TECH PLANTER(en)

Judges from 2020

• Dr. Yukihiro MaruFounder and CEO, Leave a Nest Group

  profile

  Founder of Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. is a leading knowledge based platform company in Japan. The company is comprised of Mastersʼ and Doctorate degree holders. Leave a Nest works on extensive projects relating to Science and Technology. Dr. Maru has great experience in supporting startups. One of the startups he was supporting called Euglena Co., Ltd. was listed in the First section of Tokyo Stock exchange. He is an expert in advising young entrepreneur in business development and venture spirit.

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  Mr. Yoshikazu UeharaManaging Director, Mitsui Chemicals Singapore R&D Centre, Pte. Ltd.

  profile

  Mitsui Chemicals Inc. is one of the diversified companies in Japan and providing wide variety of chemicals and polymers globally. It will help build a better future society across five business domains, Mobility, Health Care, Food & Packaging, Next Generation Businesses and Basic Materials. Mr. Uehara is charge of new business development from Asia Pacific. He is looking for new business opportunities making best use of open innovation in connection with Mitsui Chemicals' proprietary technologies.

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  Mr. Akitaka Wilhelm FujiiPresident, Real Tech Holdings, Inc.

  profile

  As President of Real Tech Holdings, Mr. Fujii drives the company’s mission to solve societal and environmental challenges through innovative deep-tech technologies. The company has four venture capital funds under management, with one specifically focusing on South East Asia. Prior to joining Real Tech Holdings, Mr. Fujii worked for EIT Climate-KIC, EU’s largest organization fostering climate innovation. He was involved in setting up several business units, led a company-wide change management program focusing on people management and managed the company’s effort to assess its climate impact. Mr. Fujii holds a Master's degree in International Studies from the University of Tokyo.

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  Mr. Daisuke NishidePhilippine Branch Manager, Sun* Inc

  profile

  Started tech career at LIFULL Co. Ltd., and involved in the product development for “HOME’S” which is one of largest real estate portal websites in Japan. After that first career, supported several startup products especially in the seed stage. Joined Sun* Inc. in 2016, and is currently in charge of management of the Filipino branch both for software development and tech talent development.

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  Mr. Satoshi YamanakaSenior Manager, Centre for Future Innovation, Mitsubishi Electric

  profile

  Mr. Satoshi Yamanaka joined Mitsubishi Electric in 1998. He had developed high quality picture technologies for Mitsubishi Electric products such as TV and Diamond Vision in Advanced Technology R&D Center for thirteen years. He moved to the department driving open innovation four years ago and exploring new technologies to upgrade their products and services for future market.

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  Mr. Norio AsaharaRegional Research & Development Director, Glico Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.

  profile

  Glico manufactures not only confectionery and ice cream, but also a wide range of food categories such as beverages, dairy products, processed foods and baby milk powder. Mr. Asahara Is the director of research and development in Asia Pacific, and is looking for new research partners with Glico as well as technical support, investment and also opportunities for collaboration in various patterns such as a buyer of new ingredients. He is responsible for new business in Asia Pacific.

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  Mr. Atsushi WatanabeBranch General Manager, Toyo Seikan Group Holdings Ltd. Singapore Branch

  profile

  We produce food and beverage packaging in a variety of materials including glass, metal, plastic and paper for over 100 years. In 2019, we established a branch office in Singapore to develop our company’s innovative capacity through interdisciplinary collaboration and active participation in local innovation ecosystems. Mr. Watanabe has many experience in prototyping and mass production launch. He is an expert in product design and production technology. Packaging has always evolved to keep pace with the changing needs of daily life. We will continue to evolve in response to changes in the natural environment and societal demands. We are especially interested in Agri-tech, Food-tech, Eco-tech, Ed-tech, Healthcare, and Digital Tools that chart a path towards a better future for everyone.

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  Mr. Bobby NgorVice President of Incubate & Startup Management, A*ccelerate

  profile

  Bobby is the Vice President of Investment & Spin-off Management Division (ISM), at AccelerateTechnologies Pte Ltd where he supports and mentors A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) start-ups and manages A*STAR portfolio companies. Prior to joining Accelerate Tech, Bobby worked in several industries including aerospace, telecom, IT, and smart-home/office automation. He also set up several companies, including two in the telecom and one in the smart-home/office automation industries. Bobby graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1984 with an engineering degree in electrical/electronic and an MBA in international business and marketing in 1995. He also spent some time living and working in UK, USA and China from which he gained valuable insights into different cultures and business practices.

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  Mr. Edwin ChowAssistant Chief Executive Officer, Enterprise Singapore

  profile

  Edwin Chow is the Assistant Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Singapore. In this role, Edwin and his colleagues will work to ensure that Singapore becomes a centre of market-led innovation projects, targeting our international markets. This will result in a strong base of startups, SMEs and larger local companies developing and commercializing new products and solutions, creating value and jobs in Singapore. His previous roles at Enterprise Singapore include driving the agency’s efforts to strengthen SMEs in the Manufacturing & Engineering sectors, supporting the growth of Singapore’s startup ecosystem. Edwin oversees the investment arm of Enterprises Singapore, SEED Capital Pte Ltd. Before joining Enterprise Singapore, Edwin spent 8 years with the Economic Development Board in a range of portfolios, including 4 years as EDB’s Centre Director in Milan covering Italy, Switzerland and Spain.

