into potential markets such as Australia or Taiwan in the future.

It probably leaves little time for supper with the family, we say. Toh, a father of three kids aged under 6 who zips around in an MPV laughs. “We live near a McDonald’s outlet, so we walk there!”

 

Vernon Wong
Watch our interview with GetGo's co-founder Toh Ting Feng
custom

Read Next

Entrepreneurship lessons from Jeffrey Paine, the start-up whisperer

How Crib co-founder Elaine Kim is empowering women's dreams through entrepreneurship

Yvon Bock, founder and CEO of Hegen is a mum on a mission

PeakMonogram

  • TAGS:
  • car sharing
  • Dec 2022 Issue
  • Entrepreneurship
  • GetGo
  • sustainability
  • Toh Ting Feng
SHARE THIS ON

Trending

Interviews

MP Rachel Ong juggles entrepreneurship and being a youth mentor

Interviews

Smthgood founder Tony K Tan promotes conscious fashion through a ...

Interviews

Maryellis Bunn, co-founder of Museum of Ice Cream is a maker of s...

Featured Video
The Peak Next Gen: Toh Ting Feng makes driving more sustainable
Editor’s Picks
  • Fashion & Watches Hublot's CEO Ricardo Guadalupe on the challenges of selling watches in a post...
  • Interviews Smthgood founder Tony K Tan promotes conscious fashion through a social comme...
  • Interviews Maryellis Bunn, co-founder of Museum of Ice Cream is a maker of sweet memories
Newsletter Subscribe
Enjoy in-depth interviews from business leaders, profiles on Singapore's movers and shakers,
sharp commentary, and more in your inbox every week.

Will be used in accordance with our Privacy Statement
Footer Menu
  • About Us
  • ADVERTISE WITH US
  • Contact
  • CONDITIONS OF ACCESS
  • PDPA
  • PRIVACY POLICY
SPH Media

MCI (P) 064/11/2022. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No. 202120748H. Copyright © 2023 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.