By 2050, global carbon emissions must reach net zero emissions to keep temperatures within a 1.5 degree Celsius rise from pre-industrial levels. Scientists regard this as critical to prevent the worst effects of climate change. With more than 50 billion tonnes of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere annually, we need revolutionary ideas that will enable humanity to drastically reduce the production of greenhouse gas emissions and its removal at scale.
At the same time, our disposable culture has exacerbated resource scarcity, and created a pollution crisis that threatens the natural ecosystems which we need to thrive. We need a circular economy to replace the existing linear model that is hugely wasteful and pollutive. How can we find solutions which are restorative and regenerative in design?
Finalists will compete for the grand prize of up to S$1 million in grant funding for project development by Temasek Foundation, a minimum of S$50,000 investment by Planet Rise, a S$50,000 investment by Amasia and S$50,000 investment by Silverstrand Capital.
The Liveability Challenge is also excited to announce a new partnership with Microsoft. All finalists will also secure a spot on the Microsoft for Sustainability Innovation Programme.
Congratulations to the six finalists who will take the stage at the Grand Finale on 28 July to pitch their solutions to some of Asia's most sought after investors:
1. Aegis Packaging (Singapore): O2X TM: Making sustainable packaging possible
2. DiviGas (Singapore): Hydrogen membranes used in carbon capture at refineries
3. Econic Technologies (United Kingdom): Carbon dioxide – From waste to opportunity
4. NEU Battery Materials (Singapore): Producing clean and sustainable lithium
5. Seachange (United States of America): Atmospheric carbon removal at the gigatonne scale
6. SEPPURE (Singapore): Sustainable solvent recovery and reuse using nanofiltration technology
Who will emerge the Grand Winner of The Liveability Challenge 2021?
About Speakers:
Max Rye | Chief Strategist, TurtleTree
As TurtleTree’s Chief Strategist, Max’s focus is on leading the TurtleTree Labs Team to transform the global milk industry. Max has more than 15 years of experience helping businesses scale with technology. He was the CEO of a Silicon Valley tech company and firmly believes that technology can solve the world's biggest problems. Max formulates TurtleTree Labs' business strategies and shapes the company's direction to accelerate growth to the next level.
Fengru Lin | Co-Founder & CEO, TurtleTree
As TurtleTree’s CEO, Fengru leads the overall TurtleTree Labs team. What started as a passion to make cheese turned into a hunt for good quality milk in Asia. When her sourcing attempts failed, Fengru was prompted to dive into the idea of creating milk herself. With this, Fengru boldly founded TurtleTree Labs to create milk through cell-based methods. Fengru has 8 years of corporate sales experience working with global conglomerates such as Google and Salesforce. Her deep knowledge of the Asian market had led her to drive a USD$13M business in Google.
John Kim | Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Amasia
John’s career has taken him across a diverse range of operating and investing environments from early stage startups to fortune 500 companies. For the last decade before founding cross border venture capital firm Amasia, John focused in finance, serving as Senior Vice President at Mercuria Energy Group, Executive Director at Goldman Sachs and Portfolio Manager at Korean National Investments. While in these roles he managed trading and investment strategies across a diverse set of asset classes and including commodities, public and private equity, fixed income and derivatives.
Meaghan See | Director of Partnerships, Head of Events and Engagement, Eco-Business
Meaghan is Director of Partnerships at Eco-Business and also Head of Events and Engagement based in Singapore. She was previously APAC legal counsel for a financial services institution which is listed on the London Stock Exchange, where she also was the local co-head of the ESG and women’s network initiatives.
Meaghan holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Singapore Management University, a Masters of Law degree with specialisations in Environmental Law, and Clean Energy and Technology from the University of California, Berkeley, and has passed the bar examinations in Singapore and California.
Patti Chu | Co-Head of Impact Investment, Silverstrand Capital
Patti is the Co-head of Impact Investment at Silverstrand Capital, a family office which invests in regenerative agriculture and other nature-based solutions. She is responsible for strategy, deal sourcing and evaluation, project design and management. An experienced cross-disciplinary professional with a background rooted in economics and finance, her sectors of expertise include access to finance, education and clean energy. Patti’s prior experience spans across various types of organizations, including financial institutions, foundations, corporations and non-profits, which have provided her with a unique ability to understand and navigate multiple stakeholder partnerships successfully. Her past employers include the World Bank, Citigroup and the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network.
