UNREASONABLE IMPACT™ is a multi-year partnership between Barclays and Unreasonable Group to launch the world’s first international network focused on scaling up entrepreneurial solutions that will help employ thousands worldwide, while solving some of our most pressing societal challenges. Barclays and Unreasonable share a belief that highgrowth entrepreneurs are well-placed to combat projected job loss from automation by creating the jobs of the future. Furthermore, Barclays and Unreasonable believe that entrepreneurial solutions are best primed for scale when supported by a major corporation that is able to accelerate their growth. Thus, the programmes are carefully designed to support growth-stage ventures with advice and guidance from a global community of world-class mentors and industry specialists. Unreasonable Impact consists of three intensive twoweek programs held annually in three distinct regions: the Americas, U.K. & Europe, and Asia Pacific. Having completed three full years of programmes, the global network consists of 94 ventures that collectively reach 187 million customers and support more than 28,000 jobs in more than 180 countries. To date, the companies have also raised over $2 billion USD in funding and generated over $1.9 billion USD in revenue. The 2019 Asia Pacific program marks the beginning of Unreasonable Impact’s fourth year, and welcomes a new cohort of 15 ventures into the growing global network.
Claro Energy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06 CROWDE
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
08
Ecoware
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
10
EM3 AgriServices
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
12
Evercomm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ideaForge
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
16
IGL Coatings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Jasberry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Lawrencedale Agro Processing . . . . . . 22 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
24
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
26
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
28
Marvelous Foods Neutral Fuels OriCiro
Plastic Bank
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
30
S4S Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 String Bio
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
34
Claro Energy Revolutionising the social and economic fabric of rural India through solar pumping technology.
SEC TO R
Clean Energy
R EGIO N
India
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Soumitra Mishra
TIT LE
Co-Founder & CEO
claroenergy.in
India’s future is inherently linked to rural prosperity. Claro Energy aims to make water affordable and readily available for farmers and rural communities in India. The company operates in high power deficit, diesel dependent, agrarian, and poor economic regions, using solar energy to develop mass irrigation solutions and generate power at point of use. They offer the entire spectrum of solar pumping solutions, ranging from 0.5 Horse Power (HP) to 10HP, AC and DC solar pumps, Surface and Submersible pumps, across applications such as irrigation, drinking water, aeration, and fisheries. Claro Energy’s farmers experience an increase in income, reduced cost of irrigation by 50 percent, significant reduction of diesel, and more sustainable and prosperous economies. Claro has expanded their value-add to include mini-grid power systems, which become the economic centre of the villages in which they operate, as well as a produce marketplace to serve their farmers end-to-end.
Soumitra is Co-Founder and CEO of Claro Energy. Soumitra is responsible for setting the strategic direction of the company within the Agriculture and Solar Energy markets in India. He is also responsible for product, technology, and raising equity financing for the company. Soumitra brings significant engineering, operations, and market development experience. Before Claro Energy, Soumitra worked with SunEdison, Solyndra, Biogen, and Genentech in the United States. Soumitra has a Bachelor of Technology from IIT Bombay, a Co-Founder & CEO Master of Engineering from MIT Cambridge, and an MBA from Kellogg School of Management.
Soumitra Mishra
7
CROWDE Empowering farmers to become Agropreneurs with a cashless agricultural capital platform.
SEC TO R
Financial Technology
R EGIO N
Indonesia
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Yohanes Sugihtononugroho
TIT LE
Co-Founder & CEO
crowde.co
CROWDE is an agriculture-focused fintech startup that empowers farmers across Indonesia with technology and capital, connecting borrowers to retail and institutional lenders. Beyond connecting investors and farmers, CROWDE also integrates the entire agriculture ecosystem from suppliers to customers through technology, so that disbursement can be cashless and transparent. Capital is raised from crowd-investors as well as banks; but instead of given to farmers as cash, it is transferred to input providers who provide farmers with heavily discounted inputs due to the economies of scale. CROWDE also informs farmers what types of produce to grow based on market needs from CROWDE’s marketplace. When it is time to harvest, the farmer has no worries if the market is ripe for their product because a buyer has already been lined up. Profits are then shared with the farmers and investors at the end of the process. In this way, the farmers do not need to manage cash and receive the absolute best return — currently, three times their normal income — due to CROWDE’s market insights and economies of scale.
