Last week, Singapore-based cultivated seafood startup Umami Bioworks announced a merger with cell-based crustacean meat company Shiok Meats in a rather unexpected move. The deal raised many eyebrows as the alt-protein market is far from mature, and consolidation is many years away.

However, Umami CEO Mihir Pershad sees the merger as good and timely, allowing the two firms to establish a one-stop-shop for seafood incumbents wanting to adopt cultivated production.

Umami CEO Mihir Pershad spoke with e27 and shared the rationale behind the deal and how it will impact the alt-sea food industry in Southeast Asia.

Edited excerpts:

Can you tell us more about the motivation behind the merger between Umami Bioworks and Shiok Meats and how it positions the combined entity in the cultivated seafood industry?

As Umami began submitting its first regulatory dossiers and signing initial customers for production facilities in Q4 2023, we felt it was a good time to take a more strategic look at how the industry may evolve in the next few years and how we could position the company to be the partner of choice for incumbents looking to adopt a more sustainable production technology.

The merger with Shiok Meats stood out as an opportunity to bring together the IP, resources, and commercial progress of two pioneers in the sector to establish a leading platform for cultivated seafood.

This merger allows two companies with complementary strategic priorities in cultivated seafood to combine their resources, commercial relationships, and species pipelines to establish a leading platform that can be the one-stop-shop for seafood incumbents wanting to adopt cultivated production.

With Umami Bioworks leading the merged entity, what are the key strategies or initiatives you plan to implement to leverage the strengths of both companies and drive growth?

Umami has focused on International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)-listed fish species that are unsuited to commercial farming and are facing growing demand, including eel, tuna, snapper, grouper, and halibut, whereas Shiok Meats has prioritised work on crustaceans, including shrimp, crab, and lobster.

Together, these species represent a robust pipeline of several of the most at-risk and commercially desired seafood products.

Also Read: Alt-food revolution: A look at SEA’s growing demand for sustainable food

Further, Umami can now extend its platform technologies for screening, continuous production, and machine learning-based automation to the Shiok crustacean portfolio to accelerate the development of cell lines, production processes, and commercially ready products.

How do you envision the continuation of Shiok Meats’s work on crustaceans under Umami, and what potential impact do you foresee in addressing market demand and sustainability challenges?

We have seen a strong pull from the market, including our existing strategic partners, for cultivated crustacean options. We are committed to continuing the development of crustacean cell lines that enable scalable production.

Further, Umami’s priority has always been ETP (endangered, threatened, and protected) species that are unsuited to large-scale commercial farming and are facing growing demand. Crustaceans like lobster and crab are aligned with our strategic mandate.

With growing instability in crustacean supply and an increasing number of crustaceans being added to the IUCN Red List, we believe that creating a sustainable alternative to the current wild catch of crustaceans will be critical to preserving these species in the wild while meeting rapidly growing demand.

As per a news report, you plan to bring cultivated unagi and white fish to the market via hybrid product applications. Could you elaborate on the significance of these choices and the expected market reception?

We are initially planning to bring cultivated unagi (eel) and white fish (grouper) to the market, as these are the most advanced species in our pipeline and those for which we already have commitments from existing strategic partners. We selected unagi initially because it is an iconic and culturally important species in many Asian countries, and we believe that preserving this food heritage will be a strong element that can motivate consumer adoption.

Grouper, while also culturally important in many Asian countries, we selected for its versatility. Whitefish is the second largest category in seafood but includes a wide variety of culinary preparations and product formats, from fillets to smaller cuts. Grouper’s versatility will allow us to develop a range of products with multiple global food companies, establishing a more rapid path to scalability and offering a diverse range to consumers.

The cultivated seafood market is still in its early stages. How do you see this merger impacting the broader industry landscape in the APAC region?

Cultivated seafood as a sector is now on the cusp of commercialisation and initial scale-up. As the cultivated industry is starting to mature, we believe that M&As like this one are good for the industry, as they allow for the consolidation of IP and resources to accelerate commercialisation and scale-up.

