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AVPN Announces 18 Grantees of USD 5 Million Sustainability Seed Fund 2.0 and the Sustainability Solutions Lab Resource Hub
AVPN, the largest network of social investors in Asia, announced the grantees of the APAC Sustainability Seed Fund (SSF) 2.0, which is a USD 5 million catalytic initiative supported by Google.org, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), as the strategic and outreach partner. AVPN will award 18 non-profit organisations with funding to implement and scale innovative technology-led solutions that tackle pressing climate and sustainability challenges in the Asia Pacific region. Building on the June 2024 launch of the APAC Sustainability Solutions Lab, which received an additional USD 2 million grant from Google.org, the Lab will now serve as a resource hub for grantees from both APAC SSF 1.0 and 2.0. It will provide capacity building support to grantee partners and increase their visibility, enhancing the impact of their innovative solutions.
The Asia Pacific region is home to seven of the world’s ten most climate-vulnerable countries, where climate change poses an ‘existential threat’[1] and the potential to cause long-term impact to future generations. Weather events in APAC in 2022 affected more than 50 million people directly, with an upwards of USD 36 billion in economic losses[2]. The failure to adapt to growing climate risks has posed significant economic and social threats. While technology has emerged as a transformative force to offer innovative avenues to address these challenges, climate technologies remain severely underfunded.
Building on the success of SSF 1.0 Fund, the APAC SSF 2.0 seeks to nurture and amplify solutions that harness technology to address urgent climate impact areas such as renewable energy and decarbonisation, climate adaptation, waste management and/or circular economy, air quality, water preservation and biodiversity protection. The grantees, based across the Asia Pacific region, will leverage technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and application software in their climate solutions. Grantees include:
Australia – Cool.org
India – INREM Foundation, CEPT Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), Institute for Financial Management and Research, Gujarat Mahila Housing Sewa Trust
Indonesia – YAKKUM Emergency Unit, Gringgo Indonesia Foundation, Perkumpulan Jaringan Pantau Gambut
Japan – Social Innovation Japan, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
New Zealand – Wildlife.ai Trust
Singapore – Imagine H2O Asia
South Korea – Coalition for Our Common Future
Thailand – Asian Institute of Technology, Sathira-Dhammasathan
The Philippines – University of the Philippines Public Administration Research and Extension Services Foundation, Inc., Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST)
Vietnam – Vietnam Rural Industries Development and Research Institute (VIRI)
The Fund will support grantees’ efforts in scaling their solutions, provide networking opportunities and capacity building, fostering and simplifying solutions that harness the power of technology for climate adaptation and mitigation to ensure a positive and lasting impact in Asia.
Additionally, AVPN will offer selected grantees of APAC SSF 1.0 and 2.0 access to the Sustainability Solutions Lab. The Lab will provide technical capacity building support, develop impactful case studies, create opportunities for dialogue and hold roundtable discussions with stakeholders. Its goal is to enhance grantees’ impact, build their capacity, and to create a supportive ecosystem. By increasing the visibility of successful grantees, the Lab will enable them to showcase how advanced technologies tackle key sustainability issues and effectively communicate their solutions to social investors, government, and other key stakeholders, thus facilitating the scaling of their innovations.
Naina Subberwal Batra, CEO of AVPN, shared, “At AVPN, we recognise capital – financial, human, and intellectual – is crucial for initiating and advancing climate innovations often overlooked by traditional funding mechanisms. Through APAC SSF 2.0, we aim to channel resources into the early stages of the Continuum of Capital to support these grantees. By mobilising these resources, we can support and unlock the potential of their innovations to help the region adapt and respond to climate impacts. Done right, this not only drives the development of transformative solutions, but ensures their expansion and adoption in the regions that need them the most.”
Andrew Ure, Managing Director, Government Affairs and Public Policy, Southeast Asia at Google, said, “The Asia-Pacific region faces significant vulnerabilities due to climate change. However, amidst this challenge lies tremendous opportunity. Organisations, social investors, and researchers across the region are uniting to develop innovative solutions, leveraging technologies like AI to address this critical issue. We are proud to support social impact organisations like AVPN in the region to foster scalable solutions and accelerate collaborative efforts. Together, we can build a more sustainable and resilient future for the region.”
Stephanie King-Chung Hung, Chief Information Officer and Director General, Information Technology Department at Asia Development Bank said, “Advanced digital solutions are pivotal in boosting resilience and adaptive capacities in the face of climate challenges. Our support for the Fund underscores the importance of targeted financing in promoting these innovations. We are committed to helping communities, especially those most vulnerable, thrive amidst environmental pressures by facilitating the development and broader implementation of vital climate solutions.”
