Driving innovation in automotives

• Are you an entrepreneur looking to supercharge your business idea and growth? 500-backed Carsome is launching Malaysia’s first auto ecosystem-focused accelerator, Carsome Mobility Lab, in collaboration with Sunway Innovation Labs (iLabs), the innovation arm of conglomerate Sunway Group.
• Kicking off in Q3 this year, the program will be offering six lucky tech startups a total of US$150,000 to deliver sustainable solutions in Carsome’s existing markets.
• Participants can expect to receive mentorship, opportunities for further funding, and access to partnership opportunities through Carsome and Sunway’s network of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, corporates, and industry experts.
• “The auto ecosystem is ripe for further innovation and disruption,” said Carsome Group Head of Merger & Acquisition and Ecosystem Strategy Digbijoy Shukla, adding that the two companies look forward to ultimately adding value to the vehicle ownership journey for all consumers.
• Interested? Fill in this form and the team will contact you when they officially launch in May.
• Get more details from Digital News Asia.

Sustainable food security for Southeast Asia

• Here’s how food businesses survive a pandemic, according to 500-backed Glife Technologies: leverage software to reduce manual processes and increase productivity.
• That’s what 1,000 farmers and 2,500 merchants across Southeast Asia have been doing. With Glife’s integrated food solutions, F&B businesses can tackle the issue of low quality produce, high prices caused by multiple intermediaries between farmers and restaurants, and greater delays.
• And who knew it would all start from volunteering at an animal welfare organization and visiting a slaughterhouse? The experience sparked co-founders Caleb Wu, Justin Chou, and Wayne Goh to inspire others to live a green lifestyle and make positive food choices that would benefit the environment. 
• Ultimately, the startup wants to ensure a sustainable food future for Southeast Asia. “As Glife opens up the food supply chain space for more tech innovation, we hope to attract young talent to it and, ultimately, highlight the hidden food loss occurring at the back end of the supply chain,” said Caleb.
• Read the full interview in The Peak.

A valuable lesson learnt

• “We were naive then,” said Shayna of her restaurant business with Anthony. “[We thought] we just need to have good quality food. But then we neglected the operations side, how important the backend was, and how it affects profit margin and cash flow.”
• This inspired the husband-and-wife team to start 500-backed Food Market Hub. Shayna shared that on a daily basis, a restaurant has to deal with suppliers and buy ingredients – all through a manual process via email, phone calls, and WhatsApp. “When we had 2, 3 outlets, it was 80 to 90 orders per month. And these orders are not captured in one place. There’s a lack of transparency and traceability,” she explained.
• The startup’s end-to-end procurement management platform is catering to a massively underserved market segment. “For bigger chains, they may have bigger resources like customized software. But for a lot of SMEs out there, they are using WhatsApp. With us, imagine using a Shopee app and WhatsApp combined. We are bringing the B2C experience into the B2B space,” Shayna said.
• When Food Market Hub first tested its platform, Anthony shared that some clients commented, “We have been waiting for a product like this for years. Where have you been?”
• Listen to the full interview on BFM.