Our goal with this merger was to establish a leading cultivated seafood platform globally and to become the partner of choice for seafood incumbents looking to adopt cultivated products. Umami will now have one of the deepest pipelines in the cultivated sector along with a licensing commercial model that will allow us rapid industry adoption that will be needed to increase seafood supply to meet expected demand growth over the coming two decades.

As the cultivated seafood sector progresses towards commercialisation, what are the main challenges or obstacles that Umami Bioworks anticipates, and how do you plan to address them?

Regulation and market access: Currently, the US is the only major market where cultivated products can be sold. Singapore and Israel are much smaller markets. Most food incumbents – and investors – want to see more markets available before they invest in establishing large-scale production and investing in category creation for cultivated.

Further, regulations to allow market testing of products with consumers are also unclear or unwritten in many markets, making it challenging to test products for acceptance and market fit.

Also Read: Shiok Meats wants to bring cruelty-free shrimp products to your dining table with its US$12.6M Series A

Umami is working closely with a number of government and industry bodies to accelerate the development of frameworks for market testing and commercialisation.

Consumer acceptance and education: Once cultivated seafood products are available for sale, we believe it will be essential to establish a clear identity for the category to help consumers understand what cultivated seafood can offer and why they should care. This is a critical and often overlooked aspect of building a new category and will require localised messaging based on market research into the desires and concerns of consumers in various regions.

Scale-up and industrialisation: Producing a few kilograms of cultivated fish is one thing. Producing it at scale, reliably, with rigorous quality and production standards is another. We call this industrialisation, and at Umami, we believe it is one of the most critical aspects to the success of cultivated seafood. This is partially an engineering challenge to ensure production systems are reliable and rigorously evaluated in a factory environment and partially a biology challenge, ensuring sufficient process controls to manage a bioproduction process in different seasons and climates and regional variations in supply chains.

Umami engages closely with strategic suppliers to bring production experts into the process design and validation phase in early scale-up. Then we specify those to ensure reproducibility between production sites.

With regard to regulatory approvals, what are the key considerations and milestones for Umami Bioworks as it prepares to launch its products in various markets, including Singapore, the US, and beyond?

In our view, the first major milestone is establishing a clear and comprehensive theory of safety that allows for transparent communication of risks, benefits, and mitigation or validation approaches, which is critical.

Also Read: Umami Meats secures US$2.4M seed funding to scale its cultivated seafood business in Singapore

With only three exceptions, most regulators worldwide do not have frameworks that have been used to approve products yet – and none have yet approved seafood – so establishing a roadmap with regulators is critical. Beyond that, conducting experiments and generating the data from the dossier is an ongoing set of milestones as our process continues to mature. We also work with regulators to clearly delineate what will be included in our initial dossier and to separate new technologies and approaches that may only be incorporated in the future.

How does Umami Bioworks plan to navigate the competitive landscape in the cultivated seafood industry, especially considering the emergence of other players and evolving consumer preferences?

The cultivated seafood sector is still nascent, with no products yet available in the market or approved by regulators. Given the immature state of the industry, we believe that the startups in this space have a shared challenge to successfully bring the first products to market and educate consumers about the category. The emergence of additional startups is not much of a concern today, as the seafood market is nearly US$200 billion globally, and we are all collectively capable of serving a small fraction of that in the next few years.

The broader challenge of establishing a category identity for cultivated seafood, determining the key factors to achieve product-market fit with consumers, and navigating the myriad regulatory regimes globally is far more critical.

Looking ahead, what are the key markets that Umami Bioworks aims to target, and what strategies will be employed to establish a strong presence and capture market share?

Due to clear regulatory frameworks and established regulatory review processes, Umami will initially focus on Singapore and the US. However, we see multiple key markets in Asia, including Japan, South Korea, and China, which have a tremendous appetite for priority species and growing seafood demand.

We are currently actively engaged with multiple regulators worldwide and are planning several regulatory dossier submissions this year.

Also Read: Shiok Meats CEO Sandhya Sriram to step down after merger with Umami Bioworks

Once we have completed the integration, we will also establish a clear roadmap for crustacean approvals that are in line with our customers’ market priorities.

