S'pore travel rewards platform eyes foray into five markets

HeyMax plans to expand abroad and roll out new offerings by end of Q3, starting with HK

- Timothy Goh

Singapore-based travel and loyalty platform HeyMax is seeking to expand to overseas markets such as Japan amid strong travel demand.

The start-up also plans to double its current Singapore headcount of 16 over the next year, and hire workers with artificial intelligence (AI) and data expertise to boost its offerings.

In a recent interview with The Straits Times, HeyMax chief executive and co-founder Joe Lu said the company plans to expand into five markets - Japan, Australia, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan - where users from Singapore will be able to redeem rewards from purchases made at merchants in those locations.

The new offerings are expected to be rolled out by the end of the third quarter of 2025, starting with Hong Kong. From then, users globally will be able to access a common network of more than 500 participating merchants worldwide.

HeyMax currently has more than 120,000 users worldwide and works with about 500 merchants, including both local and global brands.

"We are prioritising 'high-volume corridors'... These markets were chosen based on their strong inbound and outbound travel patterns," said Mr Lu, adding that he aims to onboard over one million travellers globally by 2026.

"Another goal is to double our merchant network to 1,000 partners, up from the current 500, by 2026."