With news about the vaccine, we are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But we can’t heave a sigh of relief just yet. One of our contributor reminds us of the logistical challenges associated with distributing the COVID-19 vaccine.

And with increasing anxiety for the vaccine, the tech space is also abuzz with anxiety over ethics of AI and other emerging tech. Learn more about the future of self-driving tech and AI bots from our contributors.

Here’s a good fix of our top contributor posts for a relaxing weekend! If you have a counter view or more, share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

How business owners can outwit even the most sophisticated hackers in a post-pandemic world by Andy NG, CEO of Nexusguard

“Organisations deploying heightened security into their infrastructures, elevating the need for a generation of cybersecurity experts with adaptable technical skills, who are able to respond to mitigate even the most critical threats. This means more specialised training is first required to mould these experts.

These talents must not only be skilled in tackling all forms of attacks but have a thorough knowledge of the evolution of cybersecurity threats affecting digital systems around the world, on top of real-world experience in mitigating cyber threats.”

Approaching AI-rmageddon: Will AI talkbots make our lives better or worse? by Deon Tan, outreach executive at Block71 Singapore

“Ethical issues concerning AI have been like a sea of dark clouds threatening a thunderstorm ever since the advent of AI technology. Despite the initial excitement over AI talk bots, many people – from tech experts to restaurant owners – have expressed ethical concerns over the proliferation of AI talk bots. Ironically, making talk bots extremely human-like poses the biggest ethical concern: How would we know if the person we are talking to is really who they say they are?

This concern is not a trivial one by any measure. In an era of fake news and identity theft, it is extremely worrying that a single person with nefarious intentions could so easily disseminate false information and plunge communities into a state of panic. What’s disturbing is that this is already happening without the help of AI.”

6 ways sentiment analysis is changing the e-commerce experience by Jacob Davis from Revuze, an AI-enabled tech startup

“Getting customer feedback is very important for any e-commerce business, especially now that the business world is becoming more customer-centric. In the world of big data, the essential thing is not just to have the data but to make meaningful insight out of the data at your disposal.

While you can get online reviews of your product from review sites and social media, you need to understand that the data you get from these channels are mostly unstructured. To gain any reasonable insight out of this data, you may have to devote hours of manual labour.

Opportunities in SEA

Why Southeast Asia desperately needs innovation in HR and how one accelerator is facilitating it by Daniel Callaghan, CEO of Veremark and The Workplace Accelerator

“HR Tech has seen investment treble from US$1.8 billion in 2017 to nearly US$6 billion in 2019 by VCs globally however only a fraction of that comes from Southeast Asia as a region despite the fact that exit multiples at seven times sales on average are significantly higher than most marketplaces, content or e-commerce businesses.

The region has yet to see its first HR Tech equivalent of a NinjaVan or Carousell or Zilingo and as such fantastic businesses that can make a massive difference often go under supported. We want this to end.”

Paving the way for Asian edutech to soft-land in Latin America by Alfreda Lee, Project Manager at Latin Leap VC

“As Asia is moving full steam ahead with technological innovations in the sector, the region could benefit from looking outward and lending a hand to those who are falling behind so that they may also improve and scale in the process.

Latin America, on the other hand, could stand to take some notes and capitalise on its potential for improvement by embracing Asia’s tried and tested solutions for emerging markets. This is especially relevant in light of COVID-19, which has forced more than 1.4 billion students worldwide to stay home. For students and education systems to stay relevant and competitive in these times, it is thus essential to capitalise on the benefits of technology.”

What Asia’s smallholder farmers really need and why startups should lead this uncontested race by journalist, Zuzanna Kamusinski

“Though these smallholder farmers remain some of the world’s poorest people due to reasons that were present long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the global smallholder agribusiness market is estimated to be worth more than US$400 billion.

If that’s the estimate now, what would the market look like if rural, smallholder farmers across Asia could harness digital technology to tap into the solutions and opportunities that are currently out of their reach?

Furthermore, if a technology company could tap into the smallholder market, they wouldn’t just be holding a huge slice of global food production, they would be presented with the opportunity to help lift a lot of people out of poverty.”

The world of logistics

Teleoperation: It’s here to revolutionise the logistics and supply chain industry by Amit Rosenzweig, founder and CEO of Ottopia

“Simply put, teleoperation empowers a human to remotely monitor and control a motorised vehicle. From the operator’s standpoint it is deceptively simple. But that’s only because an ingenious and enormously complex blend of technologies makes it so.

Teleoperation enables the transmission of multiple video feeds from the vehicle to the command station, and instructions from the command station to the remotely operated vehicle, in virtual real time. However, unlike robo-taxis, autonomous pods and autonomous shuttles, teleoperation technology is road-ready right now. There is no need for new, specialised vehicles, even existing fleets can be retrofitted for remote operation.

Teleoperation’s relevance is all the more timely on account of COVID-19.”

Addressing the logistics challenges of transporting the COVID-19 vaccines in and out of Asia by Kay Banzon, fintech and security enthusiast

“The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are set to be manufactured in the US and in Europe. Moderna’s vaccine, officially called mRNA-1273, will be produced in facilities in the US and Switzerland. The manufacture of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, on the other hand, will take place in Germany and Belgium.

Ordinarily, the main concerns regarding these vaccines are their availability and prices. Over the past weeks, discussions in the media have focused on how lower-income countries worldwide can avail of these products. However, it appears their storage and delivery are even more critical challenges.”