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X marks Echelon. Join us at Singapore EXPO on May 15-16 for the 10th edition of Asia’s leading tech and startup conference. Enjoy 2 days of building connections with potential investors, partners, and customers, exploring innovation, and sharing insights with 8,000+ key decision-makers of Asia’s tech ecosystem. Get your tickets here.

Want more from your Echelon experience? Be an Echelon X sponsor or exhibitor. Send enquiry here.

This article was first published on March 18, 2024

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Visit Echelon X to learn more about the program. Get your tickets here!

Development of the digital ecosystem in Indonesia showing a positive result of growth. The growing number of internet users is the main factor of this growth. To support and empower the development of the digital ecosystem, real action from several institutions will be needed. The main goal of this ecosystem is to help tech companies and startups from early to mature stages reach their potential by implementing technology. A supportive and functional ecosystem can boost both technology and innovation development. 

In building a digital ecosystem, there are several challenges such as the need for a digital talent pool compounded with the difficulty in finding talent with digital skills, and equal distribution of internet access. Innovation hubs address key challenges in bringing support and resources to innovative organisations, fostering productivity by executing a well-thought-out blueprint. The goal is to allow the companies housed in these spaces to thrive.

Also read: Wallex: Driving business growth with secure cross-payments

To this extent, Sinar Mas Land has come up with an ambitious project designed to support the growing Indonesian, and subsequently, the Southeast Asian regional tech industry. Built almost a decade ago, over 40 tech companies and 700+ startups are housed inside the Digital Hub at BSD City. Case in point, Indonesian e-commerce company Sirclo has been part of BSD City’s Digital Hub ecosystem since 2018, among other notable names such as Microsoft, Traveloka, AWS, and Living Lab Ventures.

The Digital Hub envisions becoming the future technological ecosystem of Indonesia, comprising creative institutions, education, enterprises, talent development, startups, venture capital, as well as national and multinational companies.

More than a land development project, Digital Hub is a well-thought-out blueprint for innovation

Situated on a 26-hectare plot of land within the core of BSD Smart City’s Central Business District, Digital Hub is crafted as a sprawling, eco-friendly hub for tech commerce, which aims to serve as a centre for Indonesia’s upcoming innovators, enterprises, and organisations dedicated to shaping a more interconnected and environmentally aware future.

Currently, two major developments are utilised and inhabited, each one meticulously planned to empower innovation. 

One is called the Biomedical Campus, dedicated to elevating the standard of healthcare and positioning Indonesia as a leading destination for medical tourism. Their mission is to establish a thriving ecosystem by fostering partnerships, collaborations, and cooperation with experts across various sectors of the medical field, including research centres, manufacturers, practitioners, health service providers, and education institutions.

Various resources are available, including advanced facilities like smart maker spaces, all while enjoying the beneficial effects of nature on creativity and well-being.

Also read: Echelon X: Meet the Exhibitors who will showcase their innovations

Innovators can further capitalise on this benefit by incorporating the Digital Hub’s Urban Forest into their daily work schedule, utilising the vast multipurpose park meant for recreation, sports activities, and meetings in a relaxed outdoor setting. Workstations, sports facilities, and an outdoor cinema are also available for use. Digital professionals can also take advantage of the full wi-fi coverage and solar energy-powered outlets.

In principle, the Digital Hub is built under six elements of productivity as the overall direction in realising the vision — Diversity, Mobility, Connectivity, Interaction, Health, and Camaraderie. 

Irawan Harahap, CEO of the Digital Tech Ecosystem & Development Sinar Mas Land, explained, “Our company’s mission is to empower and accelerate the growth of startups and entrepreneurs across Asia and nurture future talents to foster innovation, driving economic growth, and creating a vibrant startup ecosystem in the region by providing them with access to cutting-edge resources, mentorship, and opportunities for collaboration.”

Bringing the Digital Hub experience to Echelon X

It is with great anticipation that Digital Hub will be participating in the upcoming Echelon X — Echelon Asia Summit’s 10th-anniversary event happening on 15-16th May 2024 at the Singapore EXPO Hall 2. Echelon X is aimed towards supercharging its flagship programs to tailor to the evolving needs of the next generation of tech leaders.

This aligns perfectly with Digital Hub’s mission, as it allows its team to connect with like-minded individuals, share knowledge, and explore partnerships that will propel the growth and success of startups throughout Asia.

