Started by three NUS students, Juno Jane gained momentum through TikTok virality
Not many students can run a business alongside their studies, but three Gen Z founders have found a way to make it work.
Sophia Poh, 24, Kayleigh Low, 22, and Wanzhen Li, 22, are the trio behind Juno Jane, a Singapore-based fund brand they founded while studying at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
The idea came from classroom discussions, which eventually grew into a full-fledged business that has earned six figures and shipped to more than 40 countries, all while the founders balanced university studies.
The market is crowded, but they still find an opening
Sophia, Kayleigh, and Wanzhen met in a business class at NUS in early 2024. A casual conversation about the lack of durable, aesthetic, and functional handbags for young professional women sparked an idea that would eventually become their brand.
Despite the saturated market, they saw an opening: many brands were moving fast and prioritizing the launch of more products, instead of designing features with the customer in mind.
In contrast, the founders of Juno Jane wanted to take a different approach: one that was led by design and focused on adapting their bags to what consumers want.
However, without prior experience, the process was challenging. They checked with friends, interviewed peers to find common pain points, and scoured the Internet to find builder contacts. Eventually, they connect with one, working closely with the manufacturer to refine the drawings and bring their ideas to life.
The trio saved their internship money to launch Juno Jane
As students, the founders pooled five figures from their internships to launch Juno Jane in 2024. Although the bags are designed in-house by the founders, they are manufactured in a factory in China, which they found through a combination of social networking and internet research.
Most of the trio’s capital has gone into research and development, as well as producing samples and prototypes—a process that Wanzhen notes is “more expensive than the actual final cost of the bag because of all the behind-the-scenes testing.”
In fact, the trio shared that their first collection, the Kai Tote, went through six iterations within a year before launch.
However, their diligence paid off.
The Kai Tote sold out within two weeks of its launch in Dec 2024. And not long after that, the Juno Jane broke even in Feb 2025 following its first stock. The collection was then expanded in Apr 2025 with black and wine colors.
Getting traction with TikTok
A large part of this early success came from organic community building. From the beginning, founders document their journey on TikTok, sharing content behind factory visits, design decisions, and student business realities.
“When we first started, we were already introduced to the community who knew who we were,” Kayleigh said. “That’s what really helped sell our first collection.”
To date, Juno Jane’s videos have received over 340,000 likes on TikTok alone, and over 40,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok.
Their most viral video has garnered over 33,000 likes, although not all of their posts have gained traction, especially in the early days. Instead, founders gradually build momentum by telling stories that don’t go unnoticed as small business owners.
Juno Jane’s videos eventually began to reach an international audience, and today, overseas sales comprise 40% of her income, primarily from the United States, Australia, and the Philippines.
Doing business is not like learning it in a classroom
While the three founders studied business at NUS, they quickly discovered that running a company was different from the ideas taught at school.
Instead, running a business requires combining the various skills taught by the university courses themselves.
“In school, when you learn about pricing, it’s just that the prices are the same,” commented Kayleigh. “But in real business, you see how the supply chain affects marketing – if our bags are pre-ordered, our marketing effectiveness goes down because people can’t buy immediately.”
That’s why the team now orders stock in advance and uses two warehouse units to store inventory, ensuring products are readily available for purchase, and customers don’t have to wait.
Priced in the hundreds, Juno Jane bags are designed to appeal to a wide range of customers. “We didn’t want to design bags that would only be sold to people willing to pay S$300 or S$400,” added Kayleigh, noting that they aimed to strike a balance between affordability, functionality, and style.
Competing with older players
Since its launch, Juno Jane has generated over six figures in total sales. Against older players, it competes by staying lean and focused on design.
The three separate responsibilities across the corresponding skill sets. Kayleigh manages the Juno Jane website and TikTok, Wanzhen manages Instagram and creative design, while Sophia oversees finance and operations. This structure allows them to integrate all business functions without hiring, managing costs like a bootstrapped business.
In addition, their low customer acquisition costs, driven by TikTok’s strong organic content, provide a key advantage over well-funded competitors.
“We are having a hard time marketing organic products,” notes Sophia. “As a result, our cost per purchase is still very low even though the capital expenditure is low.”
However, like many growing consumer-facing brands, Juno Jane initially had trouble predicting demand. In the beginning, they were sometimes out of stock for two months due to production times. Since then they have implemented a weekly sales tracking system and placed orders in advance, including peak periods for manufacturers, such as the Chinese New Year holiday.
“It’s still something we’re learning,” Kayleigh admits, “because when you’re trying to grow a business, your profit margin is uneven.”
While e-commerce remains their primary channel, the trio recognizes the importance of touchpoints that help increase brand awareness and learning from other innovators.
Apart from selling products at Gathery and NUS Business School’s Homecoming, they led a program called For Her once last year at Kada. A pop-up event focusing on women-led businesses and community empowerment through local products.
“We decided to combine these products to create a contact point so that everyone can get to know each other better,” explained Sophia. “These days, when we have problems with the operational side of things or shipping, we just reach out to each other.”
A retail store is not in the cards yet
Although the brand has achieved significant growth, the founders shared that opening a permanent retail store is not in the cards yet, citing the high overhead costs involved. Additionally, two of the founders are still studying at NUS, while Sophia, who graduated last year, is now working full-time.
Instead, they hope to increase their physical presence through pirates and referral programs. They also develop accessories to better serve their customers’ evolving preferences.
Along the way, the trio has learned a few lessons over the past two years. “Taking risks is not as scary as you think, especially if you have a group to do it with,” Sophia commented.
“The inertia is real—like, I have to withdraw X amount of money and what if it doesn’t work out? But the reality is you don’t really need that big of a pool to start with, and there are two or three people, and you’re kind of taking a risk.”
Juno Jane’s journey shows that starting a business doesn’t require a lot of time or capital—just a willingness to take calculated risks with the right team. By sharing responsibilities, staying honest, and testing ideas directly with customers, founders have been able to de-risk businesses while moving quickly.
- Read more about Juno Jane.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Singapore businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: Juno Jane
