Founders: Caecilia Chu on 200 rejections and building YouTrip

**Leanna Byrne** (0:01)
From growing up in a 250-square-foot public housing flat in Hong Kong to building one of Southeast Asia's fastest-growing fintech companies.

**Caecilia Chu** (0:10)
I remember in the first five years of running YouTrip, I probably would have gotten more than 200 rejections.

**Leanna Byrne** (0:20)
Her first startup failed. Investors rejected her more than 200 times than a pandemic wiped out almost all of her business over night.

**Caecilia Chu** (0:29)
We lost 80 to 90 percent of our business volumes over night.

**Leanna Byrne** (0:33)
That's Caecilia Chu, founder of YouTrip, here on Business Daily from the BBC World Service.
I'm Leanna Byrne, and this week, I want to introduce you to a founder who was told no hundreds of times before anyone said yes. Caecilia Chu grew up in a tiny public housing flat in Hong Kong, sharing 250 square feet with her family and watching her father repeatedly struggle to access finance. Years later, after a failed start-up, more than 200 investor rejections, and a pandemic that wiped out up to 90% of her business overnight, she found herself fighting to keep her company alive. Today, that company, YouTrip, processes billions of dollars in payments across Southeast Asia. So how do you go from a childhood where money was a constant worry to building one of the region's fastest growing fintech businesses? Let's find out.
Caecilia Chu, welcome to Founders. Thank you so much for joining us.

**Caecilia Chu** (1:39)
Thank you so much for having me.

**Leanna Byrne** (1:40)
Now, one of the latest things I've seen is that you've just expanded into Australia. You're growing across Southeast Asia. You're launching new products, processing billions of dollars in payments every year. You must be extremely busy.

**Caecilia Chu** (1:57)
Yes, well, but it's a happy kind of busy. So it's definitely, you know, once a lifetime opportunity.

**Leanna Byrne** (2:05)
Do you ever stop and think, I can't believe this thing we started is now operating across multiple countries.

**Caecilia Chu** (2:10)
Well, I think for me, I always thought, you know, the journey, it's just the beginning and, you know, it's always a work in progress. So haven't really had the time to think that way. But yeah, thank you. It's very kind of you to say that.

**Leanna Byrne** (2:26)
Well, people hearing about YouTrip, they might be hearing about it for the first time on this Founders episode. So what exactly does the company do?

**Caecilia Chu** (2:36)
So we operate the region's first multi-currency mobile wallet. But now we are so much more than that. It has been eight years operating the business. And we also have an SME product called UBIS, which is really a spam management platform for SMEs. But also we build them a whole suite of software to automate their workflows as well.

**Leanna Byrne** (3:00)
And Caecilia, how would you see yourselves? Would you see yourself as a fintech company or something bigger than that?

**Caecilia Chu** (3:08)
We love the space of fintech. I love it because it is really playing at the intersection of technology, consumer preferences, but also regulatory compliance and being able to navigate all three aspects at the same time and doing a great job. It's quite challenging. And so I just really love being in this space and would probably spend my lifetime building in bringing more products to our users.

**Leanna Byrne** (3:41)
Well, tell me about the building because we see the businesses at a certain stage and it's easy to forget there was a moment when none of that existed. So take me back and tell me about where you grew up in Hong Kong.

**Caecilia Chu** (3:53)
I grew up in a humble circumstance. I grew up in public subsidized housing, 250 square feet for a family of four.
And I would say I grew up not having a lot of distractions, so I could work incredibly hard at school. You know, I think it was also an influence from my father where during the daytime, he would work as a postman and at night, he actually studied at the polytechnic for more than 10 years to get his accountancy qualifications. I really grew up with the belief that education could change your life.

**Leanna Byrne** (4:32)
And your mother was a kindergarten teacher as well. What did the both of them teach you about work?

**Caecilia Chu** (4:39)
So, yes, my mother works at the kindergarten just downstairs. And, you know, they both work extremely hard. They were very honest people and, you know, good and solid life.
They really provide me a lot when I was growing up. I remember money was sometimes quite tight. But more than that, I think it was generally a sensitive topic as well. So I think my parents weren't the most comfortable in terms of talking about money sometimes. So growing up as a kid, I could be confused. Do we have enough or do we not have enough? But, you know, that anxiety aside, I think I grew up really wanting to support them. I wouldn't want to be a burden to my parents. And I always dream about the day when I start making money and where I could actually provide and support them.