Irawan mentioned, “We are looking forward to the networking opportunities at this year’s [Echelon X]. Connecting with other industry leaders, potential partners, and investors is invaluable for expanding our reach, gaining insights into market trends, and exploring collaboration opportunities.”

Attendees can expect the Digital Hub experience condensed in their exhibition booth. “Overall, we anticipate that our involvement in the summit will be instrumental in driving our [mutual] growth and success in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Also read: Introducing BAE: The world’s first AI travel companion by BuzzAR

Digital Hub intends to build connections with potential partners, investors and other stakeholders and aims to showcase to a diverse audience of industry experts. They are also considering exploring opportunities to expand business or projects into new markets within Asia or globally.

Make sure to check out Irawan and his team at Echelon X! Conference attendees also stand a chance to win Digital Hub merchandise upon registration at the Digital Hub booth. 

Sinar Mas Land is one of the many exciting industry leaders from across the Southeast Asian region who will be joining us for Echelon X. Joining them are other key leaders, visionary entrepreneurs, and groundbreaking startups from all corners of the region who will be gathering for two packed days. Echelon X will feature dedicated content stages, exhibitions, panel discussions, and more — all to support and empower the tech startup ecosystem with actionable insights through a series of knowledge-sharing activities.

Join us at Echelon 2024, where innovation knows no limits, and the possibilities are endless!

The post Sinar Mas Land: How Indonesia’s trendiest Digital Hub is pushing for innovation appeared first on e27.

Martech, short for Marketing Technology, encompasses various tools and software designed to streamline marketing processes, enhance efficiency, and drive better results. From customer relationship management systems to analytics platforms and social media management tools, martech provides marketers with the necessary infrastructure to plan, execute, and measure their marketing campaigns effectively. By automating repetitive tasks, centralising data, and providing valuable insights into customer behaviour, martech empowers marketers to work more efficiently and make data-driven decisions.

One critical advantage of martech is its ability to provide valuable insights into customer behaviour and preferences. By analysing data from various sources, including website interactions, social media engagement, and email interactions, marketers can better understand their audience and tailor their marketing efforts accordingly. This enables marketers to deliver more personalised and targeted messages to their audience, driving higher levels of engagement and ultimately leading to better results.

Next month, at Echelon X, attendees will have the opportunity to dive deep into four major conference themes: Agile Business Practices, Sustainability & Responsibility, Collaborative Ecosystems, and Fostering Creativity. As one of the critical elements that help companies move forward with their businesses, martech will be one of the points examined at the event.

To prepare ourselves for the event, in this listicle, we familiarise ourselves with the nine martech companies that have led the march into the future of marketing.

Braze

Braze (£BRZE) emerges as a pioneering force in customer engagement, fostering enduring connections between consumers and the brands they hold dear. With Braze, marketers gain unprecedented access to harness and utilise data from any source, empowering them to engage with customers creatively and in real-time, seamlessly across multiple channels from a singular platform. Braze offers a spectrum of capabilities ranging from cross-channel messaging and journey orchestration to AI-powered experimentation and optimisation. It equips companies with the tools necessary to cultivate and sustain deeply engaging relationships with their customer base, thereby nurturing growth and loyalty.

Also Read: These 5 marketing analytics platforms are taking the field into the future

Braze stands as a beacon of excellence in the industry, garnering accolades such as the 2024 US News Best Technology Companies to Work For and the 2023 UK Best Workplace for Women by Great Place to Work. Recognised as a Leader by Gartner® in the 2023 Magic Quadrant for Multichannel Marketing Hubs and in The Forrester Wave: Cross-Channel Marketing Hubs, Q1 2023, Braze continues to set the standard for innovation and effectiveness. Headquartered in New York with a global footprint spanning North America, Europe, and APAC, Braze is poised at the forefront of shaping the future of customer engagement.

CleverTap

CleverTap, the quintessential engagement platform, stands as the cornerstone for brands seeking to unlock boundless customer lifetime value by crafting bespoke experiences tailored to retain their most prized clientele. Empowering businesses to curate individualised journeys that traverse the entire customer lifecycle, CleverTap offers a comprehensive suite of analytics that scrutinises every facet of this journey, facilitating real-time measurement and optimisation. Its distinctive AI prowess is perceptive and prescriptive, guiding businesses towards astute and expeditious decisions.

