KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jan. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards (Rice Bowl), organised by New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF), has returned for another year of celebrating excellent startups within the ASEAN region. 13 leading ASEAN startups were named category winners at the 5th ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards (Rice Bowl) ceremony today with Singapore startup, Youtrip selected as the winner of Startup of the year award. The award ceremony graced by Deputy Minister of Entrepreneur Development (MED), YB Datuk Wira Dr. Mohd Hatta Md Ramli at Sasana Kijang, Bank Negara Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.
"This year, we work together with various partners to ensure the program a success. We collaborate with more than 50 ecosystem players, community leaders and supporters across South East Asia countries. Some play the roles as Ambassador to promote the spirit of Rice Bowl, some step up and hosted the event in their home country or lead the way as Rice Bowl Country Partners," said Chairman of the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards and CEO of New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF), Hamdi Mokhtar.
Organised by myNEF since 2015, the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards celebrates the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem. It also aims to increase the region's visibility as a vibrant global hub for innovation and celebrate the startup ecosystem instrumental in driving that progress.
In 2019, a total of 3,000 entries were received from 10 countries across ASEAN. A panel of over 30 juries from across the globe comprising of entrepreneurs, investors, business advisors and coaches, media and startup development organisation, then evaluated the entries in 3 broad areas: actual and potential growth, scalability and impact.
"Amongst the benefit for nominees and finalists are upskilling training from the world's leading universities sponsored by DigitalEdu.Today and Digital Ocean's Cloud Credits and total worth USD1.1 million," he added.
This year's Rice Bowl Award Ceremony saw an impressive crowd consisting of distinguished guests, ecosystem players, investors and government officials come together in Kuala Lumpur to honor entrepreneurs for the products and services they provide to their community.
Distinguished guests included Nazrul Hisyam Mohd Noh, Assistant Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia, YBhg. Dato' Ng Wan Peng, COO of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Anne Jalando-On Louis, Deputy Chief of Mission and Consul General, Embassy of the Philippines; Loy Hui Chien, Deputy High Commissioner, Singapore High Commission; and Hao Ann, Commercial Attache, Royal Embassy of Cambodia.
"Moving forward, we need to continue to work together to promote diligence, good governance, transparency and celebrate best practice as we design the next bigger and more impactful event for next year," shared Hamdi.
The Rice Bowl is made possible with the support of strategic partners as well as ASEAN and community partners. The ASEAN Rice Bowl Awards in Kuala Lumpur is supported by:
1. Bank Negara Malaysia - Venue Partner
2. Global Partner - Global Startup Awards.
3. Content Collaborator - CRADLE
4. Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)
5. Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC)
6. Cloud Partner - DigitalOcean
7. News Release Distribution Partner - PR Newswire
8. Digital Learning Partner - DigitalEdu.today
9. Sparadise
10. Media Partners - SuppaGood and Ambidextr Philippine.
11. Special thanks to Astro Awani - who has support Rice Bowl since 2015
Winners of ASEAN Rice Bowl Awards 2019
INDUSTRY AWARDS
1- Best e-commerce & Supply Chain Startup
EASYPARCEL
(MALAYSIA)
- Established in June 2014, EasyParcel was formed with a mission in mind - that is to provide a simplified shipping platform where businesses could book any manner of consignment for delivery at prices they couldn't achieve themselves. More than 421,819 SMEs and users in Malaysia are using EasyParcel. Our platform allows you to book for delivery from more than 60 established courier companies in Malaysia and of course, at an affordable rate from RM5.50 up to 5kg.
Website: http://easyparcel.com/
2- Best Life Helper
FIXZY
(THAILAND)
- Fixzy is a tool that helps people who need help and home service providers have found each other easily, with quality, convenient and help increase the way to find more jobs for home service providers
Website: https://www.fixzy.net/en/home-en/
3- Best FoodTech/AgriTech Startup
VILLAGE LINK
(MYANMAR)
- Village Link Company Limited is a Myanmar based Agri-Tech company that prides itself in enabling Myanmar's agricultural and rural communities by using mobile technology. Village Link provides farmers the most valuable information, services and products. Harnessing the unique, high literacy levels, connectivity, device penetration and coupled with partnerships with leading Myanmar organizations like the Myanma Awba Group, Myanmar Information and Technology and the Netherland Space Office's Geo-data for Weather and Agriculture program, Village Link has been able to provide highly relevant utility to its audiences. Village Link, today has built trust with more than 400K farmers in Myanmar and provides solutions to all of their farming knowledge and needs.
Website: http://villagelink.co/
4- Best IoT Startup
QLUE
(INDONESIA)
Qlue is a technology startup that works to empower smart cities through a safety and security solutions. We provide governments and enterprises with live, actionable insights based on data collected using IoT and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies.
Website: https://www.qlue.co.id/
5- Best AI/Machine Learning Startup
KATA.AI
(INDONESIA)
- Kata.ai is an Indonesian conversational Artificial Intelligence company, focused on understanding human conversation so we can empower the way humans collaborate with technology. Kata.ai's Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology powers multi-purpose chatbots for major corporations in Indonesia across different industries, including FMCG, Telecommunication, Banking & Financial Service, and Retail.
