PEOPLE

INVEST IN YOURSELF DURING NS: SEEDLY FOUNDERS

20 Apr 2020

Young and successful: Lieutenant (LTA) (NS) Kenneth Lou, 28, and 3rd Sergeant (3SG) (NS) Chew Tee Ming, 30, are the co-founders of Seedly, a leading personal finance portal in Singapore.

20apr20-photo1 — LTA (NS) Lou (right) and 3SG (NS) Chew offer insider tips on personal finance for national servicemen.

Story by KOH ENG BENG

Photos by CHUA SOON LYE & COURTESY OF SEEDLY

Young and successful: Lieutenant (LTA) (NS) Kenneth Lou, 28, and 3rd Sergeant (3SG) (NS) Chew Tee Ming, 30, are the co-founders of Seedly, a leading personal finance portal in Singapore.

The first of its kind in Singapore, the online portal allows users to crowdsource unbiased tips on investing, insurance, saving, and more.

Started in 2016, it attracts about 2.2 million monthly sessions (when online visitors visit other pages on the same website), and about 4,000 tips and reviews from its users each month. According to Seedly, this makes it the largest personal finance community in Singapore.

Its success caught the attention of e-commerce aggregator Shopback, which acquired Seedly in 2018 for an undisclosed sum.

The fintech startup provides educational content on personal finance. It also has a free app that allows users to track their spending and savings seamlessly by connecting to their bank accounts and credit cards.

3SG (NS) Chew (left) and LTA (NS) Lou having a discussion with their staff.

LTA (NS) Lou, the Chief Executive Officer, and 3SG (NS) Chew, the Chief Technology Officer, currently lead a team of about 15 people – mostly in their 20s and early 30s – to create these tools and content.

The duo did not work for another company before starting Seedly. Their only work experience came from National Service (NS), which thankfully provided them with the opportunity to hone their leadership skills.

Then-Officer Cadet Lou (far left) with fellow cadets. After commissioning, he became an instructor in Officer Cadet School.

3SG (NS) Chew (second from left) with fellow Military Police specialists.

During their two years of NS, they learnt to lead and motivate fellow soldiers to achieve a common goal, just like what they are doing now in Seedly.

To them, investing is not just about growing money but also their knowledge and skills – and the best time to start is during NS.

Check out their insider tips for NS and personal finance here:

Tags:

Life skills Entrepreneur NSmen National Service NS Financial tips Army 2020-ppl

Got a great story to share?
Send it our way — we might feature it!

Share Your Story

ALSO READ IN PEOPLE

Serving the nation in more ways than one: CPL Robson shares what it’s like for him to juggle both military obligations and professional sport training.

He’s an NSF Commando & medal-winning fencer

28 Jan 26

His team won gold at the SEA Games 2025, and he hopes to represent Singapore in more competitions to come. Meet fencer CPL Samuel Elijah Robson, who is serving as a Commando during his full-time NS.

Bringing their civilian expertise to contribute more in NS

22 Jan 2026

On 21 Jan, the SAF welcomed its largest group of NSmen graduating under the Enhanced Expertise Deployment Scheme. Meet ME4 (NS) Muhammad Arief Aditya and ME4 (NS) Mohamed Najid Bin Mohamed Sultan, who are among these newly appointed military experts.

Guardians of legacy

15 Dec 2025

He helped build the RSAF’s first aircraft. She was one of the first women to join the navy. He managed communication crises in a time when a pager beep meant trouble. Meet these veterans who saw Singapore through turbulent times to build a strong SAF.

Rising above the tide & stepping forward to lead

13 Dec 2025

They’re among the SAF’s latest batch of officer graduands this year. Meet 2LT Mohamad Wira Kuriniawan and 2LT Ryan Ong, who will be heading to the Navy’s 180 Squadron and 1st Battalion, Singapore Guards respectively.