By SGN | 8 Jan 2024
“I wanted to create something of value that could reach millions of young people in Asia,” says Ben, who in early adulthood, was already focused on supporting youths through mentoring circles for undergraduates and young professionals.
“I had some exposure in the education sector through stints in private equity. When the pandemic hit, and the world pivoted to transcending boundaries digitally, I knew it was an opportune moment to tackle the gap between studies and employment.”
Through the students he coached, Ben had noticed this gap getting larger. “Employers now expect graduates to have internships under their belt, digital savviness, and strong communication skills from the get-go.”
“A lot of students aren’t taught to enter the modern workplace. Even those with parents in professional roles lack the right advice, since the perspective is based on starting out in more straightforward times.”
The solution he envisioned? Kinobi, an all-in-one digital resource and system to empower graduates, encompassing career guidance, a resume builder, professional skill courses and networking seminars. It is aptly named after Obi-Wan Kenobi, the wise and nurturing mentor to the heroic Luke Skywalker.
Headquartered in Singapore, Kinobi has expanded rapidly throughout the region. Much of this success can be credited to the ability of Ben’s team to adapt and localise their solutions. Their understanding of the growing importance of data utility to the Education sector has also been key.
In the span of 3 years, they’ve integrated their tools across 200 partner universities in Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Australia, improving access to early career support for over 1 million tertiary students. But starting out was anything but easy.
Launching Kinobi in a competitive landscape
“Initially, Kinobi’s career development tools were pitched as a B2C model and our startup valuations were quite high,” Ben muses.
“But the startup scene in Singapore is competitive. When you’re going up against more experienced or established founding teams from Europe, America and Australia, it can be difficult to get a foothold, especially with the high standards Singaporeans have come to expect.”
This trial by fire, however, was a foundational one that led to Kinobi’s subsequent success.
They pivoted to a B2B model, as an enterprise resource planning product for universities. This turned out to be a masterstroke. While universities had already rapidly digitised curriculums, many still had a major need to digitise student career services, workflows and data processes.
“We beat out American and Australian competitors for Singapore Institute of Management (SIM) and Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). The high barriers to entry in Singapore which we overcame, helped us in building data products that could be benchmarked internationally.”
Ben adds, “Being headquartered in Singapore added legitimacy and prestige to our startup. It also gave us a regional edge, as many Indonesian entrepreneurs and executives tap it as a hub for managing business relationships and capital.”
Forging a path to growth in Indonesia
With one foot in the door, Ben and his team set their sights on expansion.
An early pilot of a Kinobi career webinar on investment banking that was projected to draw 200 students from Singapore ended up attracting 1,000 additional students from Indonesia.
This unexpected boon made them aware of the substantial youth market in Indonesia, which is eager for increased access to knowledge and solutions that can address the education-employment gap.
But entering Indonesia was not simple. “We spent 3 months trying to sell Kinobi via Zoom to Indonesians and didn’t get anywhere. It wasn’t until we travelled there to talk shop in person, that we started getting traction.”
Ben and his team immersed themselves in Jakarta for months in September 2021. Learning about a new market from scratch and quarantining amidst COVID measures was a challenge to say the least.
“We had to learn the nuances of Indonesian business culture the hard way. Repeated meetings with the Javanese don’t guarantee deals. Whereas in Singapore, initial meetings don’t even happen if the other party isn’t interested from the start.”
It was only after months of countless meetings, rejections and adaptations that Kinobi scored their first client. More deals flowed within the next quarter as their tenacity paid off. Universities were starting to understand their value proposition and approach.
Today, Indonesia remains Kinobi’s largest and fastest-growing market and the key to its regional ambitions.
“It’s essential to be able to read between the lines and understand the motivations of various Indonesian stakeholders, to build deep relationships and adapt to their negotiation style,” says Ben, who along with his co-founder Hafiz, are board members of the Singapore Chamber of Commerce Indonesia.
On his biggest takeaways from venturing abroad, he says, “To succeed overseas, founders need to blend in and become a chameleon. As an entrepreneur, you must find opportunity in uncertainty rather than wait for certainty.”
Digital democratisation as Asia’s next frontier
Today, Kinobi is focused on consolidating its enterprise platforms for universities and weighing the appetite for its services in Vietnam and the Philippines.
The company is also part of the Digital Prosperity for Asia Coalition (DPA), a group that Ben is a founding member of. Composed of next-gen players in tech like Accredify and Doctor2U, DPA focuses on bridging economic inequality, optimising trade processes for the digital economy and creating frameworks for data management.
For Ben, these goals are aligned with Kinobi’s own, and his plans for its eventual evolution.
He firmly believes that technology, when used right, has immense potential to democratise opportunity. And he sees Kinobi playing a leading role in Asia.
By connecting stakeholders across the education and employment ecosystems, and expanding access across socioeconomic barriers, Ben wants to transform approaches to early career recruitment.
This future iteration of Kinobi would further enable skills-based job matching and support succession planning for emerging, specialised or established roles.
“Already, I’ve been approached by multiple employers asking if I can help them find a younger replica of an employee they have.”
But whether someone’s potential and transferable skills can be distilled or indicated through data or resumes remains contentious, Ben states. “A big part of hiring is still very much an intuitive and referential process, and we’re still a way from being able to develop reliable digital markers to identify or signpost a candidate’s potential for career mobility.”
“Even so, I’ve seen how providing guidance and opportunities can empower someone to grow into a role.” says Ben, who still displays the mindset of a dedicated mentor. “They might not be where they want to be now, but if we can create a promising path that’s within their grasp, maybe that will motivate them to upskill and move forward.”
“Regardless of the business model Kinobi adopts, our mission has never changed – to help the younger generation secure better jobs and a brighter future.”
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Meet Ben
Ben is founder and CEO of Kinobi, a career development and job-matching platform empowering graduates in Southeast Asia. His past experience includes private equity, wealth management, and consulting.
Connect with him here.