Being an entrepreneur

3 questions that will help maximise every entrepreneur’s productivity by Dhaval Sarvaiya, Cofounder of Intelivita

“For any entrepreneur, growth should be the primary focus and purpose. As an entrepreneur, you are solely responsible for charting the future growth story of the business. There are vital decisions to be taken as to how the business can enter and establish a presence in new markets, how the existing product line can be expanded to serve customers better, and also to bring in more revenue.

In other words, every single action of the entrepreneur should be geared towards bringing growth to the business. That calls for great decision-making skills. Taking a tough business decision is no mean task. You need a process, a framework, a structure to create great decisions.”

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page

The post From our community: Why SEA needs HR tech, better cybersecurity talent, open conversations on ethics and more… appeared first on e27.

With today’s global business challenges amplified by the COVID-19 situation, the global tech ecosystem is grappling at ways to address these challenges and move forward as a resilient community. The special SFF x SWITCH edition this year will celebrate the defiant people who are creating new opportunities to stand together and advance our society by showcasing today’s role models who persevere through the tides, as well as rising stars and pioneers transforming global industries.

Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) is known for spearheading challenging topics and sparking important conversation in the financial services industry — from financial inclusion to sustainability. Meanwhile, the Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology (SWITCH) is focused primarily on championing the exchange of ideas in the innovation space.

Coming together in SFF x SWITCH, the joint project is a celebration of people and ideas working towards the common goal of addressing today’s challenges.

As such, in the interest of building a stronger, more resilient future, the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development (KISED) in partnership with SparkLabs is fielding 15 startups into this year’s SFF x SWITCH. These startups were carefully chosen after a rigorous selection process that included application review and in-person interviews, conducted as a part of 2020 Global Pitching Competition Programme that aims to help Korean startups showcase their businesses to international investors and potential business partners in some of the biggest tech events in the world.

Also read: Building your investor network? Here is the first part of our active investors list in SEA

The 15 Koreans startups who will be participating SFF x SWITCH’s various events cover a range of diverse verticals including Food&AgriTech, Urban Solutions, Customer Services, Healthtech, and so much more. Not only do these startups offer promising business models and innovative products and services, they also show a keen interest in penetrating global markets and expanding to various other regions in the world.

“Korean startups have the DNA to enter the global market and we believe that through participating in these competitions, it will be an important first step towards global expansion,” share Eugene Kim, General Partner of SparkLabs.

Meanwhile, Edward Lee, Director of KISED, explained that “through participating in this event, teams who have advanced to the final rounds and even those that have not, will be able to gain a lot of valuable experience and be more prepared to venture into these countries’ markets in which these competitions take place.”

KISED creates a startup-friendly environment in a bid to globalise domestic startups and support global startups to enter the Korean market based on 10 years of global expansion experience and know-how and the best and greatest network.

15 participating startups

Qualifying in the 2020 Global Pitching Competition Programme and joining in this year’s SFF x SWITCH are 15 of South Korea’s top early-stage startups. They are the following companies listed below:

N.thing – an automated modular vertical farming solution to feed the world sustainably.

Marvrus – online test cheating prevention solution.

Visualcamp – eye-tracking technology for eye gaze input and data analysis.

Ssenstone – password-less user authentication to prevent privacy information leakage and provide safe and convenient user login process.

Smart Diagnosis, Inc. – automatic vital sign extraction and big data service only using smartphone and without the need for wearables.

Gene on biotech – easy, fast, and accurate COVID-19 diagnostic kit with naked eye.

Timo Inc. – the company develops children’s life skills and supports healthy family relationships.

Also read: Sustainability: the new business reality

MOIN, Inc. – cross-border remittance service based on blockchain.

Tenqube – a mobile app for gens M to Z to explore global fashion items.

Lives’talk – Lives’talk creates affordable and accessible solutions for the nomadic pastoralists.

Wonderbros – Wonderbros’ Smart Grab&Go connects people and brands by innovating offline retail experiences.

KEMEDI – a chat-based one on one expert-driven care advice service as family caregiver.

Marine Innovation – eco-friendly products from algae to be used as alternatives to plastic and wood.

Reziena – an AI-based home doctor platform with highly-effective Beaty IoT Homecare Solution using medical technology

GENE ONE ON ONE – a personalised lifestyle (nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress management) managing coaching service platform for human microbiome recovery

Entering the Southeast Asia market

What makes this opportunity fantastic for these early-stage startups is how the companies themselves have been able to scrutinize and understand how to position their businesses in the Southeast Asian market. They have also identified which particular gaps their solutions will be able to bridge, and are keen on being exposed to stakeholders and other entrepreneurs from the region.

For example, N.thing’s automated modular vertical farming solution is particularly beneficial to the region as it eyes the production of 30% of its nutritional needs by 2030. Singapore’s agricultural land is now less than 1% of overall land use. The challenge there is that the country’s global population density ranking is at number 3, making it more difficult to feed Singapore without using more land and while cutting back on emissions.

N.thing developed the world’s first modular farm concept that offers both productivity and sustainability. It consumes only 4% water of the traditional farming method while increasing the yield tens of times. N.thing’s farm can localise operation processes and distribution services for crop production in areas where it is needed.

On the other hand, within the Edutech market of 500 trillion, there are many opportunities, especially in Southeast Asia, with Singapore being known for its powerful education system as recognised in the region, making it an effective regional test bed. Marvus plans to proceed with Singapore as a base for establishing a corporation and IPO in the future.

Also read: Why Southeast Asia desperately needs innovation in HR and how one accelerator is facilitating it

Marvus’ language content provided within its virtual education platform is in high demand in the Southeast Asian market, coupled with advantages in content, price competitiveness, similar education systems, and customer preferences that are more fit for Southeast Asian region than British/American solutions.

