Orios Venture Partners’s Managing Partner Rehan Yar Khan
N&E Innovations, Intersnack Jon hands to convert cashew waste into an organic disinfectant
The story: Singapore-based medtech startup N&E Innovations has partnered with Intersnack Group, a savoury snacks producer in Europe, to create Vi Kang 99, an active compound synthesised from cashew waste.
Through this collaboration, N&E Innovations developed a cutting-edge technology which is able to effectively recycle cashew testa, the reddish-brown skin covering cashew kernels which are an abundant byproduct of the cashew processing industry. The active ingredient has been added to N&E Innovations’s face mask range, Vi-MASK, as well as its most recent organic disinfectant range, C2+.
How Vi Kang 99 works: Upon contact with oxygen and moisture in the air, Vi Kang 99 produces Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), a reactive molecule that is naturally found in all living cells. The release of ROS damages proteins, DNA lipids and membranes of microorganisms including bacteria and viruses. This eventually leads to cell death, thereby destroying bacteria and viruses.
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There are various types of ROS including singlet oxygen (1O2), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), the superoxide anion (O2•−) and the hydroxyl radical (OH•). Each type of ROS has different targets and lifetime. In general, ROS acts to damage the cell membrane, enters the cell and further disrupts the proteins and DNA synthesis of the bacteria, thus leading to cell death (Fig
About N&E Innovations: Established in 2020, N&E was founded by Didi Gan with the intention to provide users with a safer alternative range of products that can be used by people of all ages. The startup identified the importance of sustainability and the harsh effects of chemicals as major pain points to eventually engineer its innovative molecular coating technology, Vi Kang
Orios Venture Partners closes US$30M Select Fund I
The story: India’s technology venture capital firm, Orios Venture Partners, has announced a final close of its Select Fund I. The funds have been raised from multiple family offices and institutions.
This is the third fund raised by Orios; it had earlier launched and closed two early-stage funds in 2015 and 2018.
Investment areas: New commerce, technology-led financial inclusion, new media, gaming, consumer and agritech amongst others.
Ticket size: Orios’s Select Fund I invests between US$4 million and US$8million per company. It primarily does follow-on investments into its existing companies, which have proven to be winners; and also late stage to pre-IPO companies whose founders it knows well.
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So far, the Fund has invested in Series D and E rounds of Pharmeasy which has now announced plans to launch its IPO in the next nine months, Series B and C rounds of Country Delight and the Series C round of GoMechanic.
It has also invested in Mobikwik’s recent round in March 2021 which has already seen follow-on investments at +40 per cent from Abu Dhabi Investment Authority ( ADIA); and the pre-IPO of Nazara technologies.
The firm’s portfolio companies also include gaming company Zupee, agritech company Krishify , digital health company Beato, retail tech company Gully Network, fintech company MoneyOnClick, and EV-battery-as-a-service company Battery Smart.
Pomelo launches brand solutions platform Prism.
The story: Pomelo, Southeast Asia’s leading omnichannel fashion platform, has announced the launch of Prism., total brand solutions to cater to the needs of brands across Southeast Asia.
What is Prism.?: It is an end-to-end total brand solutions platform that aims to provide total solutions for brands to scale their business. Prism. provides a wide range of brand-centred integrated solutions, from merchandising and trading, to 360 creative marketing tools, data analytics and insights, leading tech operations, and dedicated performance marketing.
Prism. offers brand-focused services that include dedicated omnichannel solutions including Tap.Try.Buy., Pomelo’s in-app online-to-offline shopping feature, as well as access to the brand’s e-commerce platform and physical stores in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
Also Read: How Pomelo tackles the problem of high product return with its O2O retail experience
Furthermore, brands can benefit from the platform’s 360 marketing capabilities, incorporating branding consultation, a full-service creative studio for best in class content production, multi-channel social media content localised to their target audience, a wide influencer and KOL network, and data driven performance marketing solutions. Throughout its 8 years of service, Pomelo has built up a solid network of users and traffic, made up of female audiences that are passionate about fashion, a unique offering that brands can tap into for real brand growth.
The scope of Prism.’s offerings also extend to trading and merchandising, offering best-in-class design, manufacturing and fabric sourcing services. This will enable brands to get invaluable industry insight on trend forecasting, product development, technical design, sizing and production. Moreover, the platform’s tech capabilities allow brand personalization which permits optimal product discovery based on our proprietary machine learning, a resource that can help brands become more competitive in the online retail landscape.
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Image Credit: Orios Venture Partners
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