After months of submissions and hundreds of applications, we’re happy to share with you the these 10 startups who will be pitching their innovative solutions at the SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards Virtual Pitch on 13 April 2023.
Click here to join the virtual pitch.
The 2023 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards has been launched to find, fund and support innovative tech solutions that can help protect and save lives, before, during and after disasters. The program is created by Prudence Foundation and supported by humanitarian partner: IFRC, technology partner: AWS, and strategic partner: e27, for its 2023 edition.
The SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards recognises the crucial role of technology in enhancing disaster preparedness, recovery, and resilience. Climate change has led to more frequent and intense disasters worldwide, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, where half of these events occur, resulting in staggering economic costs and human lives lost. Despite the pressing need for solutions, financial and non-financial support is lacking, hindering their potential for maximum impact.
Now in its third edition, the Awards looks to continue its work in catalysing a network of support, raising awareness of the sector, and helping the remarkable companies that operate in this space grow and scale.
The first 10 who will take part in the Virtual Pitch
LivingWaters Systems
LivingWaters Systems, or LivingWaters for short, is a social enterprise that specialises in assisting humanitarian organisations to serve refugees and off-grid settlements with renewable clean water, by providing them with an affordable, durable, and rapidly deployable means of provisioning clean water.
Its core innovation is a first-to-world portable rain catchment unit, through which by leveraging the world’s most abundant natural source of clean water — rainwater — LivingWaters can contribute to reducing 30-50% of an organisation’s water provisioning costs in the first five years of a refugee settlement’s operation, and then 60-80% of its annual operating costs thereafter.
Wateroam
Wateroam is a social enterprise which provides honest water solutions for a better world. Their vision to end global thirst is being accomplished by producing efficient and affordable water treatment products that are used for emergency relief and rural development. Specifically, their solution is The ROAMfilter Plus 2, a community water filtration system that is simple to operate, long-lasting, lightweight and cost-effective. The system’s hand pump operation requires no electricity, making it an ideal and immediate solution for rural and disaster-hit regions. With the ROAMfilter Plus 2, a person becomes a mobile water station which can produce safe drinking water quickly for 100 people.
Founded in 2014, the company has partnered with over 60 humanitarian organisations like the Red Cross and World Vision to tackle pressing water issues in emergency and long-term development settings in over 40 countries. They are also the UN Young Leader for SDG6: Clean Water for All.
StratifiCare
StratifiCare is a next-generation, ESG-focused (SDG 3, 5, 11, 12 and 13) medical diagnostic company that provides insights into the body through proteins. Their vision is to build a world where patients know in advance whether their medical treatments are beneficial to them. They achieve this by marrying predictive protein diagnostics with artificial intelligence. StratifiCare prides itself on the social impact they bring to patients, their families, and society; their gender, age, and nationality-diverse team; and that they are currently supported by Asia Development Bank Ventures and DBS Foundation.
StratifiCare has developed the world’s first severe Dengue prediction test, StratifiDen, which predicts severe Dengue with 97% sensitivity and 92% specificity. Doctors can make more informed decisions on whether to hospitalise the patient (most patients can be safely managed as outpatients). This frees up more hospital beds and limited healthcare resources for other patients who will develop severe Dengue, and for other patients who truly require hospital care.
QUICKBLOCK®️
QUICKBLOCK®️ enables anyone to build anything, anywhere. Made from 100% recycled plastic, their rapid assembly building system allows for complete structures to be assembled in a matter of minutes. Its simplicity is the key, stacking as simply as children’s building blocks, the QUICKBLOCK system requires no tools, skilled labour, or additional materials.
The QUICKBLOCK Shelter project aims to develop a full turnkey solution that arrives on a single pallet — including the structure, the roof, windows, doors, and flooring. They aim to support displaced peoples that have found themselves without a permanent dwelling as a result of fleeing their homes due to environmental disaster, conflict, or persecution.
A.B. Data Consultant
A.B. Data Consultant is a startup that specialises in flood disaster management, flood early warning systems, and tailored consulting for flood-related issues in Nepal. Their team of experienced environmental engineers, hydrologists, and software developers provide customised solutions to better understand flood risks, develop effective early warning systems, and prepare for and mitigate the effects of floods.
Their solution is FloodInsight, a service that develops flood susceptibility, hazard, inundation maps, and flood simulation videos. When required, FloodInsight provides physical installation of water-level sensors and rainfall measurement sensors. An integrated website combined with real-time sensors and flood-related visualisation is used to disseminate information to relevant stakeholders. In the context of Nepal, the Government of Nepal is working on a national-scale flood map, but A.B. Data Consultant is focusing on tailored local flood consulting services at the municipal level which is in contrast, far more accurate and reliable.