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SUBBD and Luna PR Join Forces to Shape the Future of AI-Powered Content Creation
SUBBD, an AI-powered content creation platform designed to empower digital creators, is proud to announce its strategic partnership with Luna PR, a global marketing and communications agency specialising in web3 and emerging technologies. This collaboration aims to accelerate SUBBD’s mission of empowering digital creators by leveraging advanced AI and blockchain technology.
Luna PR will leverage its extensive web3 expertise to support SUBBD with comprehensive communications strategies, social media management, and targeted marketing campaigns. With a proven track record of over 600 successful projects since 2017 and a presence in four key global cities, Luna PR is uniquely positioned to elevate SUBBD’s brand presence and community engagement.
Maral Nouri, COO of Luna PR, stated: “As content creators ourselves, we understand the importance of staying ahead in today’s fast-paced digital landscape. Our partnership with SUBBD reflects this vision, empowering creators to effortlessly push boundaries and become trendsetters. SUBBD’s transformative platform equips creators with advanced AI tools to stay ahead of the curve, and we’re excited to support this evolution in content creation.”
Gabrielle Taylor, CEO of SUBBD, commented: “Partnering with Luna PR marks a significant step in our journey to transform the content creation industry. Luna PR’s expertise and strategic insights make them the ideal partner as we expand our platform and continue to support creators in maximising their potential through AI-powered solutions.”
SUBBD is transforming content creation with its AI-powered platform, designed to empower digital creators by enhancing autonomy, improving monetisation, and building deeper audience connections. By developing proprietary AI solutions, SUBBD is redefining how content is created, managed and monetised. With features like AI Personal Assistant, AI-driven content creation, blockchain security, and advanced analytics, SUBBD is pushing boundaries to help creators maximise their potential in the digital creator economy.
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[2024 Pujiang Innovation Forum] Highlights of WeStart2024
As an integral part of the 17th Pujiang Innovation Forum, WeStart2024 was held at Dongjiao State Guest Hotel and Zhangjiang Science Hall, Shanghai from September 7 to 10. Under the theme of “Refactoring & Renewal”, this year’s conference focused on sci-tech entrepreneurship and investment, aiming to create a global entrepreneurship investment platform that bridges projects with capital. This platform leverages capital to bolster sci-tech innovation and economic transformation. The four-day event boasted two main forums, one symposium, 13 roadshow marathons, and multiple industry sharing sessions. Renowned investment agencies like CICC, Zero2IPO, and Shenzhen Capital Group were invited to delve into the innovative investment landscape, exploring avenues for global collaboration, building a new paradigm of entrepreneurship investment, and stimulating new drivers to sci-tech innovation.
Let’s review the highlights.
Shanghai has been fortifying its position as a global sci-tech innovation center by intensifying element concentration, enhancing functions and services, and cultivating a comprehensive sci-tech ecosystem. This has turned Shanghai into a heaven for entrepreneurship and a magnet for investment. WeStart2024 brought together government bodies, experts, scholars, venture firms at home and abroad, sci-tech businesses, and nearly 1,000 audience professionals to discuss entrepreneurship investment and create an ecosystem for sci-tech innovation together through diverse sci-tech innovation stakeholders, transforming this ecosystem from a strategic blueprint into reality.
On September 8, WeStart2024 kicked off with main forums, featuring 13 keynote speeches and two roundtable dialogues. Key sci-tech finance terms such as “patient capital”, “fundraising, investment, management and exit”, “investment in early-stage, small, long-term and hard technologies”, “angel investment”, and “high-quality development of the capital market” were frequently mentioned, becoming the focal point of discussions and highlighting the future development of sci-tech finance. The roundtable dialogues unveiled the latest sci-tech investment opportunities and delved into trends, current statuses, and strategies of sci-tech entrepreneurship investment amidst new situations and transformative environments.
The exhibition hall housed a Start-ups Exhibition Zone, showcasing nearly 20 TOP100 roadshow projects and products and the investment ecosystems and achievements of three to five leading venture firms through the linkage of the Entrepreneur Joint Exhibition Zone, the Investment Institution Zone, and the One-to-One Negotiation Zone. There were boards briefing on typical sci-tech businesses in the fields of biomedicine and AI. Social scenes for entrepreneurship investment were also offered to facilitate direct communication between projects and investors.