By amalgamating experiences from myriad touchpoints, CleverTap heralds a new epoch in customer engagement. Anchored by TesseractDB, the world’s premier database customised for customer engagement, CleverTap ensures both velocity and scalability. With the trust of over 2000 esteemed clients, including Electronic Arts, TiltingPoint, and TED, CleverTap has secured backing from renowned investors like Peak XV Partners and Tiger Global. Headquartered in Mountain View, California, CleverTap’s global footprint spans key cities, including San Francisco, New York, London, and Singapore, positioning it as an indispensable partner in pursuing customer-centric excellence.

Insider

Insider stands at the forefront of revolutionising customer experiences, a unified platform tailored for individualised, cross-channel engagement. Empowering enterprise marketers to integrate customer data across diverse channels and systems seamlessly, Insider harnesses the predictive power of AI to anticipate future behaviours and personalise interactions.

Through Insider’s versatile platform, marketers orchestrate experiences spanning the web, apps, web push, email, SMS, and messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger. Recently attaining unicorn status, Insider garnered acclaim from NASDAQ for its distinction as one of the select woman-founded, women-led B2B SaaS unicorns globally. Recognized as the top leader in The Forrester Wave for Cross-Channel Campaign Management 2021 and the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Personalization Engines 2021, Insider maintains its stellar reputation, securing the #1 Leader spot on G2’s Mobile Marketing Software and Personalization Grids for 20 consecutive quarters. CrunchBase lauded Insider’s co-founder and CEO, Hande Cilingir, as one of the foremost women CEOs outside the US.

Trusted by an elite cadre of Fortune 500 companies and top brands in retail, automotive, and travel sectors, Insider boasts a client roster that includes Singapore Airlines, Virgin, Toyota, New Balance, IKEA, and many more. With over 1,200 global businesses placing their trust in Insider’s AI-driven personalised experiences, the company continues redefining customer engagement and satisfaction standards across industries.

Also Read: How Shopee uses AI, data to build a marketing strategy that suits changes in user behaviour

MoEngage

Positioned as an indispensable ally for customer-centric marketers and product owners, MoEngage emerges as a beacon of insights-driven customer engagement. Focusing relentlessly on customer satisfaction and retention, MoEngage empowers businesses to analyse customer behaviour meticulously and craft personalized communication strategies spanning web, mobile, and email platforms. Its comprehensive features encompass robust customer analytics, AI-driven journey orchestration, and unparalleled personalization capabilities seamlessly integrated into a single, intuitive dashboard.

Boasting a diverse clientele that includes Fortune 500 giants like Deutsche Telekom, Samsung, and Ally and agile mobile-first brands such as Flipkart, OLA, and Bigbasket, MoEngage has consistently elevated customer engagement across industries. Whether nurturing new leads through onboarding processes or long-term relationships for sustained growth, MoEngage equips product managers and growth marketers with the tools they need to curate unforgettable customer experiences at every stage of the lifecycle.

AppsFlyer

AppsFlyer is at the forefront of empowering brands to make informed decisions for both their business and their customers. Armed with a suite of advanced technologies encompassing measurement, data analytics, deep linking, engagement, fraud protection, data clean room, and privacy-preserving capabilities, it is rooted in the belief that brands can enhance customer privacy without compromising on exceptional experiences. Rooted in believing that brands can enhance customer privacy without compromising on extraordinary experiences, AppsFlyer catalyses thousands of creators and over 10,000 technology partners.

By facilitating better understanding and fostering more meaningful relationships with customers, AppsFlyer drives innovation and progress in digital engagement, paving the way for a future where privacy and personalized experiences coexist harmoniously.

