Partners confirm the great success of the "Decarbonize Thailand Startup Sandbox (DTS)" Symposium which took place on 24th November, which served as a platform for to reconnect and showcase business innovations and opportunities in decarbonization, accelerate the net zero targets set by Thai industries and are ready to support products and services that meet the market's demand
In order for Thailand to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and net zero emissions by 2065, it requires the joining of forces from various sectors. True Digital Park, a breeding ground for start-ups, in collaboration with New Energy Nexus (Thailand), has launched the "Decarbonize Thailand Startup Sandbox" project, or DTS, to provide an important opportunity for leading companies and start-ups to explore innovations to accelerate Thai industries to achieve carbon emission reduction and create Thailand's zero carbon economy to achieve sustainability in the long run. Leading organizations that have participated in "Decarbonize Thailand Startup Sandbox" are B.Grimm Group, Charoen Pokphand Group, IRPC Public Company Limited, PTT Public Company Limited and True
Corporation Public Company Limited. They unanimously agreed that a space that connects promising start-ups with the industry sector will help organizations achieve carbon reduction quicker due to new ideas and innovations from these start-ups as they specialize in technology, have high flexibility and work fast. This leads to a shorter time for technology and innovation development and, at the same time, provides an opportunity for these start-ups to work with leading organizations so they will understand their working processes and problems they face in order to come up with innovations that answer to commercial purposes.
"B.Grimm" is ready to further develop products and services in line with the market's need
Nopadej Karnasuta, B.Grimm Senior Executive Vice President Investment, Innovation Sustainability said, B.Grimm has supported, through the sandbox project, two start-ups which develop technology to respond to Thai industries' need for carbon reduction. PAC Corporation from Thailand is a developer and solution creator for energy in air conditioning systems and water usage in the industry sector. ANNEA from Germany focuses on the effective production of renewable energy through intelligent networks. Both offer good products and services but they don't meet the market's needs entirely. They were advised to create an innovation framework and revise their marketing strategies to respond better to the market's demand and find their strong points to give themselves a competitive edge. They were also advised to use the Voice of the Customer (VoC) to evaluate their products and services to make them respond better to the market and customers. The next step is to further develop these start-ups by developing solution packages through joint ventures in the future.
"It's a B.Grimm Group's policy is to attain net zero emissions by 2050, heading toward clean and renewable energies such as solar cells, wind energy and solar energy. The other measures include reforestation, the development of technology to contain resulting carbon from steam power plants and support for carbon trade. Finding the solution to drive Thailand toward carbon neutrality by 2050 and net zero emissions by 2065, which is in line with the government's policy, requires cooperation between various sectors and the use of the most appropriate technology. Currently, many technologies are being studied but they must respond to the needs of industries and the public and be available at reasonable costs. B.Grimm will continue to push for this goal every year," Nopadej concluded.
"CP" acknowledges the importance of space for knowledge and idea exchange between established companies and start-ups
Somjettana Pasakanon, C.P. Group's Director of Sustainability Development Sustainability, Good Governance and Corporate Communication Office said that through participating in DTS, new ideas have come forth from participating start-ups in Thailand and abroad, who highly specialize in technology related to net zero, more than expected. However, some of these ideas don't respond to the needs of the organizations 100%. Through collaboration, the start-ups gain more understanding of how large organizations operate and give them new perspectives and challenges for them to develop new solutions that answer to commercial purposes. The current technology still has limitations and is not advanced enough to achieve the net zero goal so more development is needed to be able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
"The main benefit from the project is the exchange of knowledge between organizations and start-ups and the development of special abilities. People from organizations get to upskill and reskill and if there's a new investment down the line it'll bring economic benefits through business opportunities and more employment. Also, companies that are seeking for potential start-ups to collaborate with won't have to waste time finding them as for the start-ups to join the project, they have gone through a screening process. C.P. is open to working with start-ups and DTS helps speed up the journey to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on a larger scale. Moreover, big organizations, who aren't used to the start-up culture, get to collaborate with start-ups through the project to strengthen the overall ecosystem of Thai industries," Somjettana concluded.
"IRPC" stresses big organizations should collaborate with start-ups to survive modern business
Anucha Somjitchob, IRPC's Senior Vice President of Business Development, said that achieving net zero ambition, which is very crucial, requires introducing technology and innovation that will improve the production process and reduce the emission of greenhouse gas. IRPC deems that new ideas and technology tend to come from start-ups and the younger generation, therefore, IRPC is ready to partner up with them and bring tools and strong points of established companies to support them, including funds. In the business world, one company can't do everything. Therefore, combining the strengths of start-ups and of partner companies will lead to a strong ecosystem and mutual growth. IRPC is open to anyone to pitch ideas that would fit its needs and vision. The challenge for start-ups is that, while they have brilliant ideas, they have trouble growing and developing for commercial purposes.
"A project such as DTS helps bring together like-minded people. The organizations don't have to waste their time trying to find start-ups with technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and can tell them their needs directly. It speeds up the screening process significantly and creates networks to support each other. The strength of start-ups is their vitality and high flexibility. Having a start-up partner takes some burden off companies' shoulders as they can come up with new ideas while the companies can focus on their usual operations. Today we need to revise the way we think and find good solutions from the younger generation. By accepting outside collaboration, organizations gain the speed and ability to respond to stakeholders. We need to change the way we think. If we stay the same, we'll step backwards. Even if we try to move forward by ourselves, it may be too slow. However, if we move forward with a partner who's agile and full of new ideas, we can grow mutually."
PTT ExpresSo supports start-ups for environmental solutions
Nichan Piromsawat, Venture Capitalist and Head of Partnerships from PTT ExpresSo, said PTT ExpresSo has been matched with two start-ups. TIE-con from Thailand specializes in energy conservation in building through digital technology and solutions for intelligent energy management for buildings and factories through IoT (Internet of Things) and Artificial Intelligence to reduce energy consumption in buildings and precisely plan for maintenance of energy systems in buildings. ReJoule from the US develops a system to evaluate cellular batteries to check whether a battery is in good condition or not. PTT ExpresSo has launched Nuovo Plus, a subsidiary of PTT, to develop EV batteries and use their technology to evaluate these batteries during the production stage to make sure that Nuovo Plus batteries are reliable and environmentally friendly.
"We're studying possibilities of further collaboration with these two start-ups. In the first phase, a partnership with TIE-con will be formed to establish a new business specialized in boilers and related equipment and provide production know-how to ensure the highest efficiency in every factory. As for ReJoule, further collaboration between the startup and PTT will result in a competitive edge for PTT's electric vehicle business in various ways. It will lead to carbon emissions reduction in Thailand and more clean energy to benefit the environment in Thailand and other countries around the world. It's a PTT ExpresSo's policy to support technology and solutions to reduce carbon emissions that respond to the needs of industries. Such a solution must be appropriate to Thailand's strengths and weaknesses and emerging economies in the hope to propel Thailand as a leader in this regard. It'll expand to neighboring countries and new markets, achieving clean energy for the world in the long run," Nichan concluded.