Friz joins Y Combinator (W21)

Being a part of the Y Combinator W21 batch is one of the most exciting and exhilarating parts of our journey at Friz. Switching between working with our team in Singapore during the day and learning from the best of the best past 1 am Singapore time, really pushed us.

Biggest merits of YC:

1. Fire in the belly: Being surrounded by the best of the best is a contagious mindset. During YC we felt motivation and energy like never before because of all the inspiring entrepreneurs around us.
2. Relentless user focus: Right from implementing tools to observe user behavior with scalpel precision to learning how to prioritise launches and feature tests — YC brought us closer to our users. We now have phone numbers of early users saved in our contacts.
3. Insights on steroids: The power packed talks of founders with different journeys and stories gave us a lot of perspectives into how to be a better founder. Nobody is a natural founder and hearing from founders who grew to overcome huge hurdles and doubts made the dream tangible and the process less mysterious.
4. Zero questions unanswered: Absolutely brilliant group partners who have seen it all masterfully opened doors and pushed us to improve on multiple fronts — team building, business development, partnerships, business models, fundraising, recruitment.

As we are about to graduate the W21 batch at YC, we usher in a new phase at Friz. One that brings us closer to creating the best financial tools for freelancers. We are fundraising, hiring and opening a new world of possibilities of what freelancers can expect from financial services. Above all we are relentlessly obsessed with making something that will enrich the lives of freelancers. Reach out to us if you want to share encouragement, use the product or work with us.

-Nirali and Ash

About Y Combinator

Twice a year, the Silicon Valley based firm funds category-defining ventures and provides them world-class mentorship. YC’s alumni are valued at a combined $300B+ and include Dropbox, AirBnB, Stripe, Brex, and Podium to name a few.

We are proud to represent south east Asian startups at this stage and leverage on all the resources and networks offered to improve the access that freelancers have to financial services. Our mission at Friz to bring financial freedom to freelance is strengthened by being a part of the YC family.

About Friz

Friz, formerly known as Feige, is a new age fintech start-up that aims to provide southeast Asian freelancers with tailored financial services and help them bridge gaps in credit, savings, insurance, and investment. The Singapore-based finance platform for freelancers has announced that it has received funding from leading venture funds — 500 Durians and 500 TukTuks, prominent angel investors, Iterative VC and Y Combinator. This comes at a very opportune moment in South East Asia’s history as increasingly people have begun adopting freelancing and contract based work to grow their careers. The largest supply of professionally skilled freelancers comes from Asia, and freelancers face a huge gap in financial access because of their project-based employment.

Freelancers are entrepreneurs and business people in every regard. For a very long time, they have fallen through the cracks of traditional consumer and business banking — but it is high time that all this changes. At Friz, we are determined to create a new financial paradigm for the future of work.