Yohanes started the journey to founding CROWDE after having worked as a farmer himself, planting chilies and mushrooms in the Bogor area, and moving on to poultry farming a few years later. He enjoyed every aspect of it and has had a passion for agriculture ever since. However, he learned the hard way that the result of farming on his personal finances was not as pleasant as the process of farming itself. After going bankrupt, he realised that farmers in Indonesia are in desperate need of help. It made no sense that in Indonesia, an agrarian nation whose growth depends Co-Founder & CEO on the agricultural sector, so many farmers live below the line. So Yohanes decided, along with his dear friend, Risyad, to build CROWDE in order to revolutionise the agricultural sector in Indonesia. Today, CROWDE reaches more than 10,000 farmers with the help of more than 20,000 personal lenders, and has collaborated with three major institutional lenders.
Yohanes Sugihtononugroho
9
Ecoware Creating 100 percent biodegradable, eco-friendly, and compostablecertified food packaging and garbage bags.
SEC TO R
Circular Economy
R EGIO N
Australia, Chile, Ecuador, France, Kenya, Kuwait, Paraguay, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, United Arab Emirates, United States
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Rhea Mazumdar Singhal
TIT LE
Founder & CEO
ecoware.in
Ecoware is India’s first and largest sustainable food packaging company. The Ecoware range of 26 compostable products includes tableware, cutlery and takeaway packaging. All products are 100 percent natural and biodegrade within 90 days. They use only local, raw materials, thereby keeping their costs and carbon footprint low. Ecoware takes immense pride in being over-certified. The company is the only USDA Bio-based certified manufacturer in India, is PFAS free, and has been audited on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) parameters and achieved USD $2.41 of impact for every USD $1 invested. Ecoware has 12 sales partners globally, 23 distributors in India and more than 150 point-of-sales shops across India. They export to Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Peru, France, Ecuador, Kenya, South Africa, and the Caribbean. Ecoware actively works with farmers to turn their biomass — which is usually burned — into a source of positive outcomes. From rice and sugarcane to wheat or palm, Ecoware takes what was once waste and turns it into a 100 percent ecofriendly product, curbing the production of plastics and their dispersion into the natural environment.
Rhea Mazumdar Singhal is the Founder and CEO of Ecoware, India’s first and largest sustainable packaging company. Rhea was awarded the Nari Shakti Puraskar, the highest civilian honor for women by the President of India. Rhea is a World Economic Forum Young Global Leader and a member of the CII National Committee on Women Empowerment & Clean Air. Rhea has attended the University of Bristol, Oxford and Harvard University. Prior to founding Ecoware, Rhea was a senior sales executive at Pfizer Inc., U.K. Rhea founded Ecoware with the sole aim of Founder & CEO solving India’s plastic menace. Ecoware disrupted the food packaging industry by introducing a fully compostable alternative to plastic. One of Rhea’s greatest successes has been persuading the Indian Railways, the largest food service operator in India, to switch to Ecoware biodegradable trays. Rhea has been featured in major national and international publications and has appeared as a speaker at events such as Salesforce and the National Commission for Women in India.
Rhea Mazumdar Singhal
11
EM3 AgriServices Helping smallscale farmers keep up with globalisation through farm mechanisation and technology services.
