From Making Songs at School to Building for Artists Worldwide
UpNComer began with a frustration Karan Dasgupta knew intimately. As a teenager in Singapore, he started making music with friends while still in school, recording songs simply for the thrill of hearing their own work on the way to class. What began as a side project quickly gathered momentum. The group released music, built an audience, and began attracting interest from major labels.
A farewell concert before university opened another door, leading to a connection with Believe Music, one of the world’s largest distributors for independent artists. That relationship continues today.
Over the next several years, Karan focused on growing as an artist, learning first-hand how music careers are actually built: through releases, audience growth, partnerships, constant experimentation, and relentless self-management. He was later recognised by Spotify as a top rising artist in Singapore.
Yet success also exposed a structural problem. Independent musicians were expected to be creators, marketers, analysts, operators, and business owners all at once, often across disconnected tools. Karan saw an opportunity to change that.
Founded first in Canada and later moved to Singapore, UpNComer is building an AI-powered operating system for artists. The platform combines music distribution, marketing support, playlist outreach, sync opportunities, business analytics, and career tools in one place.
Rather than forcing creatives to become administrators, the company helps them focus on the work only they can do. The beta platform launched in late 2025. It already has paying users across Southeast Asia, North America, the United Kingdom, and Europe, with plans to expand further into labels, managers, publishers, and studios.
Why Singapore Made Sense — And How Osome Entered the Story
As UpNComer moved from concept to company, Karan knew he needed the right base for scaling internationally. Singapore made sense on multiple levels: efficient regulation, founder-friendly infrastructure, global credibility, and personal roots. Having grown up there, it was also home.
His first attempt to incorporate through a traditional provider proved slow and complicated, eventually creating compliance issues that forced the structure to be closed and restarted.
With launch deadlines approaching and revenue about to begin, delays were costly.
Through founder recommendations, including entrepreneurs in the Antler ecosystem, Karan was introduced to Osome.
The difference was immediate. Within days, a new Singapore entity was set up, and the company could move forward with clarity. Instead of spending founder energy chasing paperwork, Karan could focus on product, customers, and launch execution.
Osome was really helpful, even walking me through the pitfalls I needed to be aware of.
The Operational Backbone Behind Growth
As an early-stage startup operating across markets, UpNComer needed more than incorporation support. It needed finance and governance systems that could keep pace with growth. Osome helped bring pre-incorporation expenses and software development costs into the new Singapore entity, creating a cleaner starting point. As invoices, subscriptions, and international costs increased, the bookkeeping and accounting teams helped keep records current and manageable.
On the corporate secretarial side, resolutions, share issuances, and routine governance matters were handled quickly, giving Karan confidence that important decisions were compliant and properly documented.
For a founder managing teams across Singapore, Canada, and India, that support translated directly into time and momentum.
In a regular month, Osome probably saves me easily 20 hours, if not more.
What might otherwise have gone into admin, research, or back-office troubleshooting could instead be reinvested into building product, growing users, and fundraising.
Build What Matters — Karan’s Advice to Founders
Karan sees a parallel between what UpNComer does for musicians and what strong operating partners do for founders. Both remove friction so talented people can spend more time where they create the most value.
His advice to new founders is straightforward: obsess over what truly moves the business forward, especially product quality and customer needs. Then automate, outsource, or streamline everything else as early as possible. That discipline becomes increasingly important as momentum builds.
Focus on what actually drives your business forward — your product and your customer needs — and outsource or streamline everything else as early as possible.
For UpNComer, the mission is to help artists build sustainable careers. For Karan, it is proof that founder energy is best spent creating growth, not managing avoidable friction.
