Just doing a brief run down of the top 10 start-ups that presented their ideas at NTUitive last week.
Level Up
Problem/Issue: Lack of engagement from children in school and parents are not able to keep track of their child’s progress in school in real time. Level Up has created a game that provides an interactive platform to keep kids engaged in school and an method for parents to access regular report cards via their fun E-Learning app.
Presentation:
- Easy to understand, info-graphics were easy to follow
- Was not too heavy on technical details
- Their goals are clearly defined and their mission is clearly defined
Questions:
- How are they going to convince the educational sector to adopt their platform?
- Is there/will there be a regulatory board to monitor how their app is being executed?
- Data privacy and protection measures? Who gets access to the information they collect?
Team Gauss
Problem/Issue: Data marketplace for SMEs. Simplifying database-decision-making process for small businesses. Since the Covid pandemic, companies have been suffering to stay afloat, their data warehouse solution will help SMEs make key decisions for future business strategies.
Presentation:
- Clearly identified a real world problems that SMEs are facing in data management and storage.
- Provided a timeline for their production plan from phase 1 to 3 and up to MVP
Questions:
- Is this a novel idea or are there other start-ups already trying to do this?
- How confident are they of their algorithm to be able to provide accurate forecasting that can help manufacturing companies make key decisions?
- Conceptually, it sounds promising, however still questionable in terms of practical application?
Magorium Technology
Problem/Issue: Tackling the plastic waste recycling problem by converting plastic wastes into high value products. Current plastic recycling efficiency is not optimal. Converting plastic waste into road asphalt formula. Goals aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals 12.
Presentation:
- Identified their technology as a cost cutting measure in conventional road paving industry
- Identified their partners, key clients, and stakeholders
- Plans to scale up their business and where they currently stand in the big picture
Questions:
- How easily is it to implement this technology into the current road paving industry?
- Have they considered the supply chain and logistics factors that may prevent them from penetrating a specific region?
Insect Feed Technologies
Problem/Issue: There is only limited about of land that can be cleared for producing animal feed. Creating sustainable source of protein for the livestock farming industry by using farmed insects that can be grown all year round on commercial food wastes.
Presentation:
- Was able to identify their position in the current market against potential competitors
- Identified all their partners that are on board with their mission and technology
- Was clear and convincing about their goals to commercialize their technology based venture
Stayr
Problem/Issue: Property owners, such as hotels, are not able to fully utilize their property and fill vacancies in the midst of the Covid situation. They are proposing an app that will help hotels fill vacancies by targeting clients who could benefit from short hourly bookings.
Presentation:
- Identified an untapped market for hotel bookings, and proposed a solution to help the hotel industry
Questions:
- This seems to be a solution focused around Covid, how will their business perform once the hospitality industry returns back to normal?
- There seems to be an opportunity here in Singapore, but how would their app perform overseas particularly in countries with stricter policies in place?
- Would it be logistically and financially feasible for hotels to re-purpose their rooms to cater to this purpose?
Outside Technologies
Problem/Issue: There is currently an untapped labor market for Micro-jobs (students, housewives, etc.) Their app creates a secure platform for people to seek micro-jobs and ad-hoc shift work within a verified and trusted community.
Presentation:
- Clearly described all their apps features and capabilities
- Was able to provide a reasonable plan for scaling up their business as well as the potential for adding in new features
Questions:
- They mentioned adding features such as a missing persons, pets, crime alerts, etc. Is this something that is feasible to focus on? Have they considered the legal implications associated with such a task?
- How do they plan to increase user acquisition in the local market?
- They are not really clear about their current funding and fund raising
- Will the business be sustainable in the long run? What is the scale of their current overhead costs?
Mo Batteries
Problem/Issue: Addressing carbon emissions caused by fleet vehicles, mainly petrol powered motorcycles. There hasn’t been much focus in southeast Asia that attempts to provide environmentally sustainable solutions for motorcycles. They are providing a scalable charging method for fleet vehicles.
Presentation:
- Clearly identified the problem, identified common safety hazards associated with plug-in charging systems.
- Easy to understand and straight forward.
- Identified their market segment.
Questions:
- There were kind of ambiguous about the amount of immediate cost savings a corporation can benefit from, by stating things in the long run?
- Could have maybe included some of the key players in the industry as well as who their potential clients may be?