Moloco

Dedicated to democratising growth through operational machine learning, Moloco emerges as a transformative force for businesses of every size. With its pioneering machine learning platform tailored for growth and performance, Moloco empowers app publishers, e-commerce platforms, and streaming services to harness the power of their unique first-party data. Through Moloco Ads, performance marketers gain access to advanced machine learning models, facilitating scalable user acquisition for mobile apps. Meanwhile, Moloco Commerce Media equips retailers and marketplaces with a versatile solution for building their own ads business, offering relevance, results, and automation for efficient ad operations at scale.

Also Read: Unlocking email marketing success: 5 foolproof tips every startup must embrace

Not to be outdone, Moloco Streaming Monetization aims to revolutionise the revenue strategies of streaming media companies, introducing outcomes-based advertising that prioritises user relevancy and advertiser success. Founded in 2013 by a team of machine learning engineers, Moloco has established a global presence with offices spanning the US, the UK, Germany, Korea, China, India, Japan, and Singapore, solidifying its position as a leader in the field of operational machine learning.

ON24

Embarking on a transformative journey into the AI era, ON24 stands as a beacon of innovation, dedicated to revolutionizing businesses’ go-to-market strategies and fostering cost-effective revenue growth. With its cutting-edge intelligent engagement platform, ON24 empowers customers to merge unparalleled experiences with personalized content, unlocking the ability to capture and leverage connected insights on a vast scale.

As a trusted partner to industry-leading giants across various sectors, including technology, asset management, healthcare, and industrial domains, ON24 delivers a goldmine of first-party data to fuel sales and marketing innovation, streamline operations, and enhance business outcomes. From its headquarters in San Francisco to its global presence spanning North America, EMEA, and APAC, ON24’s commitment to driving transformative change resonates across continents, shaping the future of business in the digital age.

Splitmetrics

Within the dynamic realm of mobile app growth, SplitMetrics emerges as a comprehensive ecosystem of products and services united under the esteemed banner of the SplitMetrics brand. Within this innovative landscape, SplitMetrics Acquire, formerly SearchAdsHQ, and SplitMetrics Optimize reign supreme, boasting accolades such as the ASO Tool of the Year 2022.

Alongside these offerings, SplitMetrics Agency is a testament to the brand’s commitment to excellence. With an unwavering dedication to simplifying the path to business success for mobile-first enterprises worldwide, SplitMetrics embodies a spirit of empowerment and innovation. As an Apple Search Ads Partner, supported by a passionate team of over 120 mobile app growth experts, SplitMetrics thrives on the success of its customers. This relentless pursuit of customer satisfaction attracts top-tier app and game publishers from around the globe to join hands with SplitMetrics on their journey towards growth and prosperity.

Also Read: Unlocking email marketing success: 5 foolproof tips every startup must embrace

Amplitude

In the bustling digital innovation landscape, Amplitude offers a powerful analytics platform that illuminates the intricate pathways of the customer journey. With its self-service capabilities, Amplitude empowers enterprises to navigate this terrain easily, gaining invaluable visibility into the dynamics of their digital products.

Serving as the backbone for over 45,000 digital ventures across a diverse spectrum of industries, including 23 of the esteemed Fortune 100, Amplitude catalyses innovation and strategic decision-making. Amplitude paves the way for enterprises to evolve, adapt, and thrive in the dynamic digital landscape by providing answers to the pivotal question of how digital products influence business outcomes.

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X marks Echelon. Join us at Singapore EXPO on May 15-16 for the 10th edition of Asia’s leading tech and startup conference. Enjoy two days of building connections with potential investors, partners, and customers, exploring innovation, and sharing insights with 8,000+ key decision-makers of Asia’s tech ecosystem. Get your tickets here.

Want more from your Echelon experience? Be an Echelon X sponsor or exhibitor. Send enquiry here.

Image Credit: 123RF

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Singapore, 26 April 2024 – ADA, a leader in digital and data-driven business transformation across Asia, today launched a visionary suite of AI CoPilots engineered to redefine enterprise marketing and commerce functions, driving efficiency and effectiveness, fostering a new era of strategic and operational agility through data and AI democratisation.

Seamlessly integrated with ADA’s suite of digital services, AI CoPilots tap into diverse datasets and proprietary AI models. Each CoPilot unites disparate information streams, dismantling the silos between different platforms and business units. By doing so, it provides transformative insights with real-time predictive analytics and delivers strategic guidance customised for the unique dynamics of each enterprise.