James Tan | Managing Partner, Quest Ventures
James Tan is Managing Partner at Quest Ventures, a top venture capital fund in Asia. Prior to this, James was co-founder and COO of 55tuan, a NASDAQ listed e-commerce group that grew to more than 200 cities and 5,000 employees across China.
James currently serves as advisor, board member or trustee on the Action Community for Entrepreneurship, Applied Innovation Institute, Business Angel Network of Southeast Asia, Beijing CYL Joint Committee on Entrepreneurship Development, National Research Foundation CGAP Fund, Social Impact Catalyst, Sports Excellence Business, and Vietnam Angel Network.
Lorena Paglia | Sustainability Lead Asia, Microsoft
At Microsoft, Lorena is the regional Engagement Leader for Connected Customer Experience, partnering with our Asia (Asia-Pacific) teams in driving strategy and execution. She is also the Asia co-lead for Microsoft’s sustainability chapter, which advocates reducing humanity’s carbon impact, understanding and managing Earth’s ecosystems, advancing zero-carbon energy, and enhancing economic opportunities. Prior to Microsoft, Lorena was at EY Advisory Services, helping businesses understand their risk impact.
Alice Charles | Project Lead, Cities, Infrastructure and Urban Services Platform, World Economic Forum
Alice Charles leads the Cities and Real Estate workstreams at the World Economic Forum. This includes the Global Future Council on Cities and Urbanisation, the Future of Real Estate, co-leading the Net Zero Carbon Cities: An integrated approach initiative and the Biodiverse Cities initiative, the production of all cities and real estate related content and events at World Economic Forum Summits (including Davos).
She is also a Member of the European Commission Intelligent Cities Advisory Board, a Member of the UN Habitat Stakeholder Advisory Group, a Member of the Commission for Innovation and Inclusive Growth for the City of Belfast, a Member of the Mayors' Global Council for the City of Buenos Aires, a member of the Visiting Committee of the Senseable City Lab, MIT, a Member of the Urban Leadership Council (ULC) for the Coalition for Urban Transitions, Jury Member of the WWF One Planet City Challenge and a Jury Member of the Real Play City Challenge. She has nineteen years’ experience working in the areas of cities, urban development, town planning, real estate, infrastructure, environment, climate change and public policy globally.
Jessica Cheam | Founder and Managing Director, Eco-Business
Jessica is the Founder and Managing Director of Eco-Business, an award-winning journalist, TV presenter, director, producer, and a social entrepreneur. She has more than a decade of experience in media, journalism and sustainable development and is a columnist for print and digital publications such as The Straits Times and TODAY.
She is an independent and non-executive director of Singapore-listed ComfortDelGro, one of the world's largest land transport companies, and sits on the nomination and investment committees.
Lim Hock Chuan | Chief Executive, Temasek Foundation Ecosperity
Mr Lim Hock Chuan is the Chief Executive of Temasek Foundation Ecosperity, which was founded in October 2016. Under his leadership, the Foundation has established itself as a key player in the liveability and sustainability space in Singapore and beyond, fulfilling the often unmet need to help innovators bring their ideas from laboratories to the marketplace. The Foundation conducts two open grant calls every year as well as presents The Liveability Challenge from 2018. It has thus far provided funding support to 18 projects that provide innovative solutions addressing problem areas in liveability and sustainability.
He was a respected senior leader in the public sector. He has extensive experience in various areas of public administration including security, media, finance, human resource management, international negotiation and healthcare. In recognition for his contribution to the civil service, he was awarded the Public Administration Medal (Gold) by the President of Singapore.
Steve Melhuish | Entrepreneur & Impact Investor, Planet Rise
Steve is an entrepreneur with 28 years building businesses (most recently PropertyGuru, a profitable tech unicorn), angel advisor/investor (20+ startups) and VC partner. In 2019, Steve started Planet Rise to make the world a better place by providing financial support and advisory services to organisations tackling Climate Change and Poverty. Steve is also part time Venture Partner/LP at Wavemaker Partners, board directors of 3 companies and advisor to Young Founder School (YFS) and Impact Investment Exchange (IIX). Previously Steve was CEO/investor of ComiAsia (Asian mobile content start-up), founder and CEO of Business2Profit (corporate and start-up venture builder) and held global leadership roles in the mobile, internet and telco industry.