SEC TO R
Agricultural Technology
R EGIO N
India
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Adwitiya Mal
TIT LE
Co-Founder & CEO
em3agri.com
EM3 AgriServices brings expensive farming technology to farmers on a pay-for-use basis in order to help smallscale farmers keep up with globalisation and advances in agriculture tech. It does so through its farming-asa-service platform, Samadhan, which deploys an app, physical call centers, and human representatives that interact with its largely offline consumer base. Each center, managed through IT-enabled systems and manned by agri-professionals, is equipped to handle a comprehensive suite of basic and precision farm operations throughout the entire crop production cycle: land preparation, sowing/ transplanting, crop management, harvesting, and postharvest farm management. Like any businessman, a farmer needs standardised quality, transparent billing, and timely service, all provided on the platform. Farmers can easily reach EM3 to book their services, can monitor the work being done on their fields, and can manage all transactions through Samadhan. A recent USD $10 million Series B funding round expanded EM3’s work to more provinces in India, and the company has also partnered with local governments and leading Indian and global equipment manufacturers.
Adwitiya is Co-Founder and CEO of EM3 AgriServices. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics (with Honors) from Delhi University and completed his MBA at the Simon School of Business, University of Rochester. He started his career as a front line sales manager with ICICI Prudential, a leading private insurance company in India. Following his MBA, he moved to Hong Kong where he was the Strategy Manager at AXA Insurance’s Asia Headquarters and was responsible for developing corporate strategy for the group’s 19 Co-Founder & CEO businesses across 10 countries in Asia. The desire to do something large and impactful in India brought Adwitiya back to co-found EM3 AgriServices.
Adwitiya Mal
13
Evercomm Providing energy-saving solutions and management tools for enterprises.
SEC TO R
Renewable Energy
R EGIO N
Israel, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Evercomm Singapore provides Asset Performance Management (APM) solutions for energy-intensive enterprises. The core focus of their product is to harness IoT and machine learning technologies to simplify energy complexity and daily operations. The AI-driven APM dramatically reduces integration cost and time, enables real-time analytics correlating sensor data and equipment profiles, and extracts critical operation insights along with indexing equipment performance at scale. The company’s holistic energy management approach (combining both energy supply and demand) is codeveloped with the Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University under the Smart Multi-Energy System (SMES) initiative. Evercomm also works with the United Nations, country leaders, and large conglomerates to build and train the pipeline of human resources that is needed in order to fill the necessary roles that sustainability and industry digitisation require.
Chiu-Hao (Ted) Chen
TIT LE
Co-Founder, CEO & Chief Product Architect
evercomm.com.sg
Ted is the Co-Founder of Evercomm Singapore — one of APAC’s top energy IoT startup in the clean-tech sector. Being cited in the Singapore parliament and recognised as one of the digital pioneers in the country, Ted works closely with Singapore’s government on various industry transformation initiatives, and has designed a new, sustainable ICT framework and data policy with the United Nations. Ted has also been invited to speak at various international forum such as the United Nations Highlevel Political Forum on Sustainable Development, World Urban Forum, and Co-Founder, CEO & Chief ASEAN +3 Young Entrepreneurs Forum Product Architect to promote sustainability and green entrepreneurship. In his commitment to expand and advance the role of youth in ICT, Ted works as a Science-Policy Interface Focal Point for the United Nations Major Group for Children & Youth (UN MGCY). Ted received the Nanyang Outstanding Young Alumni Award from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, and made it to Forbes’ inaugural 30 Under 30 Asia list, under the category of Manufacturing and Energy.
Chiu-Hao (Ted) Chen
15
ideaForge Manufacturing best-inclass UAVs for defense, security, and industrial applications.
SEC TO R
Autonomous Vehicles
R EGIO N
India
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Ankit Mehta
TIT LE
Co-Founder & CEO
ideaforge.co.in
ideaForge is the global leader in UAV technology, manufacturing best-in-class drones for defense, enterprise, disaster response, and agricultural applications. As a pioneer in research, development, production and operation of compact, cost-effective and user-friendly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), their determination on designing sustainable and efficient products has presented them an opportunity to become market leaders in their area of expertise. ideaForge is a vertically integrated company which is equipped with in-house R&D, design, manufacturing, software, services and training operations. This provides the flexibility to customise products for an array of requirements. The company also provides endto-end UAV solutions and services to the industrial and commercial sectors.They are recipients of the Marico Innovation Foundation Award and have been named the Best Product Design Company by IESA. ideaForge is continually innovating and experimenting to transform its aerial platforms, to offer greater performance, higher reliability and autonomy, and greater impact.
