VoiceUp – Everybody can be a Singer
Stephen (2nd right), Abby (1st right) and other two team members
Stephen Lai 黎子謙 (BEcon&Fin Year 4)
Abby Chan 陳潔瑩 (BEcon 2014)
Almost everybody has experienced karaoke, but fresh graduates Stephen and Abby took it a step further when they created VoiceUp, a mobile sing-along app that allows song lovers to easily produce and publish their own records. This inventive app led to success at the Pitching Contest of iStartup@HK, an initiative of the Office of the Government Chief Information
Officer, which they won.
“We see that more and more teenagers love to share their music and records on the Internet. However, the music producing and uploading processes are clumsy and take forever.” Believing “everybody can be a singer”, Stephen said they used cloud technology and crowdfunding to help those who want to publish their own records. In the long term, they want to acquire singers, songwriters and composers, and establish VoiceUp’s own cloud music studio.
To make it profitable, they established an entertainment online-to-offline (O2O) platform on the Mainland China and in
Hong Kong. By connecting the online music scene to offline karaoke lounges, VoiceUp expects to generate cash flow from karaoke establishments by providing in-app room bookings, food and beverage ordering in karaoke rooms, and directory advertising sales.
Although things seem to be going smoothly now, Stephen said the startup experience was much harder than he thought. “The most difficult part is to look for talent to join us, especially a technical web developer, not to mention we have to work 24/7,” he explained. Still, the former Simon K Y Lee Hall debating team member is enjoying his entrepreneurial journey: “The communication skills I learnt as a debater provided me with solid ground for selling my business. Most of all, I feel passionate in what I am doing!”
www.voiceupmusic.com