HubSpot expands in Singapore

Shahid.

HubSpot, a growth platform, said it plans to create approximately 100 new jobs in Singapore by 2021. To accommodate this rapid and continuing growth, HubSpot has expanded to an additional office space in Singapore, where its Asia Pacific (APAC) headquarters is currently located.

The new roles in Singapore will span nearly all aspects of HubSpot’s business including sales, marketing, services, and support. This comes after the company announced the creation of 150 jobs when it opened its official Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore in 2016.

Kurt Wee, President, Association of Small & Medium Enterprises (ASME), was the guest of honour at the opening ceremony. Wee noted that there are some 200,000 small and medium sized enterprises in Singapore, accounting for about 70% of Singapore's workforce. 

"Singapore has always been about how as a country, as a jurisdiction, how we can serve the global marketplace better," he said. "We are still efficient though the competitive gap is closing between us and the rest of the region."

He noted that companies like HubSpot are instrumental to help small businesses with through-train digitalisation as opposed to piecemeal projects. "There is a lot of work that we have to do together," he said.

To support the business’ expansion, HubSpot earlier this month announced the appointment of Shahid Nizami as MD for Asia Pacific in a newly-created role for the region. Shahid previously held positions at Google and Oracle, and stands out for his experience in both business development and in business expansion.

“HubSpot is at a very exciting stage, especially here in APAC where growth is largely fuelled by small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). There is a huge opportunity for us to help millions of SMBs adopt the right marketing, sales, and customer service strategies that will enable them to not only grow fast, but to grow better through HubSpot’s education, software and support. 

Source: HubSpot. It was a conscious decision to showcase Asia Pacific’s diverse culture in the new office. As a result, the decor features a mural of cities across Asia Pacific designed by HubSpotters in the Singapore office, as well as large graphic wall prints of Singapore’s famous skyline.

"The team in APAC has achieved so much in the past three years, and yet we are still only scratching the surface. I’m incredibly excited about the growth that is yet to come, and to make HubSpot one of the best and most desired places to work in the region,” said Shahid, who also shared that he joined HubSpot because it had a culture as "amazing and awesome" as that at Google.

Jeetu Mahtani, Senior VP and MD of International Operations at HubSpot, noted that there is a lot of demand for HubSpot's services from SMBs in Asia. "They want to be really competitive in the global landscape. It's not just about growing faster and bigger but it is also about growing better," he said. 

Mahtani has been based in Singapore for the past three years, leading the team on the ground. He will be returning to HubSpot’s headquarters in the US now that Shahid has joined the team. Said Mahtani: “I’m incredibly proud of what HubSpot has built in Singapore so far, and the impact we’ve had on the growth of small and medium-sized businesses across Asia Pacific. I truly believe that we are only just scratching the surface of what we can achieve in this part of the world. There is huge potential ahead to help millions of organisations across Asia Pacific to grow better.” 

The 19th floor has a different layout from the 10th floor, said Adora Doganis, Office Manager, Culture and Experience, HubSpot. There is no reception counter, and there are no room dividers to foster collaboration.

While level 19 is earmarked for HubSpot's support team and implementation specialists, anyone can choose to work on the 19th floor, Doganis said.

To further inspire creativity among employees, the space features a vibrant colour scheme while retaining the orange and wood accents that HubSpot is recognised for. The new office space also features new and exciting amenities designed to complement HubSpot’s unique culture, including:

- a fitness space, including gym and yoga/pilates studio, named after Sir Donald George Bradman, an Australian international cricketer.

- a meditation room, named Yao Chen, after an activist actress with 77.9 million Weibo followers. 

- a "culture" room with built-in fireplace and library. This room is called Bell after Alexander Graham Bell, the scientist, inventor, engineer, and innovator who is credited with inventing and patenting the first practical telephone. He also founded the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T) in 1885.

- a 60-person classroom-style training space, which can be split into two rooms, called Edison - after Thomas Alva Edison, an American inventor and businessman, and Disney after Walt Disney, the American entrepreneur, animator, voice actor and film producer respectively.

- nine new conference rooms named after famous Asian personalities:

Anggun - after Anggun Cipta Sasmi, an Indonesian-French singer-songwriter.

Ashoka - after Ashoka the Great, an Indian ruler who embraced Buddhism.

Jackman - after Hugh Jackman, an Australian actor, singer, multi-instrumentalist, dancer and producer.

Luu - after Dr Jane Luu, a Vietnamese-American astronomer who co-discovered the Kuiper Belt in the outer solar system.

Lee - after Ang Lee, the Taiwanese film director, screenwriter, producer and triple Oscar winner.

Park - after Yeonmi Park, a North Korean defector and human rights activist who escaped to China and settled in South Korea in 2009.

Yamazaki - after Naoko Yamazaki, one of just 60 women to have gone to space and the second Japanese woman to have done so.

Yen - after Donnie Yen, a Hong Kong actor, martial artist, film director, producer, action choreographer, and multiple-time world wushu tournament champion.

Yuna - after Yunalis binti Mat Zara’ai, an independent Malaysian singer-songwriter and the first Malaysia artist to break into the US top 10 billboard chart.

Employees will be able to enjoy amenities that have become the standard for HubSpot offices globally; each of the desks is electronically adjustable and can transform from sitting to standing at the push of a button.

The pantry on this floor offers healthier options such as fruits, vegetables and protein bars to complement the existing pantry on the 10th floor. In addition, nomad desks and themed conference rooms allow employees the freedom to work wherever they are most comfortable and productive in.

HubSpot currently has 118 staff in Singapore. It is on track to hire up to 150 people as originally announced, with the further 100 to be added by 2021.

Over 48,000 customers in more than 100 countries use HubSpot’s software, services, and support to transform the way they attract, engage, and delight customers.

Explore:

See pictures of HubSpot's 19th floor on Facebook

Read the TechTrade Asia blog post about HubSpot's office opening in Singapore in 2016