Ankit Mehta is the Co-Founder and CEO of ideaForge Technology, a next-generation drone systems company that manufactures advanced Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for Defense and Geospatial applications. Ankit joined IIT Bombay in the year 2000 to pursue a Dual Degree (B.Tech. and M.Tech.) in Mechanical Engineering, specialising in Computer-Aided Design and Automation. As a student at IITB, he implemented over 20 hardware projects, with a select few being handpicked for patenting. Ankit founded ideaForge straight out of college in 2007. Ankit currently plays a prominent Co-Founder & CEO role in defining and standardising the UAV regulations in India, providing neutral policy suggestions to positively impact the entire industry. He was listed as one of the top 35 entrepreneurs under the age of 35 in India, and on a separate occasion, was invited to join 200 other CEOs in a discussion about the future growth of India with the country’s Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi. Ankit is Co-Chair, FICCI Committee on Drones and is also a member of FICCI Young Leaders Forum.
Ankit Mehta
17
IGL Coatings Formulating and manufacturing eco-friendly, sustainable, highperformance coatings for industrial and consumer applications.
SEC TO R
IGL Coatings is a technology firm based in Malaysia with the core focus of developing innovative and disruptive nanotechnology products that are set to redefine the industry. They are the world pioneers of low- and zeroVOC high-solids coatings. Their product range includes coatings, cleaning, and maintenance for various surfaces including paint, plastic, metal, fabric, wood, glass, and cement for automotive, marine, aviation and industrial applications. They are the first in the industry to have their nanotechnology audited and verified by Nanoverify.
Nanotechnology
R EGIO N
51 countries
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Keong Chun Chieh
TIT LE
Founder & CEO
iglcoatings.com
With a relentless focus on R&D, IGL works not only to replace toxic and dangerous chemicals and coatings, but also to eliminate the toxic and dangerous processes that are often used to make the industry’s “standard eco-friendly” products. But the bottom line of IGL is their customers; they strive to build products that allow the entrepreneurs who use them to build successful and sustainable businesses. Keong is the Founder and CEO of IGL Coatings, which incorporated in 2015. Together with other industry experts, Keong formulated the first ceramic coatings which spearheaded IGL’s green movement. From there, his R&D team researched and developed ecofriendly coatings that reduce the need for water and harsh chemicals for maintenance. IGL is his first startup, and he looks forward to the entrepreneurial challenges ahead.
Keong Chun Chieh Founder & CEO
19
Jasberry Bringing farmers out of poverty by sharing Thailand’s healthiest natural and organic products with the rest of the world.
SEC TO R
Sustainable Agriculture
R EGIO N
Germany, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United States
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Peetachai “Neil” Dejkraisak
TIT LE
Co-Founder & CEO
jasberry.net
Jasberry is a social enterprise that aims to solve the problem of farmer poverty through innovative organic products with global appeal. Employing an inclusive business model, they partner with over 2,500 small-scale farmers’ families in rural Thailand to grow Jasberry® rice, a new variety of ultra-nutritious, non-GMO, wholegrain rice developed by scientists in Thailand over the last 10 years. As a social business, Jasberry generated over $1.8M USD in additional income and benefits for their farmers last year. Daily pay has increased from $0.40 to about $6 a day, crop yields are increasing 60 percent per year, and costs have declined 25 percent during the past five years. By creating a network of co-operatives that function under the same ethos, principles, and regulations, the company can launch organic products into an international market with consistent quality and availability. Additionally, Jasberry helps farmers diversify their income streams and capabilities by providing access to loans via a partnership with Kiva. Jasberry is the only certified B-Corp food company in Thailand.