ADA’s inaugural lineup of AI CoPilots encompasses four strategically devised tools, each tailored to optimise distinct facets of digital enterprise:

• CoPilot for Full Funnel Marketing: Rapidly synthesises diverse datasets, offering businesses actionable insights to identify high-value users and refine campaigns across the funnel, enabling data-driven decisions as quickly as tomorrow.
• CoPilot for e-commerce: Offers advanced predictive capabilities for e-commerce platforms to anticipate market trends and consumer behaviour, powering a competitive advantage for clients.
• CoPilot for Conversational AI: Empowers chatbots with the ability to engage in deep, meaningful dialogues and provide human-like responses, swiftly resolving queries with a clear focus on outcomes.
• CoPilot for Customer Segmentation: Enables clients to rapidly access and leverage ADA’s XACT data segments, transforming their marketing with compliant, actionable insights from over 300 million profiles.

Also read: Sinar Mas Land: How Indonesia’s trendiest Digital Hub is pushing for innovation

“Our new AI CoPilots will set a benchmark in the industry by enabling enterprises to execute unprecedented marketing and commerce strategies,” said Srinivas Gattamneni, CEO at ADA. “This initiative is not just an investment in technology, it’s an investment in our customers’ future, providing them with the tools they need to thrive in a competitive market. This move not only amplifies the reach of ADA’s advanced machine learning models and AI technologies but also reinforces the company’s dedication to fostering a synergistic ecosystem where our client’s strategies are seamlessly executed from insight to action.”

ADA’s commitment to innovation and its expansive presence in 12 countries underscore its role as a transformative force in the industry. As ADA continues to expand its capabilities and reach, it remains dedicated to delivering cutting-edge solutions that drive business success.

About ADA

ADA leverages data, artificial intelligence, and technology to transform businesses across Asia. With a robust presence in 12 countries, ADA combines the best of AI and analytics to provide comprehensive digital solutions that drive business performance.

The company has a multi-faceted, data-driven approach that encompasses:

• Data Transformation Services
• Marketing Solutions
• e-commerce Solutions
• Customer Engagement Solutions

The company’s dual headquarters are in Singapore and Malaysia. Notably, ADA’s shareholders include industry giants like Softbank, Axiata, Mitsui, and Sumitomo Corporation.

Also read: Wallex: Driving business growth with secure cross-payments

For more information about ADA and its new AI CoPilots, please visit www.ada-asia.com or contact the ADA team.

Contact:

Klara Grintal, Head of Brand and Customer Experience

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by ADA

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

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tozero, a lithium-ion recycling startup based in Germany, has emerged as the champion of the EPiC (Elevator Pitch Competition) organised by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP).

The Munich-headquartered startup will receive 1.1 million Asia Miles (a loyalty and frequent-flyer programme run by airline operator Cathay Pacific) and a cash prize of US$90,000, in addition to investor exposure and partnership opportunities.

Co-founded by Sarah Fleischer and Dr Ksenija Milicevic Neumann, tozero aims to establish Europe’s leading lithium-ion battery recycling plant, focused on recovering critical materials such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, and graphite in a sustainable way. By reintroducing these materials into the supply chain, tozero aims to support the creation of new batteries while promoting a circular economy.

The EPiC winner was selected from the 12 finalists across three categories — fintech, proptech and mobility — who demonstrated their solutions before a judging panel comprising renowned investors, entrepreneurs, and executives in Asia on Friday. The 12 finalists will be awarded a cash prize of US$10,000 each.

EPiC 2024 attracted a total of 603 contestants from 47 economies, of which 71 were selected for the elevator pitch. They stand to receive US$45 million in investment, including up to US$5 million from the HKSTP Corporate Venture Fund (CVF) and US$240,000 in cash prizes, plus partnership opportunities. As many as 71 startups participated in the EPiC pitching contest.

Also Read: Meet the 10 Southeast Asian finalists demonstrating at EPiC 2024 in Hong Kong

tozero is also the winner in the mobility category. The other two category winners are Bizbaz (fintech) and Roboticplus.AI (proptech).

