First Unilever Foundry 30 Southeast Asia and Australasia announced

By Digital News Asia October 31, 2017

Startups are poised to affect technological, consumer and social change within SEAA
Platform to engage, collaborate, and explore opportunities with Unilever’s 400+ brands

First Unilever Foundry 30 Southeast Asia and Australasia announced

UNILEVER has chosen 30 startups and scale-ups to be part of the Unilever Foundry 30 South East Asia and Australasia (SEAA).

Unveiled at the Millennial 20/20 conference in Singapore, the 30 startups selected demonstrate a unique point of difference, poised to affect technological, consumer and social change within SEAA.

Southeast Asia is the fastest-growing internet market in the world. Combined with the rising middle class and more social consumers, the region is a hotspot for Unilever and startups. Tapping into this opportunity, the Unilever Foundry is committed to opening doors for early stage companies to achieve success through its Unilever Foundry 30 SEAA platform.

During Millennial 20/20, the Unilever Foundry 30 SEAA will receive exposure to Unilever and other industry players in the marketing, retail and e-commerce sectors.

During the event, these 30 startups will also be based at Unilever’s co-working space, LEVEL3.

“The Unilever Foundry 30 embodies Unilever’s commitment to Southeast Asia and Australasia and to working with startup talent who we believe will have significant impact on the region,” said Barbara Guerpillon, hHead of Unilever Foundry SEAA and LEVEL3.

“With 600 million people in Southeast Asia alone, we look forward to being a catalyst for members of the Unilever Foundry 30 to affect social, business and technological change in both developed and emerging markets.

“We see enthusiasm from early-stage companies as they gear up to capture opportunities in these markets and we welcome aspiring entrepreneurs to visit LEVEL3, our co-working space at Unilever’s Singapore headquarters, to seize opportunities for collaboration and mentorship.”

The Unilever Foundry is a platform for startups and innovators seeking to engage, collaborate and explore business opportunities with Unilever’s 400+ brands.

It is also a way in which Unilever is discovering disruptive technologies and social impact entrepreneurs which will play a key role in achieving Unilever’s mission, which is to make sustainable living commonplace.

Unilever Foundry 30 SEAA

As part of the Unilever Foundry 30 SEAA and the global Unilever Foundry community, startups will have exclusive benefits including access to new briefs from brands under Unilever’s portfolio; mentorship, collaboration and guidance from Unilever’s partners and executives; invitations to key global events; and effective support.

"As we look into scaling our company to attract commercial opportunities with regional brands, joining the Unilever Foundry community has helped us get access to industry contacts,” said Derek Tan, co-founder of Viddsee.

“It is an honour for Viddsee to be part of the first Foundry 30 SEAA, and leverage this opportunity to chart our growth further."

The selected startups will also gain access to LEVEL3. Launched as a partnership between the Unilever Foundry and Padang & Co, LEVEL3 brings together Unilever brands and startups, tech experts and venture capitalists to create new partnerships that deliver real business impact.

LEVEL3 is situated within the Unilever Singapore office, which serves as a global and regional hub for the company. Since its launch in February 2017, LEVEL3 is now home to more than 45 early-stage companies.

The first Unilever Foundry 30 SEAA is as follows, each chosen in one of five areas identified by Unilever as future areas of innovation (Retail; Media and Advertising; Brand and Content Innovation; Data, Insights and Personalisation; and Sustainability and Social impact).

billionBricks (SG)

Crazy S.O.B (IL)

DÄV - Digital Avatar (ID)

emporio analytics Pte. Ltd. (SG)

FOMO Pay Pte. Ltd. (SG)

Genero (AU)

GetCraft (ID)

Happi Pte Ltd (SG)

jumper.ai (SG)

Kobe Global Technologies Pte Ltd (SG)

LoopMe (UK)

Moving Walls (MY)

Narratrs (SG)

Neuro Flash (DE)

Picasso Labs (US)

POPxo (IN)

Shippit (AU)

Shopback Singapore (SG)

Silot (SG)

STACKLA (AU)

Sticheo (SG)

Taptopick (ID)

TaskSpotting (SG)

Try and Review Pte Ltd (SG)

UShift (SG)

Vaniday Singapore Pte Lte (SG)

Viddsee (SG)

ViSenze (SG)

Wootag Pte Ltd (SG)

ZAP (PH)

The startups were selected after a rigorous assessment by Unilever, Millennial 20/20 and Polanco and were identified based on their existing and potential contributions to the SEAA region.