Starting a start-up: From ‘wardrobes’ in Sungei Kadut to breastfeeding pods across Singapore

The factories in the Sungei Kadut industrial area were Ms Vivian Lee’s only hope when she started her business amid the Covid-19 labour crunch in 2021.

Under the hot sun, she went from door-to-door, shod in sports shoes, to find manufacturers who were willing to build what she called “wardrobes with additional features”.

“They are a lot more complicated than wardrobes. But I was trying to get the manufacturer to agree to building them first,” she said.

Ms Lee, 37, is the co-founder and chief executive of Go!Mama, which equips buildings and spaces with breastfeeding pods for mothers.

About the size of a large vending machine or two-door wardrobe, the pods have ergonomically designed benches, power points and dimmable lights, giving mums privacy and comfort when feeding their babies.

Ms Lee said she had problems finding suitable places to breastfeed and pump when she was out of her house when her son, now aged nine, and daughter, four, were younger.

Nursing rooms in Singapore are few and far between, and the ones which are available, such as those in major shopping malls, can be poorly equipped, she said.

For example, some nursing rooms are termed as such but may just be a diaper changing room. Others cannot be locked, and some do not come with power points for breast pumps. 

Ms Lee said: “The standards of nursing rooms in public spaces are very inconsistent, which is an extremely insecure feeling for mums… It’s amazing that so many mums are actually going through this, but nobody knows.”

Founded in 2021, Go!Mama’s first five pods that were built in Sungei Kadut are now in Sentosa, after a successful trial in 2021 there which saw over 2,500 mothers use the pods, with each session lasting an average of 21 minutes. 

Today, the pods, which breastfeeding mothers can use for free, can be found across Singapore, in office buildings, tourist attractions and places of worship. 

The pods utilise ultraviolet light technology for self-cleaning after each session.

To prevent misuse, pod users are required to use Singpass to verify their status as a mother with a baby under 36 months of age before the door opens.

Organisations can purchase the pods for $9,800 and up each, depending on the size and whether it is air-conditioned.

Annual maintenance and cleaning for each pod costs between $800 and $2,000, but this is waived for pods that are leased for a monthly fee starting at $300.

She declined to say how many pods there are in Singapore, but said there are plans to put out 50 of them by 2024, and 300 by 2027. 

Go!Mama has also developed a mobile app with the same name, which serves as a “way finder” for mothers to locate its pods and the nearest nursing room equipped with the necessary amenities.

The company has nine employees, and is run out of an office at start-up hub Block71 in Ayer Rajah Crescent. 

To date, it has raised an undisclosed amount through private funding, government grants and entrepreneurship programmes such as National University of Singapore Enterprise and Republic Polytechnic’s Epic Fund.

In 2022, it closed a $500,000 seed funding round from an angel investor. 

Ms Lee, who co-founded Go!Mama with her long-time friend Ms Eunice Lim, said that in the early days of the start-up, she had to work for at least 15 hours every day. Ms Lim is the company’s chief administrative officer.

“We were in the factory in Sungei Kadut until three in the morning,” she said, recounting how they had to check that the pods were built to specifications – down to getting the right distance between door knob and lock.

“I would go home and sleep for a few hours, wake up, send my kids to school and then return to the factory again,” she added.

Ms Lee said Go!Mama plans to venture into overseas markets such as Vietnam, Taiwan and Japan by the end of 2024, and it is already seeking partnerships with investors and government agencies in those places.

Reflecting on her start-up journey, Ms Lee said she sometimes faces gender bias at business conferences and networking events.

“I feel like people take you less seriously when you’re a female founder, and they question if the start-up is really your priority.”

But the former business development executive at a medical supplies firm believes that more women should pursue their aspirations or become entrepreneurs.

She said: “Juggling multiple roles, including becoming a mother, should not be our limitation, it is in fact our strength… We develop exceptional multitasking, problem-solving, time and energy management skills.

“I really hope that more mothers will consider pursuing something that is meaningful to them and feel supported in the process.”

Fun facts about Vivian Lee:

• She is a Harry Potter fan
• She takes her bubble tea without sugar
• She de-stresses by doing yoga and building Lego

This story was first published at The Straits Times.