Peetachai (Neil) is CEO and Co-Founder of Siam Organic, a social enterprise that was established with a mission to alleviate the problem of poverty among Thai farmers. Founded in 2011, Siam Organic solves the problem of farmer poverty through innovative organic products with a global appeal under the brand Jasberry®. Jasberry currently works with over 2,500 small-scale farmers’ households in the Northeastern part of Thailand, helping them to increase their income multiple times by managing the entire agricultural value chain. Under Neil’s Co-Founder & CEO leadership, Jasberry has been recognised globally for its third-party verified social impact. Some of the awards they have won include: Winner of the Chivas Venture 2017 - $1M prize for best social enterprise in the world, ‘Spark the Fire’ Champion at Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2016, and Grand Prize Winner at DBS-NUS Social Venture Challenge Asia 2016.
Peetachai “Neil” Dejkraisak
21
Lawrencedale Agro Processing Bringing safe and hygienic fresh fruits and vegetables to the marketplace by empowering all shareholders in the agricultural value chain.
Lawrencedale Agro Processing is India’s leading end-toend supply chain specialist in fresh produce, owning the entire value chain — right from harvest to retail shelves. With this expertise in post-harvest management, they are pioneering India’s most trusted fresh produce brand, ’LEAF’. Lawrencedale’s modus operandi is designed to empower every stakeholder in the value chain, meaning better margins for farmers, value added services for retailers, and fresh and safe products for consumers.
SEC TO R
Agricultural Technology
R EGIO N
India
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Vijayaraghavan Palat
LEAF community farming interventions are designed to enhance every stage of the crop life cycle, allowing farmers to increase both quality and quantity of their yield and bypass intermediaries. The company ensures that produce stays fresh and safe throughout the value chain journey, using state-of-the-art, automated processing units to clean, grade, dry, store, treat, package, and re-package for retail. With technology at the helm of its integrated coldchain logistics model, LEAF promises quality produce while drastically reducing wastage and returning that margin gain to the farmers.
TIT LE
CEO
lawrencedale.com
Vijayaraghavan spent over a decade in rural development services, based out of the Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu. As the economy of the district is driven by horticulture, Vijay saw a business opportunity in this space. Given the state of traditional agriculture and the uniqueness of Nilgiris produce, Vijay put together a plan to improve the farming practices by engaging with the farming community and post-harvest management of crops with the help of technology. This led to the founding of LEAF in 2009 along with a few friends who shared his dream. Under his CEO leadership, LEAF has created a business that engages directly with the farmers, and that processes, sorts, grades, packs, and supplies safe and fresh vegetables. Today, LEAF is a pioneer in several aspects of the horticulture value chain, benefiting farmers, consumers, and retailers in southern India. LEAF has ambitious plans to expand its base of operations to other parts of the country.
Vijayaraghavan Palat
23
Marvelous Foods Expanding consumer interest in plant-based food options with China’s first dairy-free coconut yogurt.
SEC TO R
Plant-Based Food
R EGIO N
China
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Christiana Zhu
Marvelous Foods is a China-based company aiming to sustainably nourish the world’s fastest-growing market with delicious and innovative plant-powered superfoods. It is dedicated to creating attractive modern plantbased products and brands, targeted at Chinese flavor preferences and consumption habits, that consumers will happily choose over traditionally animal-based products for superior taste, nutrition and environmental impact. The company first emerged as an answer to health issues the Founder developed upon moving to China. In a country where 80% of the population experiences lactose intolerance, she was surprised to find little to no alternative food options (in particular absolutely no plantbased yogurt!). Raised in New Zealand to Chinese parents, she was passionate about plant-based nutrition as a tool for healing, so she created China’s first dairy-free coconut yogurt brand, Yeyo. Marvelous Foods is currently building China’s first production line for diary-free coconut yogurt, and seeking investment to bring on other product lines, including dairy-alternative products and plant-based protein products.
