How Evans Ngu is Tackling Gen Z Loneliness With StepOut

On most days, Evans Ngu can be found in Edinburgh balancing a patchwork life of part-time work and late-night brainstorming sessions. His current focus is StepOut, a startup built to help Gen Z tackle loneliness and live more connected lives. The idea grew out of his first venture, UNIque, which began as a university club and societies centred platform built to encourage student engagement

It is not the most predictable place for a mechanical engineering graduate to end up. Evans spent five years at Heriot-Watt, beginning in Cyberjaya and finishing with a master’s degree in Scotland, and along the way discovered a passion for systems, people, and business that extended far beyond his coursework. 

“I think university has always been more than the academic experience for me,” he reflected. “It has been about meeting people and stepping out of your comfort zone.” 

For Evans, the story has always been about accountability, adaptability, and aiming higher than what feels safe. 

The Call to Accountability 

At Nobel International School, Evans was not the student most would have picked to one day run a startup. Much of his secondary school life was taken up by video games and a sense that the days would roll on forever. That illusion broke in Year 11 when he realised how little time he had left. 

“It only dawned on me a quarter of the way in that I was in Year 11 and it was the final year of high school. That was really crazy,” he recalled. Growing up in an Asian household with high expectations, he decided he had to take responsibility. He went to his parents with a clear message: “I understand why you guys were nagging at me this entire time. And I have a plan now. I just need you to trust me on it.” 

Engineering was never his first love. He had always been curious about business, but carried the notion that it was too easy. Engineering, by contrast, seemed difficult and respectable. “I heard that engineering was a really hard thing, and also that you’re going to get a lot of money from it, which was the obvious lie.” 

His choice was less about passion and more about proving himself. Ironically, Heriot-Watt was the only university that would accept him into its foundation in science without mathematics in Year 11. That quirk of entry requirements set the course for the next five years of his life. 

Heriot-Watt and the LinkedIn Shift 

Evans began his foundation year at Heriot-Watt’s Cyberjaya campus before moving into a degree in mechanical engineering. At first, he felt out of place among classmates who spoke passionately about cars and machinery. “I didn’t know much about engineering, to be honest. I kind of just figured it out along the way,” he said. 

Passion, he soon discovered, was not the deciding factor. “One thing I learned is that although passion is a good driver, it is discipline and mental focus that get you through hard situations,” he explained. Success, for him, came less from interest and more from resilience. 

COVID-19 then hit during his first year. With months of lockdown and little to do, Evans found himself idle until he stumbled onto LinkedIn. “I logged in for the first time and started seeing what everyone else was doing. I was like, wow, I’m so behind compared to everyone.” 

The shock pushed him into student life. Though rejected in early attempts to join the student council, he persisted, moving from subcommittee work to eventually being elected Vice President of Wellbeing. By his third year, he was running events and introducing new initiatives across campus. 

The workload came at a cost. “There were times when I even told my parents that family was my lowest priority. I eventually regretted it, but at that time, I just felt it was the perfect time to do all this.” 

Despite the sacrifices, Evans marks this period as the one that shaped him most. The university became a testing ground not just for academics, but also for learning to lead, build, and step out of one's comfort zone. It was also the seedbed for his later interest in student engagement, which would grow into UNIque. 

From Robotics Labs to Bartending Shifts 

Engineering itself gave Evans a foundation, but it was his internships and part-time jobs that opened his eyes to how wide the world really was. In Malaysia, he spent time at OA R&D and KUKA Robotics, one of the leading robotic brands in the world. At KUKA, he was struck by the scale of the machines and the precision needed to keep them running. “It kind of lifts a cover over your eyes. These hundred-thousand-ringgit machines are going in the background, and when they break down, you need people to fix them.” 

The move to Edinburgh for his master’s added another layer. His final-year project required him to build the arm of a robot from scratch. For someone who had always preferred simulations and digital modelling, it was a steep learning curve. “I had never built anything in my life, to be honest. It was a lot of trial and error.” 

Outside the classroom, Evans worked a remarkable range of jobs. From sorting mail at Royal Mail to bartending, each role gave him a different perspective. “My answer has always been the same when they ask me why I want the job. I eventually want to own a business. These jobs are going to open my eyes to how the world works,” he said. 

The job he stayed with the longest was as a property assistant, where event management responsibilities turned into opportunities to streamline systems. He built automated functions for the back end, designed websites, and proposed improvements that management 

adopted. It was, he admitted, one of the most valuable workplaces for learning how initiative translates into results. 

Across robotics labs and service jobs, Evans pieced together lessons that were not available in textbooks: how businesses function, how systems break down, and how people interact. Each experience became another building block in his understanding of the kind of entrepreneur he wanted to be. 

From UNIque to StepOut: Tackling Loneliness Beyond Campus

The seed for UNIque was planted during his master’s year in the UK. A government survey revealed that 92% of UK university students reported experiencing loneliness, yet fewer than half participated in clubs and societies. Having spent much of his time at Heriot-Watt involved in student engagement, Evans saw a gap that was not being addressed. 

The first iteration of UNIque was built as a social media for clubs and societies, with features like club trailers, anonymous FAQs, and file management systems. But testing revealed the issue was larger than societies. For many young people, socialising carries what Evans calls “social suicide”: the fear of rejection, judgment, or overcommitting. Combined with Gen Z’s rising social anxiety, even small interactions can feel overwhelming.

So the team pivoted. UNIque evolved into StepOut, a platform designed to make everyday connections easier. Users can write down things they want to do (Dream), make them happen with friends (Live), and save memories afterward (Cherish). A distinctive feature is the social battery, which lets people signal whether their social energy, normalising that it’s okay to need space while still staying connected. In Evans’ words, “Sometimes the commitment of setting up a whole event is too much. We want to make it simple for people just to see what their friends are thinking of doing and take it from there.”

The project is still in development, but UNIque StepOut has already undergone incubators, coaching programmes, and rounds of feedback that have helped sharpen its focus. For Evans, the goal is clear: build it to the point where it qualifies for a UK founder’s visa, which would allow him to remain in the country and continue scaling. 

Ambition Without Apology 

When asked about his ultimate dream, Evans answers with a grin: “Billionaire by 50.” It is partly a joke, but partly a reflection of how he has always approached life: setting goals high enough that even falling short would leave him further than if he had aimed lower. “There’s this quote my president used to say in university. If you set your goals really high and work towards them, even if you fail, you end up in a better position than if you had set them really low,” he explained. 

That mindset goes back to the lessons of Year 11, when he first took accountability, and to the years since, filled with roles, rejections, pivots, and discoveries. It is also inspired by his father, whose relentless work ethic provided a model of perseverance. 

For Evans, success is not about passion alone, but about consistency and mindset. “Passion is a good driver, but it is discipline and focus that get you through hard situations,” he said. 

“Effort never goes to waste. Even if you don’t end up where you dream, you end up somewhere. You learn a lesson or you find an opportunity.” 

Whether Step Out succeeds in its current form or evolves into something new, Evans remains set on building businesses that matter, chasing ambitious targets, and never apologising for aiming higher than what feels safe.