In a competitive and largely fragmented industry like dental care, where trust, compliance, and expertise are critical, being a late mover can sometimes provide a unique edge.

In this episode, we go on call with Ryan Teo, CEO and Co-founder of Dr. Clear Aligners, to discuss how his team strategically navigated the clear aligner market to build trust, leverage data, and innovate patient care. In just four years, Dr. Clear has successfully expanded into seven global markets—from Malaysia to the UK and Australia—without relying on external capital in the early stages.

Ryan shares how the team differentiated itself:

1. Focusing on post-treatment monitoring technology to simplify care and build lasting partnerships with clinics.
2. Choosing Malaysia as its second market, where a strong tech and operational backbone laid the foundation for scaling across markets.
3. Avoiding pitfalls that early movers faced in prioritizing speed over quality and compliance.

Now venture-backed and looking to enter South Asia and the Middle East, Dr. Clear Aligners is proving that in dental care, trust and quality are king—and “starting late” can be a competitive advantage.

Tune in to learn how Dr. Clear Aligners is transforming smiles globally while staying true to its patient-first philosophy.

Timestamps

(00:03) Highlights;

(01:57) The “Late Mover” Advantage;

(05:45) The Roots of Dr Clear’s Global Expansion Across Seven Markets and Beyond;

(13:56) Ryan’s Approach to Leadership and Fundraising;

The “Late Mover” Advantage

Paulo: So maybe we can start off with you sharing how exactly you decided to start Dr. Clear Aligners.

Ryan: It was during the pandemic in 2020. I was running a marketing company at that time. At the same time, I wanted to provide a healthcare plus aesthetic service product that would be easily accessible to everyone. That’s when I chanced upon Clear Aligners.

I approached people I knew in the manufacturing industry, the plastic industry, and the dental industry to gain more knowledge. Then, we transitioned to clear aligners and launched the product within just one month.

Paulo: Wow. That’s pretty fast.

Ryan: I would say it was pretty fast compared to the speed right now. Previously, the scale was just me, Kevin, and Jaden. But now, we have a huge team, and we need to have a lot of meetings before execution.

Paulo: Would you say you were a complete outsider to the industry before building this out?

Ryan: Yes, I was a complete outsider, except for the marketing part.

Paulo: Oh, except for the marketing. Okay. So you did have experience marketing related products in that industry.

I think what’s really interesting about Dr. Clear Aligners’ journey is that it started during the pandemic in 2020—four years ago. By the time you introduced this to the market, there were already existing tech-enabled clear aligner platforms that I’m sure some of our listeners may know.

For you and Dr. Clear, how did you think about differentiation? Especially in that one-month sprint to launch—was that something you thought about, or did you develop that over time? And was there an advantage to actually coming “late” into the game?

Ryan: Before we developed the tech, we monitored photos virtually and collected all the patient data. But all of this was done without tech.

Over six to eight months, as we gathered patient data, we realized we should really build some technology to automate this process. We were the first AI-enabled clear aligners in the world. Of course, there were other brands offering similar tech, but they were leveraging other tech companies instead of developing everything themselves.

Paulo: And to my earlier question about coming late into the game—we always talk about the advantages of being an early mover or first mover. But what about not being the first mover? Were there any advantages to that positioning for you?

Ryan: Coming late into the game gave us a huge advantage over other D2C players.

Ninety-five percent of D2C players treat this product like an OTC product, which causes a lot of complications without medical professionals prescribing the treatment. You only start seeing these effects after two to three years because this is not a treatment you can take and complete within a week.

From day one, our treatment required dentists or orthodontists to prescribe it before patients could purchase our clear aligners.

At the start, we only handled simple cases instead of class two, class three, and more complex cases. But now, we can address all types of cases.

Paulo: Oh, wait, that’s an interesting point. You didn’t try to solve all the different types of use cases for clear aligners initially. Instead, you focused on the basic ones. I didn’t know there was segmentation when it comes to these use cases.

Ryan: Yes, at the beginning, we couldn’t really handle all cases. We were working through partner clinics, and the dentists didn’t fully trust us.

We also didn’t have a full team of orthodontic support. So, we focused on minimizing risks and doing what we could instead of trying to handle all cases.

Paulo: So there was a clear intention to include that in the journey and automate that part of the process. As you mentioned, initially, it used to be manual.