Currently, due to COVID-19, VisualCamp is providing a solution that identifies students’ learning attitudes and concentration levels to domestic education companies. Southeast Asia has the same market needs because of its high emphasis on education. In addition, VisualCamp has established a research/development partnership with a shopping mall company that sells K-Pop products to create an e-commerce platform with applied eye tracking. As the K-Pop market in Southeast Asia is huge, they believe it is an important test bed to verify the marketability of new solutions.

Southeast Asian countries rank high in the IT software outsourcing country rankings. The IT distribution rate is also increasing steeply. VisualCamp’s artificial intelligence eye tracking SeeSo SDK does not require separate hardware and supports iOS and Android, so it has an advantage when it comes to technical application and collaboration.

Lastly, Gene on biotech intends to enter the market for the simple reason that they want to help as many people as possible. Their service will be distributed at a low price so that accurate results can be inspected in a short period of time, and testing experiments can be conducted with inexpensive general equipment, allowing for it to become commercialised and administered for home use.

These are only some of the solutions and innovations South Korea’s top early-stage startups may offer to other global markets with the goal of yielding better results. This only proves once again that the country’s global stamp in technology is here to stay. With the 2020 Global Pitching Competition Programme, KISED and SparkLabs hope to introduce more of Korea’s finest to the global market.

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

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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When Arun George and Anoop George from Kerala developed a US$1,000 small wind turbine — which could power an entire house for lifetime — back in 2015, little did they expect it to become what they claim to be a “highly sought-after” product.

Fast forward to 2020, the siblings’ device in its new avatar is not only receiving enquiries from every continent except Antarctica but has also been recognised by the United Nations for championing the cause of clean energy.

“Our startup Avant Garde has made big strides since we last spoke. The latest version of our wind turbine is incomparable to our first one,” co-founder and CEO Arun George told e27, referring to our interview back in 2016.

The previous version, he explained, required about 3m/s (meter per second) wind speed to start up. But thanks to their three-four years of intense R&D, the team managed to make the device sleeker and more efficient.

“We put in years of efforts and invested a tremendous amount of money for product development, field testing and multiple iterations to come up with a higher efficiency wind turbine,” George shared.

“Avatar has the world’s lowest startup speed for a 1kW Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine with just 1.4 m/s wind speed required. This is less than half of what was needed earlier and still applicable to most other wind turbines in the market.

Also Read: JM Newton secures US$700K+ in crowdfunding to help enterprises save energy using its green-tech solutions

As a result of this efficiency, Avatar was once again chosen as one of the top 20 cleantech innovations by the United Nations at its Innovation Summit held in September 2019,” George continued.

The latest version is designed to be compatible with both on-grid and off-grid models. As for the on-grid model, the electricity generated via Avatar can be exported back to the grid. In the second model, the energy can be stored in batteries for later usage.

In George’s own words, Avatar’s “super-efficient” Axial Flux Direct Drive generator keeps the wind turbine quiet, meaning it is optimised for rooftop installation without noise or vibration.

One of the main gripes against large wind turbines currently available in the market is that they cause bird collisions. This is because large wind turbines often come up with a height of 50-100m (which is the altitude where birds fly) and they have long blades with wingspans measuring up to 80-100m.

However, this issue doesn’t arise in the case of small turbines as their heights don’t exceed 20m and wingspan length is just 3-4m in diameter.

“We have made Avatar bird-friendly using special visibility paints on all the three blades, which can safely deflect them,” George elaborates.

“Avatar is also built to be deployed in a wide range of climatic regions such as deserts, snow and even harsh marine conditions with temperature ratings ranging from – 40°C to +70°C,” he claimed.

Weathering strong winds

The new turbine is also built to withstand extremely stormy wind speeds up to 60 m/s (214 kmph), which is category 3 cyclone.

Owing to its scalable technology, Avatar also comes in higher capacities of 3kW and 5kW and is also being planned to be made available in 10kW and 20kW.

The price starts at INR 60,000 (under US$1,000) for a 1kW Avatar wind turbine.

Also Read: Digital green economy: How technology can help save the planet

“In conjunction with the Avatar wind turbine, we have also developed a ‘wind power conditioning unit’ (WPCU) product, called Aura, which is used with the off-grid wind turbine for charging batteries,” he continued.

The WPCU comes with 4-in-1 integration of an inverter, charge controller, dump load and auto grid changeover.

Furthermore, it’s designed with an aesthetic look for wall mounting and with a soft LED halo light around it to display the name Aura.

So far, Avant Garde has won government (B2G), business (B2B) and individual clients (B2C).

In B2G, it has been deployed by the Indian Navy at its Naval Base in Cochin and recently, as well as by the Indian Army at Ladakh near the Himalayas, located at an altitude of 11000ft from the sea level, where temperatures dip to -30°C.

In B2B, it was installed on the premises of FMCG major Unilever, as well as various other commercial clients from multiple industries across India.

“In B2C, our customers range from home owners to farmers to apartment dwellers. Avatar is now the most sought-after for exports where it is finding the demand coming from all major continents,” he shared. “We received orders from regions as diverse as the UK, Africa, Ecuador, Iceland, Colombia, Morocco even in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis.”

As of now, Avatar has received a combination of sales, partnership proposals and enquiries from over 160 countries.

The startup is now setting up a factory in the western Indian state of Gujarat to meet its rising demand. In this factory, it is now preparing to manufacture higher capacity models of Avatar, besides a few other new products.

He also revealed that Avant Garde continues to receive high volume of investment proposals from across the world but it has adopted the path of organic growth supported by its own revenues and non-equity funds.