WeStartTOP100, a new addition to the Startup in Shanghai International Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, was launched in June. It selected 100 projects from over 2,000 global entries for on-site roadshows during the conference. The four-day event featured 13 marathon project roadshows with over 100 projects, focusing on six key areas: three in hard tech—biomedicine, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing—and three in future industries—future information, future materials, and future energy.
A special roadshow for universities was also held, where Shanghai-based universities, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, ShanghaiTech University, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai Ocean University, East China Normal University, Shanghai University, and Shanghai Polytechnic University, displayed high-quality research projects. Focusing on exchanges and investment and financing matchmaking in cutting-edge interdisciplinary areas and core technologies in key fields, this roadshow further propelled the commercialization of S&T outcomes in universities. The special roadshow for Hong Kong University of Science and Technology introduced top-notch innovative projects from Hong Kong universities to Shanghai, fostering a new chapter for sci-tech cooperation between the two cities.
In particular, the conference prioritized global vision and international cooperation. During the international roadshow, high-quality projects from countries and regions like France, Germany, Hungary, Zimbabwe, and Morocco, as well as Hong Kong (China), were selected to compete. This facilitated interaction between domestic and foreign entrepreneurship investment resources and explored new paths for global collaboration. A 365-day “never-ending” global entrepreneurship investment cooperation and matchmaking mechanism was established to effectively link international sci-tech innovation talent, technology, capital, and market, empowering the sound development of sci-tech entrepreneurship investment.
Furthermore, the conference collaborated with leading players in entrepreneurship investment, Shanghai State-owned Capital Investment Co., Ltd. and CICC Capital, to open special roadshows. Leveraging the expertise and resources of investment agencies, these roadshows directly linked both sides of entrepreneurship investment, working with numerous sci-tech players on-site to explore high-quality projects and fully support entrepreneurs.
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Tata Electronics and Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) Announce Strategic Partnership to Grow Semiconductor Ecosystem in India
Tata Electronics today signed a memorandum of understanding with Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL), a leading global supplier of semiconductor equipment and services. The two companies will collaborate to accelerate semiconductor equipment infrastructure for India’s first Fab being built by Tata Electronics in Dholera, Gujarat, and for its assembly and test facility in Jagiroad, Assam.
Through this partnership, Tata Electronics and TEL will also focus on training Tata Electronics’ workforce on TEL equipment and supporting ongoing improvement and R&D initiatives. This collaboration will leverage the strengths of both companies to establish a robust semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in India.
As previously announced, Tata Electronics is building India’s first Fab in Dholera, Gujarat, with a total investment of INR 91,000 crores (~US$11bn). In addition, another INR 27,000 crores (~US$3bn) will be invested in a greenfield facility in Jagiroad, Assam, for the assembly and testing of semiconductor chips. Together, these facilities will produce semiconductor chips for applications across automotive, mobile devices, artificial intelligence (AI), and other key segments to serve customers globally. As the construction of these facilities progresses, it is critical to grow partnerships across the entire semiconductor ecosystem, spanning process and design technology, as well as equipment suppliers. With this announcement of the partnership with TEL, Tata Electronics has solidified a critical pillar to achieve its execution targets.
Dr Randhir Thakur, Managing Director & CEO, Tata Electronics, said, “We have a bold vision of becoming a leader in electronics manufacturing by offering integrated solutions across the value chain to our global customers. TEL has a history of working closely with its customers, and its expertise in the semiconductor equipment space will help build a dynamic ecosystem to support the timely execution of bringing up our Fab and advanced packaging factories. We are excited about the customer centricity that TEL brings to this partnership.”
Toshiki Kawai, President & CEO of Tokyo Electron Limited, emphasised, “We are delighted to announce our partnership with Tata Electronics, which brings together our combined expertise and resources to strengthen the semiconductor ecosystem in India significantly. This strategic collaboration spans both front-end fabrication and back-end packaging technologies, highlighting our commitment to delivering exceptional support and value to Tata Electronics. By leveraging our collective strengths, we aim to accelerate development and drive innovation across multiple technology nodes. Together, we are poised to set new benchmarks in the industry, fostering a robust and dynamic semiconductor landscape that will benefit all stakeholders.”
TEL is committed to supporting the Indian semiconductor ecosystem. Both the front-end and back-end product groups will provide resources and technology support to bring advanced TEL products to the Indian market. TEL will lead this effort by also offering diversified products for the MAGIC market (MAGIC—Metaverse, Autonomous Mobility, Green Energy, IoT & Information, Communications). TEL will actively explore opportunities to leverage India’s talent to establish an engineering service in India to support its global product development.
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