While working with a mobile security start-up, Mr Varun Chatterji (right in picture above, with Mr Vijay Thampy) noticed a “chronic problem” with connectivity in several emerging markets. Messages sent from many of the current cloud-based providers would fail to make it to the end-user’s phones.

This led him to set up Sent.ly in 2011, with the aim of delivering messaging solutions targeted at markets where access to information would make the greatest impact on the lives of the population.

Sent.ly is currently focusing on SMS services, since “any mobile phone in the world can receive an SMS”, said the company’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Vijay Thampy. It provides Application-To-Person solutions that enable business applications to send transactional SMSes and marketing messages automatically to their end customers.

Their key differentiator is Sent.ly’s phone-based architecture, which allows businesses to set up a two-way SMS channel anywhere in the world. Users need only install an application on their Android-based mobile device with a local SIM card installed. Messages are pushed to the Sent.ly cloud and through the user’s phone number to the desired recipients.

This gives businesses a dedicated mobile identity, unlike the current practice of using short codes, which are shared between companies. There are also no set up costs, monthly rentals, or per-message costs normally associated with short codes.

With this simple yet effective idea, Sent.ly won a mentorship competition run by Red Gate and the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) earlier this year. In October, Mr Thampy and Mr Chatterji visited Red Gate’s headquarters in Cambridge, United Kingdom, where they received individually tailored mentoring from the team that helped grow Red Gate from a start-up to an international software firm.

It was there that the Sent.ly team picked up lessons about the importance of marketing and customer focus, and having clearly-defined company values.

“The needs of the customer affect everything from how products are made to tracking how users interact with the finished product,” Mr Thampy observed. “Furthermore, the marketing materials at Red Gate are tailored towards the end user. Each product is dealt with as a unique case by a single team, making materials distinctive yet easily identifiable.”

He also noted that while the staff members at Red Gate were diverse and offered different opinions on a variety of topics, it was clear that they still shared the same overall picture and direction.

These insights will be valuable to Sent.ly as it looks to expand its business in emerging markets in the region. “The systems are already live online and available globally,” said Mr Thampy. “We’re hoping to meet and win over some bigger brick and mortar customers while collaborating with the industry partners. We’re in talks with some very good partners to learn and enter the markets around Singapore.”