Also Read: These 3 trends will help you to get back on top in the post-pandemic world

Currently, the cleantech company is in discussions to open associate offices in Europe and South America. With an aim to scale up across 100 countries within 2023, it wants to become one of world’s leading enterprises focused on the distributed/decentralised renewable energy (DRE) segment.

“We are convinced that the post-pandemic period is going to be the most critical and important time for adopting clean energy solutions for a green recovery as well as for urgent climate action. In this crucial turning point for our collective humanity, Avant Garde is prepared to touch the lives of people across the world for a better, cleaner and sustainable future,” he concluded.

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Image Credit: Avant Garde

 

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Family farms produce up to 80 per cent of the food supply in Asia, and the global smallholder agribusiness market is estimated to be worth more than US$400 billion. But while breaking into the smallholder market might be an enormous opportunity, technology startups are finding this is no easy feat.

Rocky Thooi grows durian, passionfruit and long beans among other fruits and vegetables on his farm near the city of Bentong, about 70 kilometres outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The 57-year-old was one of the many smallholder farmers in the region who, for a 64-day-long coronavirus lockdown earlier this year, was unable to travel more than 10 kilometres from their homes.

It was a devastating scenario for both farmers and their local communities. As Thooi explained, “Most farms are located [out of] town, and much of the produce is sold locally.” If a farmer can’t get their crop to people in town who will buy the produce, the crop will go bad and the people will go hungry.

In the first few weeks of lockdown, the Malay government “sent a team to assist the elderly in rural areas with funding and groceries,” said Thooi. But to be able to maintain his farm, the monthly government subsidy was not going to be enough. 

So Thooi turned to social media. In particular, to a national Facebook group which disseminates government information about subsidies and assistance programmes. “It was through the information and step-by-step instructions posted on Facebook by the younger generation, that I was able to apply for extra funding online.” 

Also Read: How Crowde aims to empower smallholder farmers in Indonesia

Smallholder farmers are a big deal

Rocky Thooi’s farm is one of more than 550 million in the world that can be considered family farms — those run by an individual or a family and rely primarily on family labour. Estimates by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation suggest that family farms produce up to 80 per cent of the food (or four out of every five plates of food eaten) in Asia.

Though these smallholder farmers remain some of the world’s poorest people due to reasons that were present long before the COVID-19 pandemic, the global smallholder agribusiness market is estimated to be worth more than US$400 billion.

If that’s the estimate now, what would the market look like if rural, smallholder farmers across Asia could harness digital technology to tap into the solutions and opportunities that are currently out of their reach? 

Furthermore, if a technology company could tap into the smallholder market, they wouldn’t just be holding a huge slice of global food production, they would be presented with the opportunity to help lift a lot of people out of poverty.

It’s a “save the world and make a lot of money doing it” scenario — one that should be encouraging smallholder-focused agricultural technology startups to burst onto the scene.

But startups are focussing elsewhere

Most of the startups on Malaysia’s agritech scene are in the business of online retail, selling direct to consumers. SupplyBunny, for instance, raised US$300,000 seed funding in 2016 to start an online B2B marketplace of grocery and supplies for restaurants and retailers. TheAqiqah is an online marketplace for goats, and Fresh@Heart is a US$275,000-funding-backed online retailer of meat and seafood.

If they’re not in that space, startups such as CityFarm Malaysia, plantOS and Poptani Asia are providing hydroponic farming inputs, infrastructure and systems for vertical farming enterprises.

Also Read: In brief: Grab, DTI, Mayani partner to bring Filipino small-holder farmers online

And of course, there is the world of large-scale plantations. Malaysia is one of the top 10 coconut-producing countries in the world, and the world’s second-largest producer of palm oil after Indonesia, producing around 25 per cent of the global supply. These industries have attracted the likes of Lintrmax Sdn Bhd, a supplier of palm plantation management software, and Agritix, which helps agricultural plantations collect and analyse data satellite imagery to make informed decisions.

Global players are focussing elsewhere too. Wefarm— the company that lays claim to being the world’s largest farmer-to-farmer digital network, with two million farmer members using its platform to share more than 40,000 questions and answers every day — is settling into the African market and has no plans to bring its services to Asia.  

For many smallholders, the search for information stops at social media

Breaking into the global smallholder agribusiness market might be an enormous opportunity, but it is not an easy feat. 

The challenge is not often a lack of funding for agricultural startups or a surge in competition. Rather, one of the biggest challenges, according to Adrian Soe Myint, CEO of Myanmar-based startup Village Link, is getting smallholders like Rocky Thooi interested in technologies outside of social media, such as farming-specific apps and other digital platforms. For most smallholders, said Myint, Facebook is the internet and “people rarely leave [that] ecosystem”.

Village Link is behind Htwet Toe, a mobile application that serves as an information centre and a digital community — connecting local farmers with agricultural experts and agribusinesses services. The platform is integrated with remote sensing capabilities, which means it can deliver personalised precision farming advice to individual smallholders. 

Farmers can also access the Village Link Satellite Services, a platform that aggregates agriculture-related satellite data and transforms this into insights and information that farmers can use to make operational decisions.

The company’s platforms serve about 600,000 farmers in Asia, mostly in Myanmar (about 98 per cent), but also Malaysia (one per cent) and Thailand (one per cent). Adrian puts this spread down to the fact that the app is only available in Burmese and English, although the plan is to expand services to more countries in the region, starting with neighbours like Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.

Village Link has received around US$640,000 seed funding. It’s a business. To survive, Myint knows that the company will need to make money. But although he has plans to charge in the future, perhaps after integrating additional features into the app, Village Link’s services are currently free. 

