Jacky Yap (Singapore Entrepreneur)

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Jacky Yap
Jacky Yap Vulcan Post.jpg
Born1988
EducationBachelor of Science (Real Estate)
Alma materNational University of Singapore (NUS)

Jacky Yap (born 1988) is the co-founder of GRVTY Media, a content marketing and media company that houses content publishers such as Vulcan Post and the YouTube channel, Millennials of Singapore.[1] Jacky was a speaker at the Content Summit Asia 2017 alongside other entrepreneurs such as Karl Mak from Hepmil Media Group and Bryan Choo, the founder of TheSmartLocal Media Group.[2]

Background

Jacky Yap was born in 1988 in Malaysia.[3] He completed his secondary education in Malaysia before moving to Singapore to pursue his tertiary education and start his career.

Education

From 2006 to 2007, Jacky Yap studied at Batu Lintang National Secondary School, a school in Sarawak, Malaysia.[4][5] He graduated with a Malaysian Higher School Certificate which is equivalent to a GCE Advanced (‘A’) Levels certificate.[4]

Tertiary studies

Jacky Yap enrolled in the School of Design and Environment (SDE) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2008.[4] During his time in NUS, Jacky was a resident assistant (RA) at NUS N-House, an entrepreneurial-themed resident hall that housed returning students from the NUS overseas colleges as well as students who demonstrated an entrepreneurial attitude.[6][7] He was in charge of organising N-House events like hackathons and crash courses while also maintaining its social media platforms. Jacky also spent a semester at Fudan University for his university exchange programme, studying topics such as finance and entrepreneurship.[4] While there, he juggled three jobs at the Ortus Group, the Shanghai House of Entrepreneurs and Ascendas China.[8][4] He graduated from NUS with a Bachelor of Science in Real Estate in 2012.[9]

Personal life

Jacky Yap pictured with his wife, Li Ru. Photo from source.

Jacky met his wife, Li Ru on Coffee Meets Bagel (a dating mobile application) in March 2018. The couple dated until late-2019 when Jacky proposed during their trip to Italy.[10] Jacky and Li Ru got married in January 2020.[11]

Early career

In 2011, Jacky founded Lunchsparks, a networking platform that sought to connect industry professionals and entrepreneurs with relevant partners.[4][12] He took charge of social media marketing and business development, among various other roles. While kickstarting Lunchsparks, Jacky worked as a senior writer and product manager at the Singaporean media company, e27.[4][13] However, Jacky's Lunchsparks venture did not take off and the company closed down in 2012 due to low profits and his co-founder’s other commitments.[14] In 2013, he joined Pocket Deals where he was a part of the business development team for the mobile application, Popcorn.[15][4]

GRVTY Media

Jacky Yap heads GRVTY Media alongside Johnathan Chua. As of September 2020, the media company that manages eight brands across three countries in Southeast Asia.[16] Outside of Singapore, GRVTY Media has expanded its operations to Manila (Manila Insider and Millennials of Manila) and Kuala Lumpur (Discover KL, The Playbook and Millennials of Kuala Lumpur).[16] In an interview with Tech In Asia, Jacky shares that GRVTY Media is modelled after the US company, Vox, that operates various media brands across a range of content verticals.[17]

The co-founders of GRVTY Media - Johnathan Chua (left) and Jacky Yap (right) - pictured in 2017.

Founder of Vulcan Post (2013 - present day)

Jacky founded Vulcan Post in September 2013, a website dedicated to educating readers about technology and entrepreneurship.[18] He helms the regional editorial team, crafts branded content for clients and runs business development for the company. Jacky has also written content for the platform.[19] As of August 2020, Vulcan Post has garnered over 83,000 likes on Facebook.

