Portrait No. 001
Aihui Ong
CEO & Co-Founder
EasyMate.ai
Raised — $4.7M pre-seed
EasyMate AI is the first platform that lets small businesses build custom software just by describing what they need in plain English. Instead of buying rigid, one-size-fits-all apps, SMBs get AI-native software that adapts to them - learning from their data, automating routine tasks, and even deploying AI “teammates” that spot new ways to grow revenue. In short: we bring enterprise-level power to small businesses, without extra staff or technical know-how.
In her words
“My vision is simple: level the playing field for 400 million SMBs worldwide by giving them enterprise tech power—without the cost, complexity, or extra headcount.”
Chapter I
The toughest challenges you've faced as a founder.
When I started my first company in 2012, it was tough. I was an immigrant, a solo founder, and I didn’t have the Stanford or MIT pedigree. Being the startup’s first software engineer wasn’t enough. More than one VC told me flat out I’d never raise money without the Ivy League stamp. I didn’t buy that. I raised over $3M in venture funding and we had a successful exit in 2018. That whole journey taught me that building companies is less about pedigree and more about persistence and that’s still how I approach every startup I build Here’s an article on Entrepreneur.com featuring my fundraising story > https://www.entrepreneur.com/starting-a-business/how-i-met-75-investors-and-raised-650000/246980
Chapter II
Your vision.
My vision is simple: We want to level the playing field for 400 million SMBs worldwide - bringing them enterprise power but without the cost, complexity, or extra headcount.
Chapter III
The impact you want to leave behind — for your industry, your community, and the women who come next.
If Canva gave everyone design superpowers, I want to give the world software-building superpowers and open the door for more women to build companies