Website: https://kata.ai
6- Best Fintech Startup
YOUTRIP
(SINGAPORE)
- YouTrip is Singapore's first multi-currency mobile wallet with a prepaid Mastercard® that lets you pay with no fees in 150+ currencies at wholesale exchange rates. The mobile application also allows for the exchange and storage of 10 selected currencies in advance through the in-app exchange feature. The YouTrip mobile application works with a linked pre-paid Mastercard® and can be used to make payments at more than 30 million Mastercard accepting merchants worldwide.
Website: https://www.you.co
STAR AWARDS
7- Startup Of The Year
YOUTRIP
(SINGAPORE)
- YouTrip is Singapore's first multi-currency mobile wallet with a prepaid Mastercard® that lets you pay with no fees in 150+ currencies at wholesale exchange rates. The mobile application also allows for the exchange and storage of 10 selected currencies in advance through the in-app exchange feature. The YouTrip mobile application works with a linked pre-paid Mastercard® and can be used to make payments at more than 30 million Mastercard accepting merchants worldwide.
Website: https://www.you.co
8- Founder Of The Year
KENGO KITAURA (AGRIBUDDY)
(CAMBODIA)
- Argibuddy Ltd. was established in 2015 and was registered in 2016 in order to fill the gaps of the farming industry in South East Asian region. Our mission is to help farmers through the financial services facilitation - We are the aggregators of the agriculture supply chain from the early stage of cultivation to crops trading. Agribuddy is a platform that revitalizes the distribution of agri-inputs and harvested crops by introducing secured financial supported by our own technology-based applications.
Website: https://www.agribuddy.com
9- Best Newcomer
TEKY
(VIETNAM)
- TEKY was born to empower the next generations in South East Asia with digital literacy and technology skills beyond the threats in the 4.0 industrial revolution with Robot, AI and other technology, and help them to seize the opportunities. Our vision is to become the No.1 in STEAM education across South East Asia region in term of the number of training centres and integrated with edutech solutions.
Website: https://teky.edu.vn/
10- People Choice
BIG AGENT
(INDONESIA)
- BIG Agent is On-Demand Business Platform, empowering people and business with the best technology.
Website: https://www.big-agent.com
ECOSYSTEM AWARDS
11- Investor Of The Year
GOBI PARTNERS
(MALAYSIA)
- Gobi Partners is one of the first venture capital firms with a regional presence across China, Hong Kong, and ASEAN with over US$1.1 billion in assets under management (AUM). The firm, headquartered in Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur, supports entrepreneurs from the early to growth stages and focuses on emerging and underserved markets. Founded in 2002, Gobi has raised 13 funds to date, invested in over 250 startups, and has grown to ten offices across Bangkok, Beijing, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo.
Website: http://www.gobivc.com/
12- Best Coworking Space
COMMON GROUND
(MALAYSIA)
- Common Ground is a flexible and focused coworking community where we break down traditional office spaces to bring people, ambition, and resources together. Beyond the workspace, you'll find an ecosystem of diverse resources and ideas, a multitude of events and partnerships, and a web of powerful business networks. Together, this synergy - cushioned by the exceptional facilities offered by our space - becomes the platform to drive your business forward. From part-time freelancers looking for hot desks to small businesses searching for private offices - or even enterprises seeking out full-fledged HQ's - we provide the resources to ensure you get your best work done. Make the membership work for you.
Website: www.commonground.work
13- Best Accelerator or Incubator Program
1337 VENTURES
(MALAYSIA)
- Established in 2012, 1337 Ventures is Malaysia's first accelerator. Pioneering the Design Thinking Methodology and Design Sprints in Malaysia, 1337 Ventures has utilised its learning to accelerate over 500 startups from 6 different countries. 1337 Ventures has launched accelerators for MNCs and GLCs such as Bank Negara Malaysia, Khazanah Nasional, Telekom, Digi, MDEC, CIMB and Maybank, to name a few. Also as a Venture Capital, 1337 Ventures has invested over MYR $2 million into early stage startups, with follow up funding of over 15x in returns with several exits. Most recently, 1337 Ventures is proud to be one of the only three new recipients of the Equity Crowdfunding license from the Securities Commission.
Website: http://www.1337accelerator.com/
Note to Editor
Website: www.ricebowlawards.com
Facebook: fb.com/ricebowlawards
About the New Entrepreneurs Foundation
New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF) is a non-profit organization that focuses on creating and developing sustainable entrepreneurs via strategic developmental programs. MyNEF designs and caters programmes with the entrepreneurs in mind, helping them achieve their business goal. myNEF organized the inaugural Rice Bowl Startup Awards in 2015 during 1ASEAN Entrepreneurship Summit. For more information, visit mynef.com
Just as rice is a staple among Southeast Asians, so is technology for fuelling businesses of the future. The Rice Bowl Startup Awards is the first ASEAN awards that recognize breakout startups in the region and its ecosystem.
For further information and to submit nominations visit ricebowlawards.com
Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20200119/2696389-1?lang=0
![[L-R] Harish Venkatesan, Head of Corporates and Business Banking, HSBC Singapore; Kelvin Teo, Co-founder and Group CEO, Funding Societies](https://mma.prnasia.com/media2/2548023/L_R__Harish_Venkatesan_Head_Corporates_Business_Banking_HSBC_Singapore__Kelvin.jpg?p=medium600)