Also Read: Freshket nets US$3M to bring together farmers and food processors to supply fresh produce in Thailand

Gaining members and users is the task at hand, not chasing profit. It is not just an obvious strategy, but perhaps the only strategy, when you are trying to pitch a product or service to people who are happy using social media channels such as Facebook or who cannot afford to invest in new technology. Usually, it’s both. 

Money doesn’t grow on trees, at least not yet

Digital tools and innovations have the potential to make farming and agricultural supply chains more efficient and improve farmers’ prosperity. Which means farmers will have more money to invest in technology. Which means technology companies will be able to grow and create new products and solutions. 

So, if a technology company could succeed at cutting through to smallholders, to provide them with the types of solutions that would help them gain more control of their farms, this relationship could yield exponential and unlimited growth. 

It’s a nice bedtime story. But at the moment, startups have a lot of work to do and a lot more to prove before they can begin to reap a sweet harvest from the smallholder agribusiness market.

This is because Durian-grower Rocky Thooi is the rule, not the exception when it comes to farmers in Asia. Presently, only about 2.5 per cent of farmers in ASEAN are active users of digital technologies, according to Grow Asia. They are largely older farmers who make enough from their crops and livestock to survive and carry on, quite happily. 

Although Rocky was able to find the information he needed with the help of younger people on Facebook, he is not sitting around waiting for new innovations or tech-savvy millennials to parachute into the agricultural industry to save the day.  

“I’m excited to see and know more about technologies available for farmers,” said Rocky. “But I enjoy working on the farm manually so I’m fine not having too much help from technology.”

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: Pexels

The post What Asia’s smallholder farmers really need and why startups should lead this uncontested race appeared first on e27.

Neuroglee Therapeutics, a Singapore-based healthtech startup building evidence-based, prescription digital therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases, announced today that it has raised US$2.3 million in pre-seed funding.

The round was led by Eisai, a Japanese global pharmaceutical company. Kuldeep Singh Rajput, Founder & CEO of Biofourmis, also participated in the investment round. 

As per a press note, proceeds will be used to advance product development for their lead product NG-001 – intended for the treatment and management of patients with early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease. Clinical trials are due to start in early 2021 and the startup plans to open its US operations in Boston in 2021.

Neuroglee designs and commercialises digital therapies to fill the unmet need for complementary therapies to manage neurodegenerative diseases that can run in parallel with pharmacotherapy or treatment through medication.

Combining closed-loop cognitive intervention strategies and novel biomarkers, Neuroglee claims its prescription software can be used independently and in conjunction with pharmacotherapy for better patient management, creating a more holistic approach to treatment for neurodegenerative diseases.

“Neurodegenerative diseases is a severely underserved market, yet also one that is constantly growing as our population continues to age,” said Aniket Singh Rajput, Founder and CEO of Neuroglee.

Also Read: Why Singapore is ASEAN’s sandbox for innovation in healthtech

“Through the power of software, we are able to combine our expertise in cognitive neuroscience, behaviour modification and digital biomarkers into a digital form of treatment that augments conventional medication and bridges the gap between patient and clinician,” he added.

Kazumasa Nagayama, Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer of Eisai, explained in a press statement how their investment in the startup is in line with the company’s core philosophies.

“Neuroglee’s solution exemplifies this philosophy as it prioritises the wellbeing of both patients and caregivers, yet it also contributes to the greater scientific mission of finding a cure for these currently incurable diseases through facilitating data transparency. We are proud to support this cause and we are eager to work with Neuroglee to realise this vision,” he said.

NG-001 is designed to manage patients with early-stage Alzheimer’s by delivering software-based cognitive intervention at home.

Leveraging on Artificial Intelligence, the software deploys engaging gamification techniques and cognitive tasks on a digital tablet. The solution constantly tracks a patient’s cognitive function using digital biomarkers and dynamically personalises tasks and intervention for the patient. 

For example, the number and type of tasks and games offered can be adjusted based on the speed of the patient’s finger movements and task completion time.

The software also uses images from the patient’s past to evoke positive memories and emotions, which have been shown to improve cognitive function and reduce depression and anxiety when employed in tandem with other cognitive behavioural therapy techniques.

Using NG-001, Neuroglee claims caregivers and clinicians can monitor patient adherence to prescribed medication and their response to treatment when they are at home. This reduces the burden of care on caregivers by making them more accessible to the patient, allowing them to provide and follow up on care even when not physically present.

Also Read: The changing face of healthcare in a post pandemic world

For clinicians, real-time patient insights enable more accurate assessments of both drug and digital therapeutic treatments during in-person visits instead of having to rely on half-yearly check-ups and incomplete patient testimonials.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for better care models for seniors living with neurodegenerative diseases. Neuroglee’s digital therapeutics platform aims to set the benchmark for a new era of personalised, high quality, integrative care for people with dementia and those at risk,” said Professor Murali Doraiswamy, Co-founding Scientific Advisor at Neuroglee and a leading dementia researcher.

Neurodegenerative diseases affect millions of people worldwide. As per 2015 estimates, one in 10 people aged 60 years and above may have dementia in Singapore. 

Back in 2018, the overall global cost spent on dementia was already reported to be as high as US$1 trillion; these costs are likely to rise further due to ageing societies, which will see a corresponding increase in the number of patients with neurodegenerative diseases.  

However, developing their cures remains a significant challenge for the field. There has been no new pharmacological therapy approved for Alzheimer’s in the last 15 years. Although clinical studies of investigational drugs in the pipeline are currently underway, there remains an urgent need for adjunctive complementary therapies.

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Image Credit: Neuroglee

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Ladies and gentlemen, please meet LUCY.

South Korean startup Looxid Labs Inc. unveiled a biotechnology-powered cognitive care solution at the recently concluded Facebook Accelerator Seoul Demo Day.

