WORLD CITIES SUMMIT 2022
Nurturing Changemakers Who Aspire to Make the World a Better Place
SMU Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) nurtures changemakers and strives to help aspiring innovators build their foundation and seed the entrepreneurial mindset.
IIE is helmed by a team of industry veterans, with a keen passion in discovering and nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit.
Besides transforming invaluable faculty research and knowledge into applicable solutions for daily lives, the other roles of IIE include Education, Incubation, Commercialisation, Marketing and Communications, and Administration. This holistic eco-system ensures that SMU’s budding innovators and entrepreneurs are able to realise the full potential of their projects.
Learn more about IIE and its efforts here.
Insect Feed Technologies: Insects to Feed the World
(Photo credit: Insect Feed Technologies)
Insect Feed Technologies (IFT), founded by SMU alumnus Sean Tan, is an insect technology company that takes food waste and bio-converts it using the Black Soldier Fly into a sustainable, all-natural insect protein and insect oil for animal feed, as well as insect frass for plant nutrition.
The enterprise recently raised over $2M for its recent funding round and is currently building its commercial facility in Singapore. Once completed, IFT will operate the largest waste-to-insect production facility in Singapore with a capacity to process 7,200 tons of waste annually. The company was also conferred the Singapore President's Social Enterprise Start-up of the Year Award in 2021.
Magorium: Paving Our Way to a Sustainable Future
Photo Credit: Magorium
Founded by SMU alumna Oh Chu Xian from the SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Magorium was incorporated as a deep-tech start-up with a solution to the world’s plastic waste problem. They are supported by DBS Foundation, HSBC Sustainability Funding, and Enterprise Singapore in addition to having won various awards and competitions.
By marrying the industries of waste management and construction, they have created an inter-industry technology. Magorium’s core technology converts plastic waste into an innovative synthetic new material – NEWBitumen. It has the capability to re-engineer contaminated plastic waste into valuable feedstock for production of NEWBitumen for more sustainable road construction.
Magorium aims to disrupt the waste and construction industry through innovation by replacing current materials for infrastructure purposes. In doing so, they will reduce the reliance and depletion of natural and finite crude-based resources for the construction industry.
SimplyGood: Eco-Friendly Dissolvable Home Cleaning and Personal Care Tablets
Photo credit: SimplyGood
SimplyGood is passionate about helping consumers take easy actions at home which have a real and positive impact on the planet. Their eco-friendly home cleaning and personal care products are designed to help eliminate single use plastics and reduce home carbon footprint.
The company’s founder, SMU alumnus Jeremy Lee, has created proprietary dissolvable cleaning tablets for bathroom, window, households and hand-soap which are 300x lighter and 200x smaller than traditional liquid cleaners to help reduce home carbon footprint.
All SimplyGood products are made from 100% natural, plant-based ingredients and their packaging is compostable too. In the short span of one year, over 4,600 customers in Singapore have already chosen to make the switch to SimplyGood, saving more than 25,330 single-use plastic bottles from being discarded in landfills.
Crunch Cutlery: Add Fibre to Your Diet and Save the Environment
Photo credit: Crunch Cutlery
Co-founded by SMU alumna Anna Lam, Crunch Cutlery is currently incubated under the Business Innovations Generator Incubation Programme offered by the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) at SMU.
Every year, Singaporeans throw away 500 million pieces of disposable cutlery items. Crunch Cutlery is the first start-up in Southeast Asia to address the problems of plastic waste and inadequate nutrition among urban dwellers with their products.
The 100% edible forks and spoons are packed with flaxseed, chia seeds and whole wheat which provide Omega 3, Vitamin B3, lignans and fibre. The edible spoons come in flavours of Pink Strawberry, Green Tea and Beetroot Whole Wheat.
Crunch Cutlery products are currently available in selected restaurants. It plans to automate its manufacturing process so it can concentrate on food innovation to diversify its product range.