How Dreamcore managed overseas supplier payments during a year of rapid growth

Dreamcore buys processors, graphics cards and motherboards from suppliers abroad, and pays for them from a WorldFirst World Account.

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Dreamcore is a Singapore company that designs, builds and supports custom PCs, professional workstations and AI servers. Every system is assembled and tested at its DreamCentre in Singapore, which also handles servicing and upgrades.

Computer hardware

Singapore

432%

Dreamcore's net sales growth in 2024. Its overseas supplier payments ran through the World Account that year

revenue in 2020, as demand for home-office PCs rose

9 years

paying overseas suppliers through WorldFirst, from single gaming PCs to AI servers

Introducing Dreamcore: from 17 PCs to servers built for AI

Shaun Tan left a career in banking to build computers. He had found American cases that fitted powerful machines into very small boxes, took the idea to an established Singapore PC company, then heard nothing back, so he brought it to market himself. At his first IT show in 2017 he sold 17 machines, he also met the two people who would become his co-founders, Eugene Lim and Kwan Wei Zhong.

Dreamcore now builds from a 10,000 sq ft site in Singapore called the DreamCentre, where customers can watch their machines being built through glass walls. More than 1,000 five-star reviews have followed. The range runs from gaming desktops to professional workstations and the AI servers businesses now want in their own offices.

Revenue more than doubled in 2020 as people set up home offices, with headcount rising by about 50% in the same year. In 2024, net sales grew by 432%.

“We created Singapore's smallest custom PC using off-the-shelf components, three to four times smaller than competitors. We innovated on existing market offerings to provide better products, service, and support.”

Shaun Tan

Founder and CEO, Dreamcore

The challenge: more sales meant more payments to suppliers abroad

Every Dreamcore machine is made up of hundreds of parts: processors, graphics cards, motherboards, memory, power supplies, and cases. Many of those parts come from suppliers outside Singapore, so every build starts with an international payment.

When sales grow quickly, those payments grow with them. Dreamcore has to buy more parts, in larger orders, from more suppliers, and pay for them before it can build and deliver what customers have ordered. If a payment is slow to reach a supplier, the parts are slow to ship, and the customer waits longer for their machine.

Supply was tight as well. During one global parts shortage, Dreamcore bought extra stock in advance, but orders still outpaced what it could get. When the chips are down, in Dreamcore's case literally, a late payment can mean losing stock to another buyer.

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The solution: a World Account for paying suppliers abroad

Dreamcore has paid its overseas suppliers from a WorldFirst World Account since 2017. The World Account is a business account that holds money in several currencies. Dreamcore can convert Singapore dollars into the currency a supplier invoices in, then pay that supplier directly from the same account.

Tan chose WorldFirst for its fees and its transparency. Before each payment, the team sees the exchange rate and the fee, so they know what an order of parts will cost before the money leaves. Payments in major currencies typically arrive the same day or the next.

The account works the same way for a small order of graphics cards as for a large order of server parts. For a team that builds machines all day, paying a supplier has become plug and pay. For larger orders, they can also set a target exchange rate and let the conversion run automatically when the market reaches it.

“We faced a massive shortage in inventory, but thankfully we had anticipated supply shocks and pre-bought substantial inventory. Despite this, demand still exceeded supply, extending our lead time for order fulfillment.”

Shaun Tan

Founder and CEO, Dreamcore

The result: supplier payments that kept pace with record growth

Dreamcore's busiest years put more pressure on its supplier payments than ever, and the World Account handled every stage of that growth.

432%

Dreamcore's net sales growth in 2024. Its overseas supplier payments ran through the World Account that year

revenue in 2020, as demand for home-office PCs rose

9 years

paying overseas suppliers through WorldFirst, from single gaming PCs to AI servers

“The partnership with WorldFirst has made the world a little bit smaller. Efficiency and speed are paramount in our business. Quick payment turnaround times lead to faster deal closures, and we are assured of successful transactions, giving us peace of mind.”

Shaun Tan

Founder and CEO, Dreamcore

By switching to WorldFirst, Dreamcore made paying overseas suppliers a routine task, even in its biggest year. The team spends its time building and selling machines while the parts keep arriving. If your business buys from suppliers abroad, a World Account lets you hold the currencies they want, see the cost before you pay, and pay them directly.

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How Dreamcore managed overseas supplier payments during a year of rapid growth

9 years

paying overseas suppliers through WorldFirst, from single gaming PCs to AI servers

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