Developed for an ageing population, LUCY is a powerful virtual-reality (VR) ‘brain training’ tool for people aged 50 and older. It is designed to help improve cognitive function like attention, memory, and perception, by capturing and interpreting behavioral and neurophysiological responses during use. 

Using AI in the healthcare market is a growing trend, expected to grow at a 39.4 per cent CAGR to over $10 billion by 2024. Tapping into this, Looxid Labs uses VR content to track and improve users cognitive function, eye tracking to monitor saccadic movements, and EEG to understand digital biomarkers such as Alpha-beta rhythms.

Also read: Why Seoul is emerging as Asia’s hottest startup hub

The product is both portable and easy-to-use, and runs on artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud-based technology. LUCY comes complete with a wireless VR headset to fully immerse the user in the experience, including EGG sensors to monitor brain activity. This allows the software to adapt and develop to each individual user. It also provides a full health report for users.

“It can help users feel connected with the world around them and feel less isolated. It also helps to improve overall cognitive health too,” said Brian Yongwook Chae, CEO of Looxid Labs. 

LUCY aims to help connect seniors through a number of forms, including games and learning-based tasks. The self-assessment style programme even makes suggestions on how users can improve their core cognitive skills.

“Crucially, the technology  can be used by an individual in their home, or as part of a larger community  – such as retirement and care homes.” said Chae. “We’re excited to unveil this next-level technology at Facebook Accelerator Seoul, prior to its anticipated launch in mid-2021.”

Some of the key features of LUCY, include:

Optimizes biometric data 

The most VR-compatible brain sensor module enables the VR headset to be more than just a gaming device. The innovative software integrates brainwaves and eye movement  collected from the VR headset and then transmits to a cloud platform, which can be shared with the end-user, providing valuable insight. 

Multi-modal interaction

The software monitors user actions with the biometric data, interpreted in real-time. This allows caregivers to access and manage the status of the user and chart their progress.

Synchronized cloud analytics

Data is automatically transferred to a cloud and shared across all platforms instantaneously. This allows information to be analyzed in real-time, for rich insights. These can be accessed by caregivers and individuals, via a downloadable health report.

Also read: KISED and SparkLabs to field Korean startups at the world’s largest tech event

“Our passion and belief is that LUCY will better the lives of those in their senior years,” said Chae. “We use the very latest AI technology to drive cognitive assessment and training tools for seniors.”

To learn more about Looxid Labs, please visit their official website here. They are also on Facebook and on YouTube.

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Today’s Guest – Aaron Shu but actually Sean

Today’s guest was supposed to be Aaron Shu, the Co-founder of Blerp.com, but he ended up interviewing me, so we cut the episode to reflect that. We hope you enjoy it!

Let’s give a warm welcome to Sean? LOL

• Twitter: @welivetobuild
• LinkedIn: Sean Weisbrot
• Website: We Live to Build

You’ll Learn

• How sound is important to everything we do
• The original idea behind Sidekick (Sean’s startup)
• How Psychology played a role in Sean starting his first business
• How Meditation is extremely important to being a great leader
• How to prevent bias from playing a huge role in validating your idea
• What does the future of events (and work) look like

Resources

And remember, Entrepreneurship is a Marathon, not a Sprint, so take care of yourself every day, so that you can live and love, and have the energy and the passion to run your business, and to invest in your team, and to find a way to appreciate those moments of happiness.

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This article was first published on We Live To Build.

Image Credit: Michal Czyz on Unsplash

The post Blerp Co-Founder Aaron Shu interviews with podcast host Sean Weisbrot appeared first on e27.

Otoklix, an Indonesian tech startup offering online-to-offline digital solutions for the automotive aftermarket, announced today it has secured a round of investment by Sequoia Capital India’s Surge.

This brings the total funds raised to date by the one-year-old startup to US$2 million, whose other investors are GK Plug and Play, Founders of Kopi Kenangan, Lentor Ventures, Noble Star Ventures and Andree Susanto, and Founder of Waresix.

With the fresh capital, Otoklix is targeting 500 partner workshops, 100,000 monthly cars serviced, and 75 per cent wallet share of partnered workshops total procurement by December 2021. 

Also Read: Digitalisation is driving the new normal for Southeast Asia’s automotive sector

The firm is part of the fourth cohort of Surge, a bi-annual rapid scale-up programme for startups in Southeast Asia and India. 

In Indonesia, servicing cars can be a cumbersome process. Visiting authorised dealers involve high costs and long queues while getting cars fixed at independent workshops can expose car owners to fraud risk, lack of standardisation and poor after-sales service.

Despite controlling 80 per cent of the total market in Indonesia, many of these workshops still manage transactions offline, restraining growth and margins.

“Indonesia’s automotive aftermarket sector is somewhat fragmented, creating numerous pain points for consumers due to a lack of information transparency, but it is also a relatively underestimated market that holds great potential,” said Martin Suryohusodo, Co-founder of Otoklix.

“When we look at the US market, shared mobility has positively impacted aftermarket spending by over 150 per cent, and this has really inspired us for the future in Indonesia. Our mission is to help mom-and-pop workshops through standardization to make the automotive service experience accessible and hassle-free for the wider community,” he added.

Also Read: O2O is the future of automotive retail

This is where Otoklix’s services come in handy. 

Founded in 2019, Otoklix claims it bridges the gap between automotive vehicle owners and Indonesia’s fragmented independent car workshop sector, improving vehicle maintenance experience for consumers and equipping workshops with business software solutions and procurement savings.

Otoklix claims it has more than 100 active workshops and currently services 10,000 cars monthly.