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  Mr. Raymond ChoongPartner, Focus Tech Ventures

  profile

  Raymond has an extensive strategic and hands-on financial and operational experience working with technology companies. He also has in-depth knowledge in a broad range of technologies. His main interests are with early to middle stage high-tech companies. Raymond had close to 30 years of experience in operations and finance. Prior to this, he was with Ooredoo Group (OG), a Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) - linked company, and also with Singapore Technologies Telemedia (STT), a Temasek-linked company. Raymond has been a serial mentor at various accelerator programs including UOB’s Finlab, the Airmarker Accelerator, PSA Unboxed, and Taiwan’s Starfab and AI x Robotics Accelerator (TAIRA).Raymond was also on the panel of judges for the 2016 ~ 2019 Singapore Digital (Techblazer Awards (Formerly Singapore Infocomm Technology Federation (SiTF)).

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  Mr. John ChengFounder of Innovate 360 and Director Cheng Yew Heng Candy Factory Pte. Ltd.

  profile

  John Cheng is the 3rd generation family business owner of an established food company. In 2017, he spearheaded the development of Innovate 360, a 90,000sqf food factory and in 2018, he launched Singapore’s first food Incubator with facilities to help startups access mentorship, expertise, funding and sales channels. John chairs and co- founded Feed 9 Billion and helped launch the Singapore Edition of the Good Food Startup Manual. He also heads the entrepreneur division of the Singapore Manufacturer Federation’s Youth Network Committee and is an executive committee member of SCCCI’s Youth Business Affairs Committee. In 2019, he was one of the 20 “Future Shaper” honorees at The Peak’s 35th Anniversary and listed in Prestige Magazine’s 40 Under 40.

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  Mr. Yu Sarn ChiewFounding Partner/Co-Managing Partner, Yusarn Audrey

  profile

  Yu Sarn Chiew is the co-managing partner of Yusarn Audrey, a specialised IP law firm based in Singapore. Yu Sarn’s areas of practice include corporate and commercial law, intellectual property law, and technology law, with a specific focus on the commercialization of IP. He advises on IP-based mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions, IP strategic planning and IP governance and policy, and helps his clients enhance their in-house IP management capabilities through training and coaching. Yu Sarn is also an accredited Certified Licensing Professional (CLP). In 2019 and 2020, Yu Sarn was recognised in the IAM 300 list of the world’s leading IP strategists. He currently co-chairs the LES Asia-Pacific Committee and the LESI High- Growth Enterprise Task Force 2020-2021.

Finalists for 2020 Season

• Cellivate Technologies

  Theme: Accelerating clean meat technologies. Issues: Currently clean meats are extremely costly and time consuming to produce. Solution: Custom coating to help cells grow faster and adhere better. Uniqueness: Proprietary nanotech based coating that enables cells to accelerate their growth by 2x to 4x.

• Austria Nova

  Theme: Living cell encapsulation. Issues: To avoid immune rejection, cell therapies use the patient’s own cells, limiting their use and making them expensive and potentially unsafe. Probiotics and microbiota need refrigerated storage and are destroyed by stomach acid. Solution: Live cell encapsulation using patented encapsulation technologies. Uniqueness: Cellulose based encapsulation where cells can actively divide.

• CytoMed

  Theme: Cell therapy product for cancer immunotherapy. Issues: Lack of infinite starting material for the production of broad-spectrum, high-quality and efficacious cell therapy product for cancer treatment. Solution: iPSC as an ideal and infinite starting material to generate a novel, safe (without gene editing), universal, broad spectrum “off-the-shelf” cell therapy product for cancer immunotherapy. Uniqueness: CytoMed has the know-how to generate a iPSC derived gd NKT cell hybrid product that can be used to target many cancers.

• Karana

  Theme: Plant based meat alternatives. Issues: Increasing reliance on intensive animal agriculture is causing huge problems related to public health and environmental issues. Solution: Use of underutilized crops, sustainability and textural profile and proprietary innovation and technology to make plant based meat. Uniqueness: Completely new way to process jackfruit and allows us to use this ingredient and others in the future in very novel ways.

• TRIA Bio24

  Theme: Waste management & circular economy. Issues: Using eco-friendly foodware (i.e. biodegradables or compostables) does not necessarily mean that the foodware is biodegraded or composted. Most of it is still burnt down in the incinerator or disposed of in the landfills. Solution: Development of Bio24, a table-to-farm solution that turns disposable dining foodware and food waste into compost in just 24 hours. Uniqueness: Proprietary technology that allows bioplastics to age rapidly, hence allowing them to break down 180x faster compared to industrial composting.

• VFLOW TECH

  Theme: Reliable storage solutions to unlock the full power of renewables. Issues: Renewable sources are intermittent and the generation from renewable are mostly at one time which creates energy imbalance across 24-hour cycle. Solution: Reinventing vanadium redox flow technology to develop the cheapest and most efficient modular vanadium redox flow batteries in the world. Uniqueness: The battery has a lifespan of 25 years and is one of the safest battery technology.

• Hand Plus Robotics

  Theme: Robotics for unstructured picking in logistics and manufacturing. Issues: Deploying robots is not easy. Many robot arms, grippers, and sensors to choose from in the market, each one having its own software and programming needs. Solution: Customisable plug & play system for picking. Uniqueness: AI enabled picking software.

• Lucent Wearables

  Theme: Smart glasses for paramedics. Issues: Paramedics do not have immediate access to medical records, histories and allergies when attending to a patient in an accident. Solution: Creating smart glasses that allows paramedics to access accident victims' medical history in one second. Uniqueness: Edge Computing to allow image recognition results of important information in just 1 second.

• WaveScan Technologies Pte. Ltd.

  Theme: Non-contact see through imaging scanner for use in construction, oil & gas industry. Issues: Inspection is laid back and reactive process. To promote proactive inspection to take place thus driving to a more resilient infrastructure ecosystem. Solution: Scanner which uses electromagnetic waves to pick up defects in places unseen. Uniqueness: The ability to use electromagnetic based scanning to perform non-contact scanning with see-through imaging.