“It is a very unique experience. You will get to know many startups from the region and also investors, mentors and like-minded people who are working hard to bring changes”, said Mehedi Hasan, Co-Founder of MyCash Online, who was a finalist of ASEAN Impact Challenge (AIC) 2016. Mehedi will be returning as a speaker at the ASEAN+Social Good Forum, joining other panelists to shed light on how we can tap into businesses addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) this coming Monday, 12 November 2018 at Singapore Sustainability Academy.
Themed “Tech Forward: Innovations for a Digital Economy”, 2018’s ASEAN Impact Challenge (AIC) is aimed at discovering entrepreneurs from Southeast Asia who are working towards realising the Sustainable Development Goals through cross-sector partnerships and scaling disruptive innovations.
After receiving more than 500 nominations and applications from the 10 Southeast Asian countries, the top ten finalists were announced on 22 September and have been through the Global Goals Labs accelerator, run in partnership with mentors and country partners. The top four finalists will be presenting at the ASEAN+Social Good Forum.
Apart from that, for the first time this year, one additional winner will be selected for the inaugural Grab Impact Award, which is created by AIC and Grab as we work together towards deepening our impact. The mission is to help more innovators in Southeast Asia accelerate technological developments that will solve the challenge of mobility, O2O and payments in the region.
The Awards Ceremony will be held at ASEAN Business and Investment Summit on 13 November 2018 at Sands Convention Centre, Singapore, as part of our collaboration with ASEAN Business Advisory Council to provide a greater exposure of the impact-driven, tech entrepreneurs to the larger business community in the region.
“AIC was a great opportunity for us. It helped us connect to regional impact investors and UN bodies. One of the judges of AIC later invested in our company. AIC was a great opportunity for us,” Mehedi added. Mehedi’s company, MyCash Online, is an e-marketplace for migrants. They make it easy and secure for migrants to send their money homes, buy travel tickets and make payments.
Mehedi urged for the finalists this year to take full advantage of AIC by meeting and talking to more people. Apart from investment, there are other equally valuable things the participants may get from AIC through the networking with peers, investors, mentors and industry champions.
Come and meet Mehedi and other speakers, including:
- Chris Yeo, Head of Grab Ventures
- Eugene Ho, Head of Corporate Affairs, SEA, SAP
- Kaidi Ruusalepp, Founder & CEO of Funderbeam
- Anshul Sonak, Regional Director (Innovation & Education, Asia), Corporate Affairs Director (South East Asia), Intel Corporation
ASEAN Impact Challenge 2018 and ASEAN+Social Good Forum are held during the 33rd ASEAN Summit and Global Entrepreneurship Week Singapore, creating a more concerted regional effort to celebrate and advance the entrepreneurial community in Southeast Asia.
We welcome all tech entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, investors, corporate representatives, government officials, youth leaders, aspiring entrepreneurs and students to join us at ASEAN+Social Good Forum this coming Monday, 12 November 2018 from 2pm-5:30pm in Singapore.
Register here. See you!
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Photo Caption: MyCash co-founders Mehedi Hasan (L) and Nurol Haq Shamrat. Photo credit: PitchIn