M'sian Brand That Makes Car Mats From Recycled Materials Impresses International Investors
Founded by the Lee brothers, Tzong and Zare, TRAPO transforms foam wastage into antibacterial, easy-to-clean car mats, solving a real problem in the market.
By Gowri Chitra — 01 Oct 2021, 02:52 PM
Local car mat brand TRAPO unanimously passed the recent Endeavor's Local Selection Panel 2021, jointly organised with Endeavor Philippines
Established in 1997, Endeavor is leading the global high-impact entrepreneurship movement to drive economic growth and job creation by selecting, mentoring, and accelerating the best high-impact entrepreneurs around the world.
Headquartered in New York City, Endeavor currently operates in 40+ growth markets. Since launching its operations in Malaysia, they actively support 63 companies.
Endeavor's Local Selection Panel is a shark tank-like session in which entrepreneurs are thoroughly questioned by profound business leaders, who provide valuable input and feedback on how to scale businesses.
Once selected to join Endeavor's network, the entrepreneurs will gain access to comprehensive, strategic support services. This includes introductions to local and regional business mentors, as well as investors who will help them address key needs.
Starting off from only a team of two, TRAPO now has a headcount of over 160, and is the leading car mat brand in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia
Founded by the Lee brothers, Tzong and Zare, TRAPO transforms foam wastage into antibacterial, easy-to-clean car mats, solving a real problem in the market.
Aiming to elevate the driving experience with their car products, TRAPO has also expanded beyond car mats. In 2020, they introduced their Oxtra range, consisting of products such as a motion-sensing car air purifier, antibacterial car spray, and more.
Since inception in 2016, TRAPO is on track to achieve 2x revenue growth. Their current inflection point is to expand the leadership team, in order to aggressively scale TRAPO regionally.
The Lee brothers shared that when they first started, their "main challenge was to educate the market to switch from coil mats to TRAPO mats, which are made of virgin polymer, eva form manufacture, and recycled polymer"
They added, "As a huge advocate of responsible consumption and production, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, we spent two years perfecting TRAPO’s mats, educating the market, and ensuring the customers were fully satisfied with the product before we started to scale the business.
"Throughout our scaling journey, we have navigated through multiple scaling challenges by participating in the ScaleUp Program. We are excited to continue scaling Trapo together with Endeavor Malaysia's support."
During Endeavor's Selection Process, six panelists interview, deliberate, and select candidates to progress to the International Selection Panel
For the 2021 session, the panelists consisted of Gaurav Bhasin (CEO Malaysia and Chief Strategy Officer of Carousell Group), Rodney Wong (CEO of Munchy’s), See Wai Hun (CEO and Co-Founder of JurisTech), Billy Valtos (Managing Director of Tao Corporation), Roshini Bakshi (Managing Director of Everstone Capital Advisors), and Bobbit Panlilio (Chairman of JP Morgans Philippines).
"Tzong and Zare have achieved an amazing feat by utilising foam wastages from manufacturing companies and transforming these waste into a profitable business, with a team of over 150 people with presence over three countries.
"Despite a few challenges, I think with the right guidance from Endeavor, focusing on their mission and making the right decisions, TRAPO has the potential to scale even bigger," commented See Wai Hun.
Now part of Endeavor's network, the Lee brothers will gain access to comprehensive and strategic support services
This includes introductions to local and regional business mentors, as well as investors who will help them address key needs.
Find out more about Trapo on their website.
