Inspire-Tech Celebrates its 20th Anniversary!
What does not kill you will make you stronger. And this has been how Inspire-Tech has been able to grow from strength to strength over the last 20 years.
20 years ago, the concept of start-up was almost non-existent but two young adults in their mid 20s decided to take a 50% pay cut from their banking jobs to embark on a journey which would change their lives. What inspired them to take this leap of faith into the unknown at a time (within 2 years of the Asian Financial Crisis) when having a steady income would have seemed a much better option was purpose and optimism.
“I wanted to do something new, something that I feel I can make a difference.”
Charles, co-founder of Inspire-Tech shared, reminiscing the past. Before he had started Inspire-Tech, he had already written and sold several applications.
For Sharon, present CEO and co-founder of Inspire-Tech, she had never thought of starting a business at all
“Like any typical fresh graduate out there, all I wanted was to find a good job and work on my promotions! I was originally quite happy with my new role in the bank handling regional operations. After we came in as the finalist in the NUS inaugural business plan competition and Charles managed to raise some angel funds even from his ex-boss, I got convinced we can really do something. Seems like a “naïve start” but with any startup, it was quite a lot of passion for what we believed in.”
With the dotcom bubble burst in 2000 one year after the kickstarted their company, the going was tough. After bootstrapping, pivoting and toiling for 7 years, the results of their resilience and hardwork began to show. Things took a turn for a better and they moved out of the red.
Today Inspire-Tech has grown from 2 headcount into a company with offices in Singapore, US, UAE, India, Russia and Indonesia and has helped over 500 businesses all around the globe exceed their business objectives. Over the past 20 years, Inspire-Tech has been constantly evolving and innovating, staying ahead of other companies in the industry and positioning themselves in the most competitive way possible.
While it was not an easy journey for them, co founders Charles and Sharon pride themselves on their staffs resilience, hunger, drive and courage to try new things which has brought the company this far.
“There were moments that made us want to give up” says Sharon, “However, we are thankful for the few who believed in our solutions or services in the early stages. Without the chance they have given us, we wouldn’t have made it this far.”
The company has come a long way since its humble beginnings in the early 2000s, with the 10th Version of its flagship product, EasiShare, being released this past month. Even amidst the challenges posed by Covid19, the co-founders believe that like all the past challenges that they have overcome, they will emerge even stronger post-pandemic.
“We want to thank our partners and customers for being part of the continuous journey with us. To everyone who has put their trust in us, we want to prove that we will continue to deliver as a team here at Inspire-Tech. We will continue to build a culture where our team delivers useful solutions to make our customer’s lives better and help our partners win together!” says Sharon.
As Inspire-Tech heads into its 20th Anniversary, watch out for even greater things in the future.
Find out more about Inspire-Tech here.