For vehicle owners, Otoklix claims its mobile app simplifies vehicle maintenance, allowing users to book services at any recommended independent workshop nearby and receive a standardised price and service level.

Car owners also receive a warranty for any transaction at an Otoklix partner workshop and can track their repair and maintenance history within the app.

For independent car workshops, Otoklix provides customer relationship management (CRM) and supply chain management (SCM) solutions to increase topline, margin and operational efficiency. Workshops also receive procurement savings by streamlining their car parts procurement directly from manufacturers to workshops.

Despite the pandemic, the company said it has grown its revenue by 13x and its customer base by 40x between April and October 2020.

Otoklix claims it is on a growth trajectory to become the largest aftermarket service network in Indonesia, which will have 20 million cars on its roads in the next five years.

Indonesia’s automotive aftermarket sector is projected to reach US$15 billion in value by 2025.

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Image Credit: Otoklix

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An annual consumer computer and electronics trade show, exhibition, and conference that takes place at the renowned Dubai World Trade Centre, Gitex Technology Week is the only live and in-person global tech show happening in 2020. With over 1,200 exhibitors from over 60 countries, over 300 incredible startups from over 40 countries, and over 200 of the most active investors and VCs from over 30 countries, Gitex Technology Week is one of the most anticipated events for tech innovators from around the world.

With its mission to gather influential stakeholders and industry leaders from the global tech ecosystem to set growth strategies for the future, the 40^th edition of Gitex Technology Week happening on December 6 to 10 will be lending its support to international efforts poised to reactivate economic and investment activities in the global landscape.

Joining the roster of startups and tech innovators who will be pitching and showcasing their technologies at the Gitex Technology Week’s global stage are 15 of the top early-stage startups from South Korea.

Through the efforts of the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development (KISED) and powered by SparkLabs, the 15 early-stage startups will be participating in a range of events including the Supernova Challenge (pitching competition), online booths, and networking. This initiative is set to pave the way for the 15 qualifying startups to jumpstart their venture into the UAE market.

These startups were carefully chosen after a rigorous selection process that included application review and in-person interviews, conducted as a part of a project that aims to help Korean startups showcase their businesses to international investors and potential business partners in some of the biggest tech events in the world.

The 2020 Global Pitching Competition Programme spearheaded by KISED seeks to help 45 of Korea’s early-stage startups explore the global market, discover different new technologies and innovations, and expose them to insights and best practices as shared by industry leaders from around the world.

“Korean startups have the DNA to enter the global market and we believe that through participating in these competitions, it will be an important first step towards global expansion,” share Eugene Kim, General Partner of SparkLabs.

Meanwhile, Edward Lee, Director of KISED, explained that “through participating in this event, teams who have advanced to the final rounds and even those that have not, will be able to gain a lot of valuable experience and be more prepared to venture into these countries’ markets in which these competitions take place.”

KISED aims to contribute to the development of the national economy through the growth of startup businesses and job opportunities and promote the technology-bases startups of future entrepreneurs by cultivating an entrepreneurial spirit.

Also read: KISED and SparkLabs to field Korean startups at the world’s largest tech event

15 participating startups

Ranging from various verticals including logistics, healthcare, and AI, the 15 early-stage startups that have successful qualified through the 2020 Global Pitching Competition Programme and who will be participating in the 40^th edition of Gitex Technology Week are the following:

Lives’talk – the company creates affordable and accessible solutions for the nomadic pastoralists.

Climeet – Climeet makes warm technology and service for wiser climate change adaptation.

Wonderbros – Wonderbros’ Smart Grab&Go connects people and brands by innovating offline retail experiences.

Strong Friends Company – the company offers safe exercise from connected fitness equipment with the use of IT technology.

Coconut Silo – Coconut Silo’s Cocotruck is a smart logistics solution for all stakeholders in the logistics market, which enables cargo owners to make an order in 5 minutes.

Omnis Labs Company – a computer vision platform designed for non-AI professionals.

Nuvi Labs – AI food scanner that detects the types and the amount of food available, and is used for reducing incredible amounts of food waste in kitchens and cafeterias.

BlockOdyssey – blockchain-based anti-counterfeiting solution.

KEMEDI – chat-based one-on-one expert driven care advice service operating as a family caregiver.

Marine Innovation – eco-friendly Products from Algae as alternatives to plastic and wood.

Terenz – delivers precision healthcare.

PUBLISH – content management solution helping news organisations combat misinformation and increase engagement.

BCLabs – number 1 trading strategy open marketplace where investors can shop directly for RoboAdvisor trading strategies developed by various algorithm developers.

OneCHARGE Solution – smart EV chargers & app.

UJURA COMPANY CO., LTD – AI-based feline health monitoring system.

How these early-stage startups fair so far

What makes this opportunity fantastic for these early-stage startups is how the companies themselves have been able to examine and understand how to position their businesses in UAE’s thriving market. They have also identified which particular gaps their solutions will be able to bridge, and being exposed to stakeholders and other entrepreneurs from this region only bolsters and emboldens these Korean startups.

Youngchan Yoon of Lives’talk explained that, “UAE will be a good economical, geographical, and political base for expanding our business in the Middle East and North Africa. There are lots of common ground between the pastoralists in Central Asia and the Middle East. Lives’Talk can apply knowledge and experience accumulated from Central Asia and provide the most fitting solution for the pastoralists in the Middle East.”

On the other hand, Yeseul Lee of Climeet expounded on the nature of their product and how it can ultimately figure in the UAE Market. Lee explained, “through satellite image and AI tech, Climeet has developed ‘Honey Rain’, an application which prevent crop damage from squall (tropical heavy rainfall). Due to climate change, extreme weather conditions are increasing day by day in Southeast Asia as well as in the UAE, which is located at a similar latitude (ITCZ zone).”