Kacific Broadband Satellites Group
Kacific Broadband Satellites Group is a next-generation satellite operator providing affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband services. Its first Ka-band HTS satellite, Kacific1, was launched in 2019, covering over 600 million people across 25 nations in Asia Pacific. Kacific’s services foster greater internet usage, fuels economic growth, and drive positive social outcomes. Today Kacific connects over 2,000 educational and healthcare facilities.
Kacific has designed a disaster communication system, the CommsBox, for civil defence and emergency relief personnel. The CommsBox container is made of aluminium alloy and is salt, water, and fire-resistant. It is designed to be airlifted or shipped into disaster zones and provide instant connectivity. The unit is solar-powered and includes a user tablet for easy communication. The antenna has been designed with an auto-tracking feature and can provide connectivity at the touch of a button. The CommsBox is designed to be transportable, with four wheels fixed underneath, making it an all-in-one connectivity solution. The system is also equipped with high-speed data transfer and priority data, ensuring that the users have a first-priority connection with high speeds of up to 55Mbps. The CommsBox is durable enough to operate in the most difficult environments and can power up independently of electrical supplies, ensuring that the system will always be functional.
SI Analytics (SIA)
SI Analytics (SIA) provides the solution and platform for satellite image analytics based on artificial intelligence to domain experts in every nation and organisation to utilise their GEO assets with maximum efficiency and with wiser insights. SIA was established in Daejeon, South Korea in 2018 and has since grown to employ over 100 professionals. Their parent company, Setrac Initiative, is involved in satellite manufacturing, while SIA specialises in analysing high-resolution satellite images.
Today, the world is witnessing a multitude of natural disasters which require timely monitoring to minimise their impact. This is where satellites come in as they can provide real-time information about the location and magnitude of such calamities. Moreover, by employing deep learning-based techniques, SIA can predict the occurrence of such disasters beforehand and also evaluate the situation post-disaster.
H3 Dynamics
H3 Dynamics is a group of companies founded in 2015. H3 Dynamics is a multi-award-winning company and a fast-growing leader in the autonomous and sustainable aerial mobility market, using drone technology, hydrogen, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics to deliver innovative solutions and high-value applications to a large number of industry verticals.
H3 Dynamics’ Autonomous Drone-in-a-box System has an open system architecture that enables third-party software and hardware integration such as command and control, UAV, and UAV charging. This enables totally autonomous UAV flights for multiple types of surveillance and inspection applications.
The Autonomous Drone-in-a-box System can be used to provide the first line of sight during critical situations. This can help customers/end-user detect, plan, and monitor the disaster situation.
Castomize
Castomize is making healthcare more accessible, effective, and less invasive through the creation of medical devices made with proprietary 4D-printing techniques.
Formed as a new spinoff from the Singapore University of Technology and Design, Castomize is now embarking to commercialise its first product, a series of 4D-printed orthopaedic casts, which has won multiple invention awards from organisations in the Asia Pacific region.
Castomize’s 4D-printed casts can be deployed in disaster situations easily, requiring minimal tools, time, and proficiency to apply effectively. They aim to quickly address fractures of disaster victims as quickly and accurately as possible, preventing any long-term healing complications and ensuring a smooth, full recovery.
Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (YPII)
Plan Indonesia develops a feedback dashboard to promote accountability to affected people during disasters. The dashboard is expected to be used as a channel for people to convey their issues and problem to be solved, responded to, and closed by relevant government agencies as well as non-government organisations.
Their programs aim to improve the fulfilment of rights for all children, which includes providing gender-responsive disaster preparedness and humanitarian response, which become one of our priority sectors for Country Strategy 5 (FY 23- FY 27). The Gender-responsive Disaster Preparedness and Humanitarian Response Program is divided into several sub-thematic focuses, i.e. Child Protection in Emergencies (CPiE), Education in Emergencies (EiE) and WASH in Emergencies (WASHiE). The programme’s goal is to meet the rights of the most affected children, adolescents, and youth (CAY) and their families affected by disaster and refugee crises through gender-responsive disaster preparedness and humanitarian response in a relevant and timely manner.
The 2023 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards
The startups taking part in the 2023 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards Virtual Pitch stand a chance to win 150,000 USD in cash prizes, AWS product credit worth 55,000 USD, and access to investor networks and mentorship. Finalists will be able to showcase at the Echelon Asia Summit 2023 at the Singapore EXPO on 14-15 June 2023.
Catch these amazing startups and more at the 2023 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards virtual pitch! For more information, visit the official page here.
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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Prudence Foundation
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