Below are the snapshots of the finalists:

Bizbaz (Singapore)

BizBaz is a technology company specialising in advanced AI, data analytics, and behavioural science solutions. It claims to have successfully transformed industries by leveraging cutting-edge technology to unlock valuable insights and intelligence.

imBee (Hong Kong)

imBee aims to revolutionise the way businesses handle internal data and enhance productivity through an AI-powered search and knowledge discovery platform. Its innovation’s centrepiece is Aiskbee, which utilises advanced neuro-symbolic reasoning with deep learning-based state-of-the-art Large Language Models (LLMs). This technology enables its AI Assistant to comprehend queries in natural language, making search more intuitive and efficient.

Rey (Indonesia)

Rey is an integrated health insurtech firm that provides end-to-end health care in one subscription. Its platform combines health coverage with healthcare delivery — from preventive, curative, to rehabilitative– into a seamless experience. Launched in Indonesia in July 2022, it has acquired 10K+ paying members and generates US$1 million of ARR.

Tanbii (US)

Tanbii integrates ESG, fintech, and gaming to change how climate change is combated by gamifying carbon reduction efforts. It bridges the gap between the Web2 and Web3 worlds to foster a sustainable lifestyle. By utilising advanced technologies like blockchain and AI, Tanbii accurately tracks, calculates, and rewards users for reducing their personal carbon emissions from sustainable purchases, green travelling, and other low-carbon activities.

Certivity (Germany)

Certivity is a regtech SaaS platform that digitises regulations to create ‘law as data’, analyses it with AI and connects to engineering processes. It enables customers to digitise and streamline their compliance processes, reduce costs, collaborate and accelerate time-to-market for their products

Wheel.me (Norway)

Wheel.me is a robotics and IoT company that has invented an autonomous wheel. Called Genius, the wheel turns almost any object into an autonomous robot. With a wide range of use cases, Genius can move just about anything, and revamp automated material handling in manufacturing, supply chains, logistics, warehouse operations and elsewhere.

Novac (Italy)

Novac is developing a solid-state shapeable supercapacitor that can be easily integrated into the structure of the vehicle, with no dangerous liquid inside, thanks to its portfolio of innovative materials for energy storage systems. The target markets are smart mobility, drones, electronics, automotive and aerospace, where there is not enough space for energy storage but a strong need for additional power.

Roboticplus.AI (China)

RoboticPlus.AI is an intelligent robotic system company. It creates a new generation of robotic solutions adaptable to flexible manufacturing through its self-developed industrial software platform, RoBIM. It is deeply involved in the core technologies of robotics, including control, algorithms, and human-machine interaction.

Green Independence (Italy)

Green Independence aims to accelerate independence from fossil fuels by providing on-site green energy and clean water, addressing inefficiencies in currently available tools to tackle three crucial challenges: water scarcity, dependence on fossil fuels, and the intermittency of renewable energies. This is achieved through the New Artificial Leaf (NAL), its multifunctional solar panel with two main modules: solar-water purification and electrochemical.

Also Read: Elevator Pitch Competition (EPiC) accelerates startups from SEA to the world

Hyele Limited (Hong Kong)

Hyele provides accurate and cutting-edge technology for smart urban water supply systems (UWSS) that improves all stages of UWPS management — from first design to superior operational performance and extended system life. Hyele’s pipeline condition assessment technology is pioneered by experts who leveraged advances in research and engineering science to provide unique and prime performances. It provides clients with a comprehensive condition assessment service, utilising its specialised software and state-of-the-art hardware.

Kodifly (Hong Kong)

Kodifly focuses on creating real-time digital twins using cutting-edge LiDAR technology, delivering actionable insights for infrastructure challenges like deformation, landslides, and vegetation encroachment through precise 3D point cloud processing. It automates several most tedious processes in the infrastructure maintenance chain: data collection, analytics, and decision-making, allowing teams to free up the time to focus on what’s more valuable. Its hardware scans and models infrastructure dynamically, being installed on a moving vehicle or a train, while its software analyzes the data, pinpointing defects and suggesting maintenance. The solutions prioritise the safety and longevity of essential transport infrastructure such as airports, railways, and highways, emphasising climate resilience.

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