Lee added, “as a countermeasure against this, an interest in smart farming and precision agriculture in the UAE market has grown. Climeet provides a preemptive service to respond to the food crisis by utilising the squall forecast.”

Coconut Silo, a logistics/commercial vehicle specialised mobility startup, has found chances in UAE in two aspects: market expansion and fundraising. One stop total logistics solution, Cocotruck helps users to earn more money and save their time based on several technological features.

Also read: Why Seoul is emerging as Asia’s hottest startup hub

Meanwhile, as the leading commercial hub serving the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia, the UAE (especially Dubai) continues to play a central role as a regional trade and logistics. Marine Innovation wants to let the world know that the company, an environmental Korean startup has the goal to replace single-use plastics with their 100% biodegradable, sustainable seaweed-based paper cups, disposable plates, and grocery bags at the Dubai Expo 2020. Marine Innovation, in the UAE market, will demonstrate a commitment to preserving our planet and reducing the harmful impact of plastic on existing and future ecosystems.

Lastly, PUBLISH’s core product, a blockchain-based content management solution promises to bring more transparency and press freedom to the Middle East.

These are only some of the ways in which the Korea-based early-stage startups seek to fuel the UAE market with their tech innovations, proving once again that the country’s global stamp in technology is here to stay. With this initiative, KISED and SparkLabs hope to introduce more of Korea’s finest to the global market.

The post 15 early-stage startups from South Korea to showcase tech at Gitex Technology Week in Dubai appeared first on e27.

Self-driving cars have been all talk and very little action for nearly a decade. Operational perfection always seems “another ten years away”. This is hardly news. But there is big news on the automotive technology front. It’s called teleoperation, and it’s here to meet, and overcome challenges that autonomy cannot.

Simply put, teleoperation empowers a human to remotely monitor and control a motorised vehicle. From the operator’s standpoint it is deceptively simple. But that’s only because an ingenious and enormously complex blend of technologies makes it so.

Teleoperation enables the transmission of multiple video feeds from the vehicle to the command station, and instructions from the command station to the remotely operated vehicle, in virtual real time. However, unlike robo-taxis, autonomous pods and autonomous shuttles, teleoperation technology is road-ready right now. There is no need for new, specialised vehicles, even existing fleets can be retrofitted for remote operation.

Teleoperation’s relevance is all the more timely on account of COVID-19.

Consider the following scenarios:

A tunnel-digging vehicle must enter an extremely dangerous environment in order to perform a variety of tasks, each one with its own added hazards. For the human operator this is a high-risk operation with very real, possibly fatal, danger.

With the addition of cameras, modems and a vehicle-side (rugged) computer, this same vehicle can be operated by a human from the safety of a control centre located even thousands of kilometres away.  Furthermore, a single skilled operator can finish this operation and immediately “jump” to another location in order to perform another complex operation elsewhere entirely.

Also Read: Blockchain-based ride-hailing firm TADA raises US$5M to manufacture e-vehicles for SEA market

Relocation of the first piece of equipment can then be handled by a local driver. The ability to shift operators with the click of a button goes a long way to minimise risk, keeps workers safe, and ensures that only the most skilled people are doing the most skilled jobs.

There are some situations that already allow for vehicle autonomy. However, operational capability is limited. For example there are currently ports around the world that feature docks with Automated Guided Vehicles (AGV). These AGVs require a sterile environment in which human intervention is impossible without first shutting down the entire system throughout the particular zone.

Hence, when a single AGV gets into a situation it cannot handle – and in some ports this occurs on a daily basis – the entire zone must be shut down before an engineer can access that AGV and fix the problem. However, with teleoperation that same engineer can remotely connect with the troubled AGV in order to give commands, draw a new path, or otherwise control it without having to interrupt any other AGV’s operation. Overall productivity no longer has to suffer just because one AGV is in distress.

Forklifts are another scenario involving autonomous equipment that benefits greatly from teleoperation. These vehicles autonomously manoeuver around a warehouse or loading facility. However, the act of manipulating the fork, and the loading and unloading of goods and pallets is no easy feat and requires a human operator. Sitting in a remote location, a forklift operator can hop between vehicles as needed, while autonomy takes care of any point-to-point driving.

Now we all know about military UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) that are controlled from the ground, often thousands of miles away.  But the era of UGVs, Unmanned Ground Vehicles, is just dawning thanks, again, to teleoperation. Military forces have an acute need for the deployment of unmanned vehicles for operations in hostile environments.

Unmanned, teleoperated vehicles are poised to save countless lives, and are ideal for reconnaissance, assault, supply chain or even human transport like with extricating wounded or trapped personnel.

Also Read: Infographic: The road to self-driving cars

In each of the above scenarios teleoperation is meant to protect lives, reduce operational costs and increase efficiency. In addition, teleoperation is also environmentally sound. Most industrial vehicles are diesel powered, so any operational improvement can lead to substantial reduction in energy consumption and emissions.

For example, teleoperation can do just that by reducing dwell time for trucks waiting to pick up or unload their cargo at port entrances. Once dwell time is reduced, drivers no longer need to wait in their cabins and run their engines for heating or air conditioning.

Numerous technologies are now poised to have a huge impact on industry, productivity and the environment. Most of these will soon be ready. When they are, they should be deployed right away. Teleoperation is already past the starting gate, and ready for deployment, to increase safety, efficiency and cost effectiveness.

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Image credit: Samuele Errico Piccarini on Unsplash

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