‘The addiction is real’: Why Hepmil co-founder Adrian Ang is obsessed with pickleball

[SINGAPORE] Adrian Ang – the co-founder of Singapore influencer agency Hepmil Media Group – cuts a pretty relaxed figure these days.

It’s a little over four months since the company made headlines when it was acquired by French advertising and public relations giant Publicis Groupe – a rare exit for a South-east Asian start-up and a deal that thrust Ang and his business partner and junior college classmate Karl Mak into the spotlight.

Work aside, the 39-year-old Ang readily admits he has a bit more time to indulge in his hobbies, chief of which is playing pickleball as often as five times a week. Less than a month after news of the acquisition broke, Ang opened Pickle & Bones, a covered pickleball court on the rooftop of Trifecta at Somerset.

“The addiction is real,” says the father-of-two with that trademark chuckle that launched him to fame over a decade ago at local social media website SGAG.

“As I was starting to play more often, I couldn’t help but wear the hat of an entrepreneur and think about what more I could do. One day I reached out to the founders of Trifecta whom I’ve known before, and after some discussions it led to me having this space to open a court.”

Ang is also part of a team that’s organising the first PickleX Cup (Finance Invitational) event at the Singapore Expo on March 26, with up to eight financial institutions involved.

BT Weekend met Ang on a sweltering weekday morning to watch him play a match with some friends. We chatted extensively about Hepmil and the acquisition, but these comments were later deemed to be off-the-record.

Over coffee, Ang – who’s still recovering from a knee operation in January – opens up about his love for pickleball and why he’s confident this sport will take off even further in the coming years.

How did you get started in pickleball?

It was not too long ago, actually. It was December 2024 and I was invited by a friend to take part in an invitational tournament for the media. I’ve heard about pickleball for a while before that but I never played, so I decided to give it a try and pick up a new sport.

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I’ve got a bit of a sports background, I played table tennis and other sports and I quickly realised I enjoyed pickleball too. And because this was a tournament, that competitive side of me kicked in and I went all out. My team actually ended up winning, so that felt really good.

And now you are playing regularly every week.

After the tournament, I gathered some friends and we are on the court a few times a week. It just gets more and more fun because it doesn’t matter what skill level you’re at – people of all backgrounds and abilities can get together and play a decent game.

There are other sports where the barriers to entry at the start can be quite high, but pickleball is different. It’s relatively easy for beginners like myself to pick it up after a short while.

What made you decide to open your own court?

I’ve never ventured into the sports business before, so this is a first for me. There’s nothing like having your own space to play, and to bring the community together. This is not just a pickleball court, but it’s a place where we can bring people together and they can stay for a long time, chill and hang out with friends or colleagues.

How did you come up with the name Pickle & Bones, and to have a skeleton as a mascot of sorts?

Probably the hardest thing to do when starting a business, is to come up with the right name. When I first thought about it, I asked myself why I was so invested in this space. I think people see me now as someone who is addicted to pickleball, that I will probably play until the day I die, or until I become a skeleton and all bones. So, yeah, that’s how the name came about and it has a nice ring to it.

What’s your plan for the PickleX Cup?

For a start, we will have this invitational for the finance sector, and all financial institutions have been invited to register a team and take part. We will have a total of eight teams to be involved on March 26. We’re also planning to organise a one-day finals tournament in the fourth quarter where we will crown the overall winners.

Were you always an active and sporty person?

I was in a phase where I was doing a lot of yoga, and I just wanted more peace and exercise, rather than activities with a lot of adrenaline.

And even now, while pickleball can be quite strenuous depending on how you play it, I see it as a sport that’s also quite friendly to the body. It’s not purely about one’s physical fitness, which may be needed if you, say, play tennis and you need a certain level of conditioning. For pickleball, if you play with some strategy, you don’t have to move a lot, but you can move in a smart way.