From funding her education through beauty pageants to co-founding iMotorbike, Sharmeen Looi shares how a single email changed her life and set her on the path to building one of Southeast Asia’s leading motorcycle marketplaces
Beauty pageants, Sharmeen Looi explains, were an exercise in resourcefulness during her college years. “It’s funny to think about it now,” she reflects. “I’d join competitions every semester and sell the prizes if they weren’t cash.” Winning 12 titles, Looi eventually transformed these wins into a side hustle that funded her Mass Communication degree.
Here, one sees the blueprint of Looi’s future: identifying opportunities, leveraging resources and executing with precision.
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Today, as co-founder of the e-commerce marketplace iMotorbike, Looi is glowing from the news of another win. In January 2025, iMotorbike completed a US$10 million Series A funding round. The investment will fuel iMotorbike’s expansion into new regions while strengthening its footprint in Malaysia and Vietnam.
Buoyed by this latest achievement, Looi reflects on the values that have propelled her forward—values instilled back in the halls of her alma mater in Penang. She attended St George’s Girls’ School, a high school steeped in the ethos of perseverance, where students were made to sing a school anthem every morning. “If there’s a will, there’s always a way,” the lyrics proclaimed. This mantra has stayed lodged in her mind and become the undercurrent of her life’s work.
iMotorbike gives buyers a 170-point inspection, six-day return policy, six-month warranty, insurance and nationwide delivery (Photo: Fady Younis)
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The email that changed everything
Later, her entry into the professional world after graduating from her Mass Communication degree was conventional yet revealing. She joined Manipal Education Malaysia, a university in Malaysia, learning the structures and rhythms of corporate life. But the tightly scripted environment left her restless. “I wanted to build something,” she says. “Something that felt real, mine and meaningful.” This hunger would lead her to write an impassioned email that would alter her path entirely. “That email was the beginning of everything.”
Her pivotal email landed in the inbox of Joel Leong, founder of ShopBack, after a friend facilitated an initial introduction. This email encapsulated her hunger to learn, contribute and experiment. She shares an excerpt of the email to Leong, pitching her passion, from almost a decade ago:
“So, would I be able to take the challenge? Yes, I am. I believe with the right tools, anybody can deliver, the only difference is the drive and believing. I understand there is no room for hiccups and mistakes at this point, but with the drive and passion even hurdles can turn to ladders.”
Leong responded, a meeting was arranged and Looi’s life veered sharply from corporate predictability to startup volatility.