Managing Director of Yello Digital Media Group (2016 - 2017)

For eight months, Jacky managed Yello Digital Media Group’s media assets such as Vulcan Post and DiscoverSG, a website dedicated to covering the latest hyperlocal events.[20] In February 2017, YDMG Media rebranded into GRVTY Media.[4]

Co-founder of GRVTY Media (2017 - present day)

In 2017, Jacky Yap co-founded GRVTY Media with Johnathan Chua, who as of August 2020, is the company’s business director.[21] GRVTY Media received funding from the e-sports start-up, Spout Entertainment Group to kickstart the business venture.[22][23] Several months into its founding, the GRVTY Media won six awards at the 2017 Spark Awards for Media Excellence, an event recognising the best products and services that media companies in the region have to offer.[24] The following is a list of the awards that GRVTY Media won.

Year Award Tier Refs.
2017 Best Corporate Branding By A Media Owner Gold [25]
Best Launch/Relaunch By A Media Owner
Best Corporate Branding By A Media Owner Silver
Best Acquisition Team
Best Digital Media Solution
Best Website By A Media Owner Bronze

References/ Citations

  1. Jacky Yap. LinkedIn. n.d. Accessed 26 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackyyapp/?originalSubdomain=sg
  2. "Our Speakers". Content Summit 2017. Accessed on 4 September 2020.
  3. Yap, Jacky. “My 2018 and the year I found my other half”. Jackyyapp. December 28, 2018. Accessed on 26 August 2020.
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Jacky Yap. LinkedIn. n.d. Accessed 26 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackyyapp/
  5. SMK Batu Lintang. Facebook. n.d. Accessed on 27 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/pages/SMK-Batu-Lintang/113557455321541
  6. Yap, Jacky. “About”. Jackyyapp. n.d. Accessed on 26 August 2020.
  7. Home for Entrepreneurial Minds”. National University of Singapore. n.d. Accessed on 26 August 2020.
  8. Yap, Jacky. “My life so far: 11 jobs and counting”. Jackyyapp. June 17, 2013. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  9. Bachelor of Science (Real Estate)”. National University of Singapore. n.d. Accessed on 26 August 2020.
  10. Yap, Jacky. “2019 and the search for clarity”. Jackyyapp. December 26, 2019. Accessed on 26 August 2020.
  11. Ibid.
  12. Lunchsparks. Facebook. n.d. Accessed on 26 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/Lunchsparks/?ref=page_internal
  13. Yap, Jacky. “About”. Jackyyapp. n.d. Accessed on 26 August 2020.
  14. Yap, Jacky. “My life so far: 11 jobs and counting”. Jackyyapp. June 17, 2013. Accessed on 27 August 2020.
  15. Yap, Jacky. “What have I been up to the past few weeks?”. Wordpress. October 12, 2013. Accessed on 26 August 2020.
  16. 16.0 16.1 "Home". GRVTY Media. Accessed on 4 September 2020.
  17. Lee, Terence. "Esports platform invests in media group targeting millennials". Tech In Asia. July 13, 2017. Accessed on 4 September 2020.
  18. Vulcan Post. Facebook. n.d. Accessed on 27 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Vulcanpost/about/?ref=page_internal
  19. Articles By Jacky Yap”. Vulcan Post. n.d. Accessed on 26 August 2020.
  20. Discover SG Team”. DiscoverSG. n.d. Accessed on 26 August 2020.
  21. "Digital media company GRVTY Media brings together six online publications". Marketing Interactive. May 24, 2017. Accessed on 4 September 2020.
  22. Lee, Terence. "Esports platform invests in media group targeting millennials". Tech In Asia. July 13, 2017. Accessed on 4 September 2020.
  23. "Spout Entertainment Group". e27. Accessed on 4 September 2020.
  24. NST Online. “Media Prima score big at 2017 Spark Awards”. New Straits Times. August 19, 2017. Accessed on 26 August 2020.
  25. GRVTY Media. Facebook. August 19, 2017. Accessed on 26 August 2020. Retrieved from: https://www.facebook.com/grvty.media/photos/a.241732112965660/305300969942107/?type=3&theater