GridComm selected for prestigious Unreasonable Impact Asia Pacific 2018


To tackle global problem of unemployment with scale deployment of its smart street light solution


HONG KONG – After a rigorous selection process involving hundreds of world-class companies from across the Asia Pacific region, gridComm has been chosen to join thirteen other growth-stage ventures in the 2018 Unreasonable Impact Asia Pacific programme. Unreasonable Impact is an innovative multi-year partnership between Barclays and Unreasonable Group to launch the world’s first international network of accelerators focused on scaling up entrepreneurial solutions that will help employ thousands worldwide while solving some of our most pressing societal challenges.

From 20 June through 30 June 2018, Chairman/Managing Director Jen Kwong Hwa (K.H.Jen) will join this group of exceptional entrepreneurs on a mission to generate thousands of future jobs in the emerging green economy. Cumulatively, the participating ventures have already generated and raised over USD $400M. Throughout the second annual Unreasonable Impact Asia Pacific programme, they will uncover how to rapidly accelerate the scale of their companies to make an even greater impact. gridComm provides a complete smart light solution that creates a network over a city's power lines, connecting sensors capable of instant communication. gridComm then uses that to connect thousands of sensors to measure weather, pollution, traffic, and more, with street light control software that saves millions of dollars in electricity and maintenance costs. Intelligent lighting operations alone can shrink a city's annual electricity consumption by as much as 40%. Granting unprecedented control, a smart city network enables hundreds of thousands of IoT sensors to communicate and deliver detailed environmental data in real-time. Most of gridComm’s deployments have been deployed in places where bad weather, congested wireless and power line interference are obstacles to reliable communications. gridComm deployments are largely in Indonesia, Taiwan, Singapore, Croatia, and Russia.

During the ten-day intensive programme, gridComm will receive mentorship and advice from business experts and serial entrepreneurs, such as the co-founder of Google Glass and Google’s self-driving car, Tom Chi; prominent serial entrepreneur, investor and film producer, Keyur Patel; and CEO of Preferred Brands International and Chairman of Tasty Bite Eatables, Ashok Vasudevan. Additionally, several senior colleagues from across Barclays will serve as mentors. The program will take place at a private venue in Hong Kong and include a Demo Day exhibition event in the city, where gridComm will showcase their innovation..

K.H Jen, gridComm Chairman/MD said: "we're very honoured to be chosen to attend the program. gridComm has great technology and traction in South East Asia and are at an inflection point in our growth. By participating in the 2018 Unreasonable Impact Asia Pacific programme, we will be looking at how to more widely deploy our smart street light solution to reduce the energy use, environmental Impact and cost of operating street lights. With a billion street lights in the world, the Impact Is huge."

Anthony Davies, Chair of Asia Pacific Citizenship Council and Chief Executive, Barclays Bank, Hong Kong Branch, said: “We are pleased to launch the second Asia Pacific cohort of Unreasonable Impact entrepreneurs, who represent some of the fastest growing economies in the world. Barclays is committed to this innovative partnership and to helping high-growth companies scale up their businesses and create employment opportunities whilst addressing societal and environmental issues.”

Daniel Epstein, founder and CEO of Unreasonable Group, explains, “By partnering with Barclays, we are working to scale up solutions that address significant societal and environmental issues. Unlike most accelerators, we align with entrepreneurs whose ventures have already proven effective in market. By supporting technologies that work, we can help these companies grow faster, in turn accelerating the creation of millions of new jobs around the world.”

This programme marks the conclusion of the second year of this multi-year partnership, with programmes hosted in the Americas, UK & Europe, and Asia Pacific. To date, Unreasonable Impact’s ventures operate in over 180 countries, reach over 250 million customers, and already support over 15,000 jobs. To date, the companies have also raised and generated nearly $2 billion USD. GridComm will join this notable global network in its shared effort to create thousands of jobs on the frontier of the green economy. For more information, visit www.unreasonableimpact.com

The participating companies include: Ampd Energy: develops state-of-the-art lithium-ion energy storage systems to provide clean, affordable, and dependable electricity to the billions of people who need it. Ampere Vehicles: produces affordable, clean and efficient electric vehicles for the aspiring middle class in Asia, with approximately 35,000 vehicles produced and sold to date. Arcstone: leverages an IoT/SaaS platform to help manufacturers save time, money and resources in the form of significant material, energy and waste reduction. ChironX: democratises healthcare with an AI-powered software that rapidly, affordably and with over 95% accuracy diagnoses critical health conditions from medical images. Ecozen Solutions: is changing the way India handles its perishables by building the country’s first-ever solar cold storage chain and by providing intelligent solar pumping technology. eFishery: is creating the future of aquaculture with an IoT smart feeding technology to help hundreds of millions of farmers at the bottom of the pyramid. FatHopes Energy: leading the way to a low-carbon future by converting waste oil into renewable biofuels that feed into the existing petroleum infrastructure, with over 150 million kg of waste oil transformed into biofuel to date. Fourth Partner Energy: develops distributed solar solutions for India, completing over 1500 grid-connected and off-grid installations across 22 states to date. gridComm: transforms streetlights into resource-efficient platforms with proprietary IOT sensors, saving cities millions of dollars in electricity and maintenance. Headspring: fostering electrical democratisation worldwide through its next-generation power semiconductors, with devices 1/10 the size of current ones on the market. Heaven Springs: utilises solar power and renewable energy to harvest safe drinking water from the air in an efficient, low-carbon, eco-friendly way. Husk Power Systems: powers rural communities with 100% renewable energy, through one of the world’s lowest-cost hybrid power plant and distribution networks. Leaf Resources: transforms plant biomass into sustainable products, utilising a technology with the potential to replace virtually all petroleum-derived materials. RAD Green Solutions: treats infectious bio-medical waste safely with its revolutionary, environmentally friendly non-incineration technology.