The Roots of Dr Clear’s Global Expansion Across Seven Markets and Beyond

Paulo: I think another notable aspect of Dr. Clear Aligners’ journey is the global expansion—seven markets in four years, which is no small feat. And without any kind of outside capital.

I’m very curious, and I’m sure our audience is as well, since they’re more used to venture-backed, multi-market scaling. How did you guys approach market expansion in terms of timing and building inroads into the dental care ecosystem? Maybe you can start with the first market outside of Singapore. What was the second market, essentially?

Ryan: The second market outside of Singapore is Malaysia. It was one of the best moves for us because right now, most of our team is based in Malaysia. Malaysians are fluent in English, Chinese, and Cantonese, which made market expansion here less of a stretch compared to having more headcount in Singapore, Hong Kong, or Australia.

That’s why, at the same time, we rapidly expanded to the UK, Australia, and Hong Kong while leveraging the infrastructure and tech team in Malaysia.

Paulo: So expanding into Malaysia actually laid the groundwork for you to enter markets like Hong Kong and Australia. And even today, Malaysia remains one of your key markets, right?

Ryan: Yes, Malaysia is our key market, followed by Thailand. We also have our own manufacturing grounds in Malaysia and Thailand.

Paulo: You’ve segmented the different markets you’re in, with Malaysia and Thailand having manufacturing. How else do you segment the markets you expand into? Are there certain markets where you only partner, versus markets where you set up your own flagship clinics?

Ryan: In most of our markets, we want our flagship clinics to be there to really manage the end-to-end process. 

But for places like Singapore, Australia, or even New Zealand, we don’t want to set up production because the overhead there is too high. It doesn’t make financial sense for us to establish too much manufacturing ground there.

Paulo: At this point, you’re mostly in East Asia and ANZ. What’s next in terms of your expansion plans?

Ryan: South Asia and the Middle East are definitely part of our expansion plans. The Middle East doesn’t currently have a direct-to-consumer aligner brand, but we see the market growing tremendously over there for other aligner players.

We’re still exploring various options to penetrate the market. Instead of opening our own flagship clinics there, we are considering partnerships with the top clinic chains in the Middle East.

We’ve also made some connections with the Middle Eastern government through Insignia.

Paulo: We’ve definitely seen interest in Middle East expansion among some of our Insignia portfolio companies. We’re definitely trying to set up those bridges for them, Dr. Clear included.

Earlier, we mentioned that a key differentiation for Dr. Clear is its focus on post-treatment monitoring. Maybe you can dive deeper into how this strengthens Dr. Clear’s positioning—not just for customers, but also for the clinics you partner with to distribute clear aligners.

Ryan: The most important thing is that we don’t need an additional device for monitoring, either from the doctor or the patient. That’s a very important aspect of the system because it makes the process convenient for both providers and customers.

Other systems require an additional device to be tagged to your phone, which complicates things. It also means the doctor has to sell another product, which is the device itself.

This approach can lead to dropout rates, but for us, it’s very convenient. You just download an app and immediately use it.

Paulo: This also creates a unique scenario where monitoring could happen cross-border. Is that right?

Ryan: Yes, we have many local customers in Malaysia who work in Australia, the UK, or even the States. Through our technology, we’re able to monitor the progress of their treatment and deliver the perfect smile.

This happens despite the patient being far from the clinic where they had their initial checkup or fitting.

Paulo: So it’s a form of healthcare tourism that you’re enabling, which is quite interesting.

Another interesting aspect of Dr. Clear Aligners is the development of your own flagship clinics. Not a lot of tech-enabled players venture into that. What was behind this decision? Was it purely to own the whole process and have more control, or were there other factors?

Ryan: First of all, we want to own the entire ecosystem—from manufacturing to distribution to fitting the aligners.

We also want to be in charge of the entire customer experience flow, from the time they inquire about the aligners until they complete the treatment. Customer experience is very important nowadays, in every kind of business.

Paulo: How do you balance setting up your own clinics with the ecosystem of partners that you have?

Ryan: We launched a DCA Pro B2B aligner system for partner clinics to differentiate it from our direct-to-customer aligners. This way, both B2C and B2B revenue segments can grow simultaneously.

DCA Pro requires doctors to supervise the treatment in person monthly, which means many of them don’t use the DCA treatment monitoring app.

Sometimes, dentists prefer to take full control of the treatment because they don’t fully trust the technology. This is the easiest way for us to penetrate both the B2B and B2C segments.

