[Profile] Renee Foong: The Tech-Turned-F&B Founder Baking A Digital-First Empire

The Profile Snapshot

In Malaysia's vibrant F&B scene, a new kind of founder is rising—one who sees a customer journey as clearly as a line of code and a brand story as a product to be iterated. Meet Renee Foong, the dynamic force behind the rapidly expanding artisanal cake venture, The Cake Project. Her journey is a masterclass in translating digital-native agility into tangible, delectable success.

• 👨‍💼 Name: Renee Foong
• 🏷️ Role: Founder & CEO, The Cake Project
• 🔑 Key Superpower: Digital-First Brand Architect

The Catalyst: Why It Matters

Foong is making headlines as The Cake Project secures its first significant round of venture funding and announces plans for strategic physical 'experience hubs' across key Malaysian cities. This move marks a pivotal evolution from a beloved online-only brand to an omnichannel lifestyle contender, challenging established players not just with quality, but with a fundamentally different operational and engagement model rooted in her tech background.

The Leadership Dialogue: Inside The Mindset

Reflecting on her formative years as a core member of the pioneering myBurgerLab team, Foong speaks of that experience as her "real-world MBA." She doesn't just credit it for teaching her about burgers, but for instilling a mindset of obsessive customer-centricity and rapid, data-informed iteration. "We weren't just selling food; we were engineering an experience and community," she emphasizes, drawing a direct line to her current venture.

When discussing The Cake Project's ethos, her language is tellingly technical yet warm. She candidly admits that launching a premium cake brand in a competitive market was a calculated "beta test." Every flavour is a "product launch," social media engagement is parsed for "user feedback," and supply chain logistics are optimized with a programmer's love for elegant systems. "The goal was never just to bake the best cake," she reveals, leaning forward with conviction. "It was to build the most responsive, beloved *brand* in the category. The cake is our perfect, delicious product-market fit."

Career Milestones & Achievements

• Pioneered community and digital marketing strategies at myBurgerLab during its iconic rise, helping cement its status as a Malaysian F&B cult brand.
• Bootstrapped The Cake Project from a home-based passion project to a nationally recognized, supply-chain-savvy business with a fiercely loyal online following.
• Successfully pivoted the business model during the pandemic, leveraging direct-to-consumer e-commerce and curated subscription boxes to achieve triple-digit growth.
• Led the recent successful funding round, attracting investors specifically aligned with her vision for a tech-enabled, scalable F&B lifestyle brand.

The Editor's Take

Renee Foong represents the vanguard of Malaysia's next-generation entrepreneurs: the hybrid builder. She is neither a pure technologist nor a traditional F&B operator. Instead, she excels at applying the velocity, scalability, and user-obsession of a tech startup to a physical product business. Her leadership is defined by quiet intensity and a product manager's precision, making her a formidable and unique competitor in the market.

• 👁️ Visionary Thinking: 9/10
• ⚡ Execution Capability: 8/10
• 🌟 Industry Influence: 7/10

"Don't just build a product. Build a system that learns from every customer, and then build a brand that makes them feel seen."