KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Dec. 4, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF) reveals eighty-nine finalists that will be competing at the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards (Rice Bowl) finale in Kuala Lumpur on 13 December 2017. The shortlisted regional startups will have a chance to represent Southeast Asia at the upcoming Global Startup Awards next year.
Organized by myNEF, the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards celebrates the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem. The awards recognizes outstanding startups that provide home-grown and sustainable solutions for local issues with world class innovations, as well as having the potential to be scalable regionally. The award ceremony is held in conjunction with the Global Entrepreneurship Community (GEC) Summit on December 12 and 13, 2017.
The Rice Bowl is a culmination of events announcing Rice Bowl national circuit winners held throughout the 10 ASEAN countries in October and November 2017.
"With the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards being the official Southeast Asiacircuit for the Global Startup Awards, the brand 'Rice Bowl' has now become synonymous with being a respected platform for locally-grown startup heroes to be given the opportunity for market access, funding and media exposure regionally," says CEO of myNEF and Chairman of the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards, Lilyana Latif.
Crowd favourites such as Touristly, Agrome IQ and SokhaKrom will be competing with other national finalists at the regional Rice Bowl finale in Kuala Lumpur. Eventual winners from the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards 2017 will represent Southeast Asia at the Global Startup Awards to be held in Tianjin, China in 2018.
As part of the winners' benefit, myNef is organizing a two-day Investor Matching session on December 12 and 13 for finalists to be given the opportunity to meet and pitch to investors. The investor matching session is managed by Rice Bowl's strategic partner, Cradle.
"Winners will also get to participate in cross-regional exchange programs in Southeast Asia and attend other Global Startup Awards celebrations," said Lilyana, adding that this would allow them to expand their network and gather information for market access.
This year, over 2,000 entries were received from all 10 ASEAN countries, of which 89 category winners have been shortlisted to compete at the regional awards.
The finalists are evaluated on three broad areas - actual and potential growth, scalability and impact. The panel of judges consists of industry leaders and experts, including CEO of MaGIC, Ashran Ghazi; Group CEO of Cradle, Nazrin Hassan; Vice President of National Institute of Posts, Telecommunications & ICT Cambodia, Rapid Sun; and Head of Entrepreneurship Village Brunei, Adna Shatriremie Abd Rahman.
The Rice Bowl is made possible from the support from strategic partners; ASEAN Centre of Entrepreneurship of the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MAGIC), Cradle and Supernewsroom, PR Newswire, Melinda Looi and InnovAsian, as well as country and community partners.
The public can also participate in the People's Choice award by choosing their favourite startups at www.ricebowlawards.com.
For the latest updates on the program, kindly visit ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards official facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ricebowlawards/
Note to Editor
Website www.ricebowlawards.com
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For Media Enquiries, contact:
Malaysia
(Mr) Safwan, safwan@mynef.com, +60 19-480 3132
(Ms) Azuin, azuin@mynef.com, +60 10-405 3979
About ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards
The ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards is an exciting series of events throughout Southeast Asia that lauds exemplary talent in the startup community. Organised by New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF) since 2015, Rice Bowl places the spotlight on rising start-ups in the ASEAN countries, with the aim of increasing the region's visibility as a vibrant startup ecosystem and global hub for innovation. www.ricebowlawards.com
About New Entrepreneurs Foundation
Established in 2012, the New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF) is a non-profit organization that nurtures sustainable entrepreneurs through developmental and coaching programs. It plays an instrumental role in bridging industry players with the Government and related agencies, both locally and in the Southeast Asian region. Its signature programs include BAHTERA 2015 and 2017, SUPERBXCEL, COMICXCEL, Online Business Financing (OBF) and ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards. www.mynef.com
ASEAN RICE BOWL STARTUP AWARDS
2017 REGIONAL FINALISTS
BRUNEI
CAMBODIA
INDONESIA
LAOS
MALAYSIA
MYANMAR
PHILIPPINES
SINGAPORE
THAILAND
VIETNAM