Paulo: Apart from setting up flagship clinics and launching a B2B arm, you have another strategy to roll out the adoption of your clear aligners.

Ryan: Yes, we recently acquired the most luxurious dental chain in Malaysia, which has a total of 30 super general practitioners and specialists.

With this support, combined with our marketing strength and ability to acquire patients, we’re launching our franchise in Q1 next year.

Paulo: That’s something our listeners can look forward to. If you’re listening to this podcast and know anyone interested in this program, maybe you can reach out to Ryan.

We’ve covered a lot of aspects that make Dr. Clear Aligners quite interesting, especially as a venture-backed company. I also wanted to focus on the overall global dental care opportunity. Since Dr. Clear is a global company, what role do you play in this global opportunity?

Ryan: We always position ourselves not just as a Southeast Asia player. We aim to expand our services across Asia and the Middle East.

We chose Southeast Asia as a stepping stone because we’re familiar with how business works here. It’s a starting point before we launch our proprietary system globally, especially in South Asia and the Middle East.

Paulo: What are your views on the competitive landscape, especially with the emergence of tech-enabled clear aligners or clear aligner disruptors?

Ryan: The global dentistry market is changing very fast. Large corporations are acquiring aligner players while also shutting down their aligner brands in some markets.

This shift gives us room to grow. Large dental corporations are still afraid of new players entering the market. In the future, I think more dental companies will approach us for funding or even buyouts.

Ryan’s Approach to Leadership and Fundraising

Paulo: That should be quite interesting. Greater consolidation, as you have more of these smaller, emerging players coming in, could be an opportunity for Dr. Clear in either direction. That will be something to look out for in the next few years.

I also wanted to know more about you as a leader. Having led and grown Dr. Clear Aligners, you mentioned earlier that it’s a lot more complex now. Before, it was just the three of you co-founders, but now you’re managing a whole organization.

Any challenges in the past three to four years that you overcame while growing Dr. Clear?

Ryan: In the beginning, a lot of players in this industry—like dentists or even suppliers—didn’t trust us because we weren’t from the industry.

But two years later, we were invited to be part of associations, and more dentists came to us, wanting to join. They used to call us “DIY aligners,” but now most dentists and industry players know our brand. Many dentists now love to join us.

Paulo: It’s always interesting when you manage to change the minds of an entire industry, and really, the proof is in the pudding, so to speak.

Obviously, that is no small feat. You mentioned earlier that you had help—your founding team and your growing organization. Speaking of your co-founders, how do you complement each other’s strengths as a team?

Ryan: I’m more focused on the BD (business development) side and marketing. Jayden handles operations, and Kevin focuses on compliance.

Everyone has their own area of expertise. Even though we have different opinions sometimes, we always find common ground to execute the plan.

Paulo: I’m curious—how did you know your co-founders? Were you already friends with them and then invited them to build this together?

Ryan: Jayden and I have been friends for 15 years. Kevin was my business partner. I’ve known him for about seven to eight years.

Paulo: So there’s already that foundation of trust in the team, and obviously, that’s very important.

Finally, we’ve been emphasizing throughout this conversation how Dr. Clear has achieved so much without raising external funding. But ultimately, you decided to fundraise four years in.

What made you decide to enter the fundraising market? And how has becoming a venture-backed company shaped you as a leader? Has it influenced your mindset when it comes to growing Dr. Clear?

Ryan: The main reason for fundraising was that I wanted the team to have more stakes in the company. I thought that would keep everyone motivated and working towards the same goal.

Another reason is that, before fundraising, I could say my company was worth 200 or 300 million, but there was no real validation to back that value. With venture backing, the value becomes more tangible, and we can convince the team that we’re building something significant.

A lot of people used to think we were just building for profit—like a traditional brick-and-mortar business where earnings are split at the end of the year.

Paulo: And how was your experience meeting Insignia and working with the team?

Ryan: Before meeting Insignia, I met with a couple of VCs and PEs. Yinglan and Yongcheng—especially Yinglan—gave me a strong connection and really convinced me to have them as part of Dr. Clear instead of choosing other VCs or PEs. At that point, I had two other term sheets on the table, but we decided to go with Insignia.

We made the right choice because they have been super supportive of what we’re doing. They’ve made a lot of introductions to government agencies, other funds, and even some of your portfolio companies.

For example, right now, we’re working with one of your portfolio companies in Thailand to grow the market there as well.