TIT LE
Founder & CEO
unreasonablegroup.com/companies/marvelous-foods/
Christiana Zhu, Founder and CEO of Marvelous Foods, is a Chinese-Kiwi entrepreneur based in Beijing. Christiana transitioned into entrepreneurship after a career in consumer marketing where she was a China specialist for New Zealand tourism boards and head of marketing for award-winning sustainable luxury travel company WildChina. Christiana discovered her passion for health and nutrition after developing severe food allergies on her relocation to Beijing and mending her health through plant-based eating. The experience opened her eyes to how few options there were for sustainable, Founder & CEO allergy-friendly packaged foods in China. She founded Marvelous Foods to address this gap, starting with China’s first dairyfree coconut yogurt, Yeyo. Christiana believes that maintaining a healthy and environmentally friendly lifestyle becomes easier when there are better product options in restaurants and shops. Her mission is to create delicious food products that are superior in taste, nutrition, and environmental friendliness to empower consumers to live healthier lives while creating a positive environmental impact.
Christiana Zhu
25
Neutral Fuels Making environmental sustainability a commercial proposition by converting used cooking oils into biofuel at scale.
SEC TO R
Clean Energy
R EGIO N
Australia, Bahrain, China, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, New Zealand, Oman, Singapore, Taiwan, South Africa, United Arab Emirates
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Neutral Fuels converts used cooking oil into biodiesel, significantly reducing carbon emissions and making environmental sustainability a commercial proposition. After nearly a decade making net-zero biofuels in the fossil fuel capital of the world (with no subsidies, no carbon credits, and no tax incentives), Neutral Fuels determined that the only sustainable way to make net-zero biofuel is to make it from waste. The company has also pioneered the use of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors coupled with their apps to optimise waste and fuel, saving time and money for their customers. Neutral Fuels is a member of The Neutral Group, an international cleantech organisation founded in 2006 to build sustainability strategies for the logistics, energy and hospitality industries and to execute significant reductions in energy spend and CO2 emissions. The company is headquartered in Dubai for easy access to the APMEA region (Asia Pacific/Middle East/Africa), where they are currently deploying new biorefineries. Neutral Fuels is the first licensed biorefinery in the UAE and has offices in Australia, China, Hong Kong, New Zealand, and South Africa.
Karl Feilder
TIT LE
Chairman & CEO
neutral-fuels.com
In 2011, Karl pioneered the Middle East’s first netzero biofuel refinery in Dubai. Today, it’s the largest group of net-zero fuel facilities in the GCC, with over 12 million tonnes of CO2 emissions savings, transforming local waste into net-zero fuel which runs any diesel engine without modifications. Over the past five years, he pioneered Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to optimise waste and fuel management, saving time and money for customers. Karl was recognised as a Technology Pioneer by the World Economic Forum, and has built and sold five companies (the first to Microsoft Chairman & CEO and the last to DHL) and led two more to IPO. Karl is preparing for his next IPO on AIM, and coaching start-ups at Hult. Karl holds an MBA (Henley Business School), B.Eng. (Hons) Industrial Engineering / German, and is writing his Ph.D on “Psychological profiling of start-up teams.” He is an international speaker, and the lead vocalist for Dubai classic rock band Sandstörm.
Karl Feilder
27
OriCiro Creating a better bioeconomy with innovative genome technologies.
SEC TO R
Biotechnology
R EGIO N
Japan
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Seiji Hirasaki
TIT LE
Co-Founder & CEO
oriciro.com
OriCiro is a pioneer of cell-free genome technology, providing a powerful tool for research and development aimed at unlocking the possibility of synthetic biology. The company focuses on the development and commercialisation of cell-free synthesis and amplification technologies of large DNA molecules. One of the company’s proprietary technologies enables cell-free amplification of large DNA molecules, an efficient and easyto-operate approach that aims to replace the conventional cell-based methodology. It can not only streamline current research processes but also widen the scope of genomics research significantly. In addition to the amplification technology, the company owns a suite of genome technologies, including the assembly of DNA fragments and genome editing. Synthetic biology — an emerging field in life sciences in which new medicines and useful proteins can be produced more efficiently by modified and/or synthesised genomes — is developing rapidly worldwide with ever-increasing industrial applications. OriCiro’s technologies have potential markets in a variety of industries including the pharmaceutical, diagnostic, industrial biotech, food, and agricultural sectors.
