Inclus

Founded by Shaun Tan , Anders Tan and Arudra (Rudy) Vangal , Inclus began as a deeply personal journey. In 2018, the founders reconnected with Rudy—a close friend who has autism and was struggling to secure and sustain employment despite graduating with a diploma. While trying to help him find work in Singapore, they realized the challenge wasn’t only about one job search. It was also about caregivers asking the same terrifying question: “What will happen to my child after I’m gone?” Inclus now helps people with disabilities transition into adulthood through job training, placement, job support, andrt , while working with employers to build disability-inclusive hiring and workplaces.

What are they building?

Inclus is building an end-to-end support model that helps adults with disabilities move toward gainful employment and greater independence—while helping employers do inclusive employment sustainably.

Inclus runs train-and-place programs that prepare candidates, match them with roles, and support retention, while also creating job opportunities across industries through employer partnerships. Beyond employment, they offer community and enrichment programs that build life skills and confidence, and they work with employers on disability inclusion so hiring becomes sustainable, not performative.

The why?

Purple Parade 2025 | Inclus x inSchool

Inclus started with Rudy—but it didn’t stay there.

Shaun shares that when they first stepped into this work, they took time to understand what was happening beyond Singapore—traveling for months, meeting partners, and seeing that the barriers were global, not local. Rudy wasn’t just a “case” to design around—he became a powerful advocate, speaking to employers and partners in a way the other founders couldn’t replicate.

One of Shaun’s most memorable moments came from a caregiver, after a training program Inclus ran. She told him that before the program, most of her thoughts were focused on just one thing: she wanted to live one day longer than her child , because she couldn’t imagine a future for them beyond that. But after seeing consistent outcomes from the program, she said she was becoming open to the is something out there for her child—and that even though “hope can be a scary thing,” she was starting to let herself feel it.

For Inclus, that’s the work: not only supporting people with disabilities, but also helping caregivers find room to breathe—and rebuild a future that doesn’t feel impossible.

SEED Inclusivity Program Journey

After years of building in the disability employment space, Shaun says SIGMA helped him do something surprisingly difficult: zoom out.

He shared that SIGMA was useful in two specific ways: it “connects the dots” across scattered thoughts, helping structure decisions faster, and it created new perspectives by keeping questions open-ended—surfacing angles he hadn’t considered before, like viewing an employment service through a healthcare model , and then using that lens to rethink personas and pitching.

He also described the bootcamp as unusually authentic and inclusive—speakers shared from real experience without being overly prescriptive, and discussions were facilitated in a way that felt curated, personal, and safe for founders to process and learn from each other.

Recent Achievements

Reported early impact from initial train-and-place runs: 14 out of 20 participants placed into jobs after the first training run

Recognized in regional impact ecosystems through awards and profiles

Continued growth as a disability-focused employment and inclusion provider in Singapore’s ecosystem, supporting both jobseekers and employers

“She said that she started growing more open—and because hope can be a scary thing—she started growing more open to maybe there’s something out there in the future for her child.”

— Shaun Tan, Co-Founder of Inclus