Fancee Labs’ Edwin Wong on turning content creators’ 15 minutes of fame into lasting businesses

Aug 26, 2025

Cover Edwin Wong co-founded Fancee Labs to empower content creators to build lasting businesses (Photo: Tatler Asia/Affa Chan)

Edwin Wong co-founded Fancee Labs to empower content creators to build lasting businesses (Photo: Tatler Asia/Affa Chan)

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As the online spotlight grows shorter, Edwin Wong, the co-founder and CEO of Fancee Labs, is building a platform that lets creators turn passion into income and communities into businesses

Viral fame is no longer the exclusive domain of A-list celebrities. A single tap on a phone has the potential to catapult anyone to social media stardom. Yet with the flood of content uploaded daily, that fame is often fleeting, lasting mere months, weeks or even days. Serial entrepreneur Edwin Wong is tackling this challenge through RakoSell, a core platform under his third venture, Fancee Labs, set up to help influencers monetise their content.

On RakoSell, verified online creators—from travel vloggers to stock trading adviser and English tutors—build their own websites
to connect with and sell materials, such as video courses and notes, directly to supporters. Fans can also subscribe to various membership tiers, which provide access to exclusive content.

The idea took shape during Wong’s time at Cloudbreakr, a start-up he co-founded that provides brands with comprehensive influencer analytics. “Brands tend to hire a fraction of the influencers online [for advertising]—let’s say 4,000 or 5,000 out of 30,000 on Instagram—and aren’t inclined to hire [those] such as tutors who provide educational content,” the Gen.T Leader of Tomorrow 2023 says of what he observed while running the company. A desire to unlock greater potential for creators less likely to be hired for advertising sparked the idea for Fancee Labs: to provide them with the tools to stand on their own feet.

Wong, the co-founder and CEO of Fancee Labs, reports its platform RakoSell has 30,000 registered users, with the top influencers earning over HK$200,000 per month. Creators are charged a four per cent transaction fee when fans buy their content, but this drops to two to three per cent if the creators pay a monthly subscription to the platform for its service.

Spotting the power of influence early

Wong’s first brush with influencer marketing came with Unsuspended, a social enterprise he co-founded in 2014 that collaborated with local businesses to offer low-cost coupons for food and other daily essentials that consumers could buy and distribute to underprivileged groups through NGOs. Although it only lasted about 18 months, it taught Wong a lesson in authentic engagement: “I realised when you invite people to spread a message in the right way, they will support it.”

Above Wong and his team at Cloudbreakr, a startup which develops data-driven tools to help brands identify the most suitable influencers for their campaigns (Photo: Cloudbreakr)

Wong and his team at Cloudbreakr, a startup which develops data-driven tools to help brands identify the most suitable influencers for their campaigns (Photo: Cloudbreakr)

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In 2015, he launched Cloudbreakr, which provides data-driven tools designed to help brands identify influencers who align with their values and target audiences. With a database of more than 100,000 influencers, companies can filter by engagement rate, content category, audience demographics and even reputational risk. His team also offers end-to-end campaign management, from ideation to execution and analysis.

“At the time, there weren’t many engines like this, so we got a head start,” Wong says. “Instagram was also blooming, with many people growing their follower base, which allowed our engine to identify new, trending and influential profiles.” Within four years, Cloudbreakr closed a HK$10 million pre-Series A round led by Hong Kong X Technology Fund, with participation from Beyond Ventures and Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund. The company expanded across Asia and has worked with major brands including Samsung, Sony and Dior.

Beyond one-hit wonder

“The macro trend in content consumption is that audiences will favour short content. The faster you scroll, the more addicted you become. It creates more chances for advertisers to insert their messages,” Wong says. Still, he believes that demand for long, in-depth content will also grow—just not as rapidly— especially as the market becomes increasingly saturated. The same applies to influencers: while mega-creators continue to dominate headlines, micro-influencers are gaining traction among niche communities and targeted marketing campaigns.

To stand out, Wong believes the formula remains the same: find a unique angle, understand the algorithm and deliver real value. “You need to build an image—some kind of content IP with signature tags,” he says, emphasising the need to define a unique identity, ideally that combines more than one speciality.

Above Edwin Wong delivers a keynote speech on building a content business with membership at the Revive Tech Asia event (Photo: LinkedIn/Edwin Wong)

Edwin Wong delivers a keynote speech on building a content business with membership at the Revive Tech Asia event (Photo: LinkedIn/Edwin Wong)

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“Nowadays, many people want to package themselves as a product to drive long-term subscriptions. It’s not just about running a channel anymore, but a full ecosystem,” Wong says. That is why creators today launch everything from books to online courses to avoid relying solely on viral views and ad revenue, which can be unstable and short-lived.

Wong’s RakoSell is designed to support that evolution. “The fans of the influencers on our platform enjoy their content, and the influencers have fun making it while earning money,” he adds, noting how inspired he feels by the people he has met through his
third venture. “There are diverse pools of content creators on our platform, and they love what they do. When you chat with them, you can feel their passion—and it rubs off on you.”

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Yoyo Chow

Editor, Power & Purpose, Hong Kong, Tatler Hong Kong

Based in Hong Kong, editor Yoyo Chow covers the people and ideas redefining Asia’s future—from cutting-edge innovation and AI to bold moves in sustainability and diversity. She also drives content for Tatler Gen.T in Hong Kong, a platform and community spotlighting the region’s next generation of startup founders, creatives and changemakers.

Before that, she was a video journalist producing content for international TV and digital platforms, including Reuters and South China Morning Post. If you have a powerful story to share, she’s all ears. Send press materials, event invites and any inquiries to yoyo.chow@tatlerasia.com.