Defeating diseases

• A 3-year, multi-million dollar agreement between 500-backed digital health startup Prenetics, University of Oxford, and Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research (OSCAR) has been signed to further develop the OxLAMP™ technology, a rapid, molecular testing technology for infectious diseases.
• According to the announcement, the first OxLAMP™ product has been providing portable and accurate results for the detection of COVID-19 in about 20 minutes.
• According to representatives at Oxford University and OSCAR, the collaboration aims to decentralize laboratory testing with rapid, highly accurate, molecular testing for all infectious diseases.
• A new Prenetics Innovation Technology Centre (ITC) for Advanced Molecular Diagnostics has been established in Suzhou, China. A research program has also been initiated at the University of Oxford, UK.
• Read the full press release here.

Speedy delivery

• 500-backed global financial settlement network EMQ announced an enhancement to its cross-border payment capabilities with Hong Kong’s Faster Payment System (FPS).
• This enables global customers to cost-effectively send funds in Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) and Renminbi (RMB) in minutes.
• With this enhancement, EMQ is reaching a wider set of beneficiary accounts across all banks in Hong Kong. This feature is already live in Hong Kong.
• Read more on Business Wire here.

Trailblazing entrepreneurs

• The Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2021 list is out. From over 2,500 nominations, a panel of judges selected 300 millennials and Gen-Zs, including four 500-backed founders, for their determination, hard work, and innovation in the midst of a pandemic.
• Selected were:

1. Wayne Goh, co-founder of Singapore-based Glife Technologies, a farm-to-table platform that connects farms directly to restaurants.
2. Liris Maduningtyas, co-founder of Jala Tech, an agritech startup that developed a management system for shrimp farmers in Indonesia to boost production.
3. Dylan Tan and Vishvesh Suriyanarayanan, co-founders of fintech startup Split, a buy-now-pay-later provider in Malaysia and Singapore.

• Get the full list on Forbes here.

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500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Southeast Asia family of funds. The 500 Southeast Asia funds have backed over 240 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.

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