Seiji co-founded OriCiro Genomics in December 2018 and has served as the CEO ever since. Prior to founding OriCiro, he was the COO and Head of Corporate Strategy at AnGes, a gene therapy company based in Tokyo. During his 16-year tenure at the company, he played a leading role in obtaining the regulatory approval for the company’s lead product, which was the first approval of a gene therapy product in Japan. He also successfully concluded many licensing, co-development and investment agreements with biotech and pharma companies in the business and corporate development functions. He started his Co-Founder & CEO professional career as a journalist at NIKKEI, a leading economic newspaper in Japan. He provided science, technology, and business news and reported on biotechnology, medicine, energy, environment, innovation, and science policy. He received his MSc in Physics from Tohoku University, Japan, and a MSc in Science and Technology Policy from the University of Sussex, U.K.
Seiji Hirasaki
29
Plastic Bank Cleaning the oceans and empowering impoverished communities by pioneering a sustainable, circular economy for plastic waste.
SEC TO R
Circular Economy
R EGIO N
Haiti, Indonesia, Philippines
EN T R E P R E NEU R
David Katz
TIT LE
Founder & CEO
plasticbank.com
Plastic Bank is an economic development firm that empowers disenfranchised communities to exchange any type of plastic for currency. By revealing the true economic value of plastic, the company enables recycling ecosystems to emerge around the world and stops the flow of plastic into our oceans, all while lifting communities out of poverty. Plastic Bank provides a consistent, above-market rate for plastic waste, thus incentivising its collection. Its IBM-powered mobile app uses world-class banking and transaction technology to empower its Collectors to open a functioning digital bank account — sometimes, the first they’ve ever had. Plastic Bank also provides the ability for local entrepreneurs to set up and operate a convenience store for the disadvantaged, in which plastic waste is the sole currency. Plastic collected through Plastic Bank is recycled and sold at a premium as Social Plastic®. The value of Social Plastic® transcends any commodity price: oceans are kept clean, impoverished communities gain access to stable income, local economies are boosted, and life necessities like food, water, and electricity become more accessible.
David is the Founder and CEO of Plastic Bank, an internationally recognised solution to ocean plastic. Plastic Bank is a global network of micro-recycling markets that empower the poor to transcend poverty by cleaning the environment. Plastic Bank is an ecosystem that provides an opportunity for the world to collect and trade plastic waste as a currency. European partners include IBM, Shell Energy, Henkel, Marks & Spencer’s, Eat Natural, Aldi, Drogerie Mart, Grenier Packaging and others. David’s humanitarian work has earned him international recognition. David has been named one of the world’s Founder & CEO most compassionate entrepreneurs by Salt Magazine. He is the recipient of the United Nations Lighthouse award for Planetary Health, recipient of the Paris Climate Conference Sustainia community award, is the Past President of the Vancouver Chapter of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), and named the Entrepreneur Organization’s Global Citizen.
David Katz
31
S4S Technologies Creating a sustainable supply of processed food products using solar powered dehydrators.
