Two 26 Year Olds Partnered a Regional Award Winning Branding Agency to Launch HOVARLAY

Singapore, July 2025 – What began as a bold experiment in interactive packaging has now grown into a full-fledged creative venture. After months of hands-on trials at events like Mandai Sustainability Day and Ho Nuts x HOVARLAY, where visitors could not stop scanning, sharing, and smiling, HOVARLAY is officially launching, moving packaging beyond the printed surface into a dynamic, interactive storytelling platform.

Founded by two 26-year-old entrepreneurs in partnership with Creativeans, a regional award-winning branding consultancy, HOVARLAY reimagines how brands connect with people. With today’s launch, HOVARLAY unveils its brand, vision, and a powerful no-code SaaS platform that empowers designers, marketers, and businesses of any size to transform ordinary packaging into immersive, digital-first experiences.

““From day one, our mission has been to show that packaging can be more than a container. It can be a living experience that connects people, tells stories, and creates value far beyond the shelf. The response at Mandai and Ho Nuts proved there is a genuine appetite for meaningful, interactive experiences.” says Brian Tay, co-founder of HOVARLAY.

From Showcase to Software

HOVARLAY’s soft launches were designed as real-world field tests, and they delivered.

At the SIGEP Exhibition at Marina Bay Sands, the team demonstrated how interactive, eco-conscious packaging could replace costly reprints with a single scannable surface. By blending augmented reality storytelling with sustainability messaging, brands could share product origins, environmental impact, and live campaign updates, all without generating additional waste. The response was immediate: growing interest from companies seeking to make their packaging smarter, greener, and more memorable.

During the Ho Nuts collaboration, HOVARLAY partnered with heritage peanut brand Farmer Brand to reimagine a Singaporean classic. The limited-edition peanut box came to life when scanned, greeting customers with “Uncle Ho,” an animated storyteller who warmly shared the brand’s heritage and farm-to-table journey.

At Mandai’s and Changi Airport Group’s Sustainability Day, HOVARLAY showcased to top executives how brands could keep festive campaigns fresh without costly and wasteful reprints. By updating digital content remotely, brands can cut waste, reduce emissions, and extend the lifespan of their packaging.

“Mandai’s showcase proved the potential for supporting enterprises’ sustainability goals. Ho Nuts’ showcase proved the potential for brand storytelling and transparency of supply chain for consumers,” says Kimming Yap, co-founder of HOVARLAY and Managing Director of Creativeans. “We saw people laughing, scanning again, even sharing it. That kind of engagement can’t be bought with traditional marketing.”

Now Live: The HOVARLAY Platform

With its official launch, HOVARLAY introduces a full-featured SaaS platform that puts interactive packaging creation into the hands of anyone, no coding required.

HOVARLAY is built to make interactive packaging accessible and adaptable. The platform brings together a visual editor for creating immersive content, tools to manage immersive interactions, and flexible templates to support a range of campaign needs. It also enables users to track engagement and work with privacy-compliant first-party data offering a thoughtful solution for marketers, designers, and educators who want to enhance communication through packaging. The system is mobile-friendly, cloud-based, and designed to scale from small creative experiments to full-scale regional activations.

“We have built this to be accessible to everyone, whether you are an independent designer, a small retail brand, or a global marketing team,” says Brian. “Packaging does not have to be passive anymore. It can entertain, educate, convert, and connect all in one scan.”

“Today’s consumers do not just buy products, they buy experiences. HOVARLAY gives brands the power to create those moments, to surprise, inform, and build loyalty in ways traditional packaging simply cannot.”

A Brand with a Bold Mission

More than just technology, HOVARLAY is a purpose-driven brand committed to helping businesses of all sizes tell richer stories, reduce waste, and turn packaging into a channel for connection, learning, and positive impact.

Its name, a fusion of hover and overlay, reflects its mission to layer new meaning and interactivity over the physical world.

“In a world saturated with screens, physical products still hold incredible potential for creating memorable moments,” says the Creativeans team. “HOVARLAY turns those touchpoints into conversations, and conversations into connections.”

What’s Next?

HOVARLAY is already partnering with mission-aligned businesses to launch pilot campaigns across food and beverage, retail, sustainability, and education. Upcoming releases include a designer toolkit and campaign builder to make immersive packaging even more accessible, with regional expansion on the horizon.

To support this mission, we’re developing a designer toolkit and campaign builder to make immersive packaging more accessible than ever with regional expansion on the horizon.

“This is just the beginning,” says Kimming. “We see HOVARLAY not as a product, but as a platform for creativity, storytelling, and deeper consumer connection.”

About HOVARLAY

HOVARLAY is a creative tech platform that transforms physical packaging into immersive digital experiences through augmented reality and interactive storytelling. Its no-code SaaS solution helps brands captivate, educate, and connect with consumers using the untapped potential of everyday packaging. Built in collaboration with award-winning branding consultancy Creativeans, HOVARLAY is headquartered in Singapore.

Explore the platform at hovarlay.com
Media enquiries and partnership requests: hello@hovarlay.com