After e-bikes & tennis apps, this entrepreneur bets on AI cameras

He walked away from his father’s profitable agency to launch his AI sensible digicam enterprise

Ivan Mun has all the time been tinkering with new concepts and completely different ventures.

Even whereas climbing the ranks in his father’s success SGX-listed firm, Aztech World, a world design and manufacturing options supplier, he has spent years experimenting with aspect hustles from promoting titanium components for foldable bikes to constructing a tennis matchmaking app.

Some ventures took off, others fizzled out, however the drive to create by no means left him. Now, at 44, Ivan has gone all-in. In Could 2025, he invested his personal cash to start out Hi there Ello, an AI sensible house digicam enterprise he believes has a lot potential that he walked away from his position as Vice President of Enterprise Improvement at Aztech.

We spoke to Ivan to search out out extra about his entrepreneurial journey, and why he determined to step out of a cushty, safe job for his newest enterprise.

A serial entrepreneur

Ivan’s very first aspect hustle was conceived through the COVID-19 pandemic. On the time, he seen a surge in curiosity for foldable bicycles, notably Bromptons.

Homeowners wished titanium upgrades, however the authentic components have been prohibitively costly. Recognizing a market hole, Ivan launched Wheely Good, an e-commerce website specialising in aftermarket components. He sourced elements from China and equipment from Japan, discovered to navigate customs and transport logistics, constructed its e-commerce webstore, and even taught himself to disassemble and rebuild Bromptons from his basement workshop.

“I by no means imagined I’d spend months in my basement taking aside bikes throughout my free time,” he recalled. “However it was satisfying to see one thing folks beloved, and realizing I used to be delivering actual worth by fixing an issue for them.”

The aspect hustle was unexpectedly profitable, bringing in near S$40,000 in simply 4 months. Nevertheless, when the pandemic ended, extra folks returned to work and Wheely Good slowly light into the background—however the entrepreneurial spark it ignited by no means did.

One other enterprise sprang from Ivan’s love of tennis. He seen that informal gamers typically struggled to search out companions who matched their ability stage or had suitable courtroom availability. The answer was Athletix, an app that matches gamers based mostly on ability and schedule. The app remains to be energetic right now, and Ivan continues to replace it in his free time.

He then went on to arrange The Founders Company, a consultancy aimed toward serving to startups navigate connections with dependable Asian producers and distributors. Whereas the enterprise by no means absolutely launched, largely as a result of Ivan was balancing different commitments, it gave him precious insights into operations, provide chains, and the challenges startups face when scaling internationally.

Constructing on these experiences, Ivan turned his consideration to what would grow to be his greatest enterprise but: Hi there Ello.

Making a system that doesn’t want babysitting

Ivan was impressed to start out Hi there Ello in early 2025, simply as Aztech was rolling out its line of business safety cameras. He thought that he might take the trendy sensible digicam additional by leveraging AI know-how.

I wished to construct a system that was sensible sufficient to work with no need to babysit it or mute its notifications.

Ivan Mun

A key downside he wished to sort out was notification overload. Most sensible cameras bombard customers with alerts, lots of that are irrelevant, inflicting folks to disregard them or flip them off totally. That inaction can go away properties susceptible, with incidents solely found too late throughout a autopsy overview of video footage.

Decided to carry this imaginative and prescient to life, Ivan left his job to create a ‘smarter’ doorbell known as Ello. The machine was designed to supply a wider subject of view and extra clever notifications than current client merchandise.

A number of Ello cameras might be positioned all through a house, making a digital map of the format. Utilizing this method, Ello can determine people, observe their actions, and construct a “household tree” of recognized customers.

The digicam solely alerts customers when one thing pressing or suspicious happens, comparable to an unfamiliar individual outdoors. For routine updates, customers can work together with the system via an app that features like a chatbot.

Just like texting on WhatsApp or ChatGPT, customers can ask what the cameras have seen, request summaries, or set monitoring durations in plain language.

When prompted, Ello supplies a video snippet together with a textual content description of the individual’s actions inside the house, and may even recommend additional actions, comparable to notifying safety.

The early prototype at present operates on Telegram, however Ivan plans emigrate it to Ello’s personal proprietary app for added safety.

When requested in regards to the accuracy of Ello cameras, Ivan defined that the system has been skilled on a spread of Imaginative and prescient-Language Fashions (VLMs) and Giant Language Fashions (LLMs). This, he claims, permits the chatbot to rapidly analyse motion captured on digicam and supply important data as precisely as doable.

Customers may give suggestions to Ello, permitting the AI to repeatedly be taught and enhance—similar to another machine studying system.

Testing his product on the world stage

Not like his earlier aspect tasks, Ivan went all-in on this enterprise. He has excessive confidence within the product, having invested vital time, effort, and a considerable quantity of his personal cash to carry it to life.

In Sept 2025, Ivan took Ello to IFA (Innovation For All) Berlin, one of many world’s largest client electronics commerce exhibits. Regardless of not having a working prototype and relying solely on demo movies, Ivan determined to showcase the idea to assemble suggestions and take a look at curiosity on the worldwide stage.

Whereas many attendees ignored the sales space, those that stopped by offered invaluable insights. A Londoner defined she typically ignored her digicam’s alerts as a result of they have been overwhelming and often irrelevant—there could be a notification that everytime there was somebody who walked previous her townhouse in a busy road—till it was too late.

That dialog validated Ivan’s method and highlighted the markets the place Ello would have essentially the most influence. Many informed Ivan that Ello was “precisely what they wanted.”

That mentioned, Ivan had recognized from the beginning that Singapore shouldn’t be its goal market. With its low housebreaking price, house safety was not a urgent concern for many households.

“Cameras listed below are primarily used to watch kids, helpers, and the aged, not a lot for house security and safety, the place there’s a relentless threat,” he famous. As an alternative, Ello is aimed on the UK, US, and EU, the place excessive charges of housebreaks drive demand. 

Stepping out of the consolation zone

As a small startup, Ivan acknowledged that discovering native buyers was difficult, notably since Ello’s focus is outdoors Singapore.

Hiring can also be difficult—discovering the precise expertise is an ongoing impediment for the startup.

Operating lean with a crew of simply three, Ivan takes each small success as motivation—from opening Hi there Ello’s new workplace to securing approval for considered one of his workers’s Employment Go.

“It’s about celebrating the little issues,” Ivan mentioned. “It builds tradition and morale. And it jogs my memory why I do that.”

Shifting ahead, beta testing for Ello is scheduled for Dec, with an official launch deliberate in early 2026. Though leaving the consolation of a family-run empire introduced uncertainty, Ivan is glad he did—the journey to this point has introduced goal and the satisfaction of making one thing actually his personal.

“Stepping out of the consolation zone was scary. There’s simply a lot uncertainty, particularly when your loved ones is at stake,” he mirrored. “However I’ve by no means been extra satisfied I made the precise alternative, and I’m very blessed and grateful for the help I’ve gotten from my household and buddies.”

The serial entrepreneur’s message to different founders is evident:

“Know the issue you are attempting to resolve. Don’t justify it by arising with an imaginary downside after which an answer. Discuss to as many individuals as you may to validate your concept.”

Each enterprise he undertook, whether or not profitable or not, strengthened this philosophy and was a studying journey in itself. And it’s why he selected to construct Ello for markets that want it, slightly than chasing simple success at house.

• Discover extra about Hi there Ello right here.
• Learn extra tales we’ve written on Singaporean companies right here.

Featured Picture Credit score: Hi there Ello