HeyKuya

HeyKuya was a Philippines-based startup that provided a text-message-based personal concierge service. The company was founded in October 2015 by Shahab Shabibi, who served as the CEO, with Farouk Meralli and Subir Lohani acting as partners to help with setup and strategy. Shabibi, an Iranian native and son of a diplomat, chose to stay in the Philippines and identified a market need for a service that could save people time on daily errands. He, along with Meralli and Lohani, were all busy professionals who understood the opportunity cost associated with menial tasks.

The service operated on a simple premise: users could text a request for nearly any legal task, such as food delivery, booking movie tickets, making reservations, or hailing a ride, to a central number. A human operator, referred to as a "kuya" (an honorific for an older brother in Filipino), would then coordinate and fulfill the request. The service was designed to be accessible to a wide audience, operating via SMS to eliminate the need for a constant internet connection. In its initial phase, Shabibi himself manned the phones, starting with a closed beta of 100 friends and contacts to manage growth and refine the service.

HeyKuya's business model was distinct in that it did not charge users a premium or subscription fee for the service. The company's strategy for monetization involved building a network of high-performing partner suppliers. HeyKuya would drive customer traffic to these vendors and then propose a partnership where the supplier would pay a commission for the referred business. This approach aimed to make the time-saving service accessible to everyone, not just a luxury for a few. The company experienced rapid growth, reaching 15,000 users within months, largely through word-of-mouth.

In a remarkably swift development, HeyKuya was acquired by its Indonesian counterpart, YesBoss, in March 2016, just 24 weeks after its launch. The acquisition was for an undisclosed amount in cash and stock, making it one of the fastest in the history of the Philippine tech ecosystem. Shabibi remained as the head of HeyKuya, which was rebranded as YesBoss Philippines, to help scale the company with the combined resources. However, about eight months after the acquisition, YesBoss made the decision to shut down the HeyKuya operations as it pivoted its own business direction towards technology, despite HeyKuya reportedly generating more revenue and having a clearer path to profitability at the time.

Keywords: personal assistant, concierge service, SMS-based service, on-demand services, task outsourcing, virtual assistant, Philippine startup, Machine Ventures, Shahab Shabibi, YesBoss, conversational commerce, delivery service, booking service, errand service, time saving, customer service, startup acquisition, Southeast Asia tech, mobile commerce, logistics platform