SEC TO R
Agricultural Technology
R EGIO N
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kenya, Nepal, Rwanda
EN T R E P R E NEU R
Vaibhav Tidke
In India, farmers often sell their produce for a cheaper price in the evening, as it otherwise rots. S4S Technologies has developed a business model that dehydrates and processes these excess vegetables and fruits, and builds a supply chain to get them to the market. The company developed a solar conduction dryer that increases the shelf life of vegetables to six months. S4S developed the machine specifically for, and with input from, female farmers. The company identifies women entrepreneurs in villages who become aggregators that work with 15-20 micro-entrepreneurs each. Based on market demand, these micro-entrepreneurs dry items like ginger, garlic, carrot and beetroot. Once dried, aggregators supply the products back to S4S, which then sells the produce to institutional clients. The dryers are well-suited for farmers working under erratic electricity conditions, and the rent-based model makes the product affordable and helps generate additional income for farmers. S4S works directly with more than 1000 farmer and farmer cooperatives under its solar powered dehydration initiative supported by USAID, UKAID, Gates Foundation, and the Government of India.
TIT LE
Co-Founder & CEO
s4stechnologies.com
Under the leadership of Vaibhav, S4S has developed and commercialised a range of patented food dehydration technologies for farmers and industries. Vaibhav uses a fundamental scientific understanding to develop new technologies, and finds sustainable ways of commercialisation in order to make a social impact through S4S. This positions his business as a pioneer in the sustainable food dehydration space. S4S works directly with more than 2,700 farmers and farmer cooperatives under its solar powered dehydration initiative supported by USAID, Co-Founder & CEO UKAID, the Gates Foundation and the Government of India. Under his dynamic leadership, S4S brought together a range of private, government, and agri value chain members under a single umbrella and nurtured high-level intrapreneurship at S4S Technologies. He is an active consultant in food and renewable energy and supports startups in numerous ways.
Vaibhav Tidke
33
String Bio Leveraging biotechnology to convert methane to everyday products, including feed and food.
SEC TO R
Biotechnology
R EGIO N
India
EN T R E P R E NEU R S
Ezhil Subbian Co-Founder & CEO + Vinod Kumar Co-Founder & Managing Director
stringbio.com
String Bio envisions an ecologically sustainable world in which robust, cradle-to-cradle solutions provide the global population with cleaner ways of living. The company leverages methane as a source of carbon in order to manufacture green chemicals and food/animal feed ingredients. The products address multi-billion dollar markets. String is among a handful of companies worldwide — and the only Asian company — to successfully enable a methane-based value chain. Its proprietary platform (SIMP: String Integrated Methane Platform), leverages advances in synthetic biology, fermentation technology, chemistry, and process engineering to build a circular value chain. String Bio’s work has been recognised by several international awards and grants, including the Future Food Asia Award and the EnABLE startup awards in the Industrial Biotechnology sector. The company’s first product to market, String Pro, is a high-quality protein that addresses the growing worldwide demand for sustainable protein. It is a costeffective and high-performance protein for the aquaculture market. String is presently scaling its protein production.
Ezhil Subbian
Vinod Kumar
Co-Founder & CEO
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Ezhil Subbian co-founded String Bio after working for 15+ years on engineering and scaling up various bio-based products. Ezhil was part of the founding team at Gevo, a Caltech startup that commercialised biobutanol production. After Gevo, Ezhil worked first at Codexis Inc and then at Intrexon, helping both companies transition into the bioindustrial space and take products to market. All three of the companies have had successful IPOs. Ezhil’s work was most recently recognised with the prestigious ‘Women Transforming India’ Award 2018 from United Nations/NITI Aayog. Ezhil currently serves as the CEO of String Bio. She has a PhD in Molecular Biology & Biochemistry from Oregon Health and Sciences University, Oregon and a B.Tech in Industrial Biotechnology from Anna University, India.
Prior to co-founding String Bio in 2012, Vinod had 17+ years of experience leading large, cross-functional global teams at Fortune 500 companies. Vinod held several leadership roles, from product development, supply chain management, manufacturing operations, information technology, customer and partner experience, to endto-end business transformation. Vinod holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bangalore University, a Master’s degree in Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering and Supply Chain Management from Ohio University, and Certification in Corporate Finance from University of Berkeley, California.
35
O N B E H A L F O F U S , T H A N K YO U .
unre asonableimpac t.com