Extreme Tech Challenge Singapore 2021 – Announcing the Region’s Top Three Deep Tech Startups

Magorium, Proteona, and Resync clinched coveted finalist spots at the global Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) competition

26 March 2021, Singapore: SGInnovate and Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC), co-hosts of XTC Singapore 2021, announced the competition’s top three Deep Tech startups, following the ‘live’ pitching sessions at the virtual XTC Singapore Demo Day on 24 March 2021. Amongst the round-up of 10 outstanding startups, Magorium, Proteona, and Resync emerged as the finalists of the regional competition. They will be heading to the Extreme Tech Challenge Global Finals in July this year for the chance to pitch for potential investments and collaboration opportunities, to further scale their innovations and help unlock a more sustainable future.

The XTC competition is the world’s largest startup competition for entrepreneurs addressing global challenges. On top of worldwide submissions, regional competitions are also held with partners in various countries, where selected startups will advance to the finalist cohort of the Extreme Tech Challenge Global Finals.

Startups from Southeast Asia, India, Australia and New Zealand were eligible to apply to XTC Singapore 2021 with ventures in any of the following seven categories, inspired by the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs):

• AgTech, Food and Water
• Cleantech and Energy
• Education
• Enabling Technologies
• FinTech
• Healthcare
• Transportation and Smart Cities

In the Cleantech and Energy category, Magorium has developed technology that re-engineers plastic waste into a new material for more sustainable and greener road construction, with the aim of solving today’s plastic waste problem and contributing towards the circular economy,

Proteona, from the Healthcare category, is a precision medicine company based in Singapore, Germany, and the US that is pioneering the use of single cell multi-omics to improve clinical outcomes in cancer. Using a combination of innovative single cell assays and AI-assisted bioinformatics, Proteona enables pharmaceutical companies, biotech partners, and clinicians to integrate single cell level precision into their clinical projects.

Resync, also from the Cleantech and Energy category, provides an Intelligent Energy Management Platform for smart cities and systems with multiple energy sources. The startup uses a combination of machine learning model and deep technical knowledge of energy systems to ensure system efficiency, optimised performance and continuous savings. (Please see Appendix A for quotes from the top three XTC Singapore finalists and Appendix B for the full list of XTC Singapore Demo Day finalists.)

The top three startups from XTC Singapore are now placed in a group of global finalists selected from applications across 80 countries and pitching sessions at regional competitions in 21 countries. They will be invited to the final judging round for Category winners and XTC’s Virtual Bootcamp in May, where they can engage with senior startup investors, corporate leaders and industry experts. In addition, they will be eligible to pitch to a panel of world-renowned judges at the 2021 Extreme Tech Challenge Global Finals, which will be held virtually in July 2021.

“It has been a pleasure for Extreme Tech Challenge to again partner with SGInnovate on this second annual XTC regional competition focusing on the Deep Tech startup ecosystem in Singapore. The tenacity, ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of the startups selected today have never been more inspiring than in these unprecedented times. The XTC ecosystem can empower these entrepreneurs to build a more sustainable, equitable, inclusive, healthy and prosperous world,” said Victoria Slivkoff, Executive Managing Director, Extreme Tech Challenge.

Rajiv Menon, Managing Director, Head of APAC & Japan at Cisco Investments and M&A, one of the judges for this year’s XTC Singapore Demo Day, said, “Singapore has firmly established itself as a global startup hub. There are various factors that have contributed to the success of the city-state on this front, not least the ecosystem that it has built to nurture and develop startups into profitable businesses. SGInnovate and Extreme Tech Challenge’s latest initiative, XTC Singapore 2021, is a great example of that. Personally, I am delighted by the focus of the initiative on harnessing Deep Tech for Good as well as the collaboration between various stakeholders. I am excited to be a part of the judging panel and hope that the finalists go on to achieve great success and have a positive impact on our society.”

“Our continued partnership with XTC stems from our closely aligned goals – to support startups and entrepreneurs in developing Deep Tech solutions to combat global problems. Beyond Singapore, we would like to promote interest and investments into innovative technologies that can improve the world,” said Dr Lim Jui, CEO, SGInnovate. “We are honoured to be co-hosting the XTC regional competition in Singapore again, to stimulate innovative ideas from homegrown startups to build a better and more sustainable future. To the top three finalists of the Singapore leg of the XTC regional competitions, we look forward to kickstarting your journey towards making a mark on the global Deep Tech stage.”

For more information on the XTC competition, please visit: https://extremetechchallenge.org/

About SGInnovate

At SGInnovate, we build and scale Deep Tech startups into high potential companies with global impact. We believe that hard global problems can be solved using Deep Tech, and Singapore, where we are based, is uniquely positioned to realise Deep Tech innovations that can tackle these challenges. Our Deep Tech Nexus Strategy is focused on adding tangible value to the Deep Tech startup ecosystem in two key areas – development of Human Capital and deployment of Investment Capital. With the support of our partners and co-investors, we back entrepreneurial scientists through equity-based investments, access to talent and business-building advice. Our efforts are prioritised around emerging technologies such as Advanced Manufacturing, AgriFoodTech, Artificial Intelligence, Autonomous Vehicles, MedTech and Quantum Computing, which represent impactful and scalable answers to global challenges.

SGInnovate is a private-limited company wholly owned by the Singapore Government. For more information, please visit www.sginnovate.com

About Extreme Tech Challenge

The Extreme Tech ChallengeSM (XTC) is a U.S. 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to empowering the next generation of entrepreneurs who create new technologies and innovations to benefit humankind.

Inspired by the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), XTC supports and showcases the innovators harnessing the power of technology to address the greatest challenges facing humanity and our planet. Through its global startup competition, XTC provides top contenders the potential for global visibility, the opportunity to raise capital, the option to network with global entities (corporations, VCs, partners), and the ability to gain mentorship opportunities in order to help them pioneer technological breakthroughs and help power a sustainable future.

XTC forges agile partnerships and robust collaborations between innovators, venture capitalists, corporations and policymakers. Backed by leading voices in the tech industry, the Extreme Tech Challenge mobilises the world’s number one ecosystem for purpose driven-innovation and technology. For more information, please visit www.extremetechchallenge.org.

Media contacts

Stephanie Tiu
SGInnovate
[email protected]

Extreme Tech Challenge
[email protected]

Eva Chow
IN.FOM (Partnering agency of SGInnovate)
[email protected]

Appendix A – Quotes from the Top Three Finalists of XTC Singapore 2021

1. Oh Chu Xian, Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder, Magorium, said, “At the rate of our inaction, the plastic waste crisis will only worsen whether we are prepared for it or not. XTC provides the platform and a shot at solving this pollution problem before the consequences become irreversible. Our technology converts plastic on a substantial scale into a new eco-material for road construction. With this tech, we hope to provide each country with its own plastic recycling solution and inject sustainability into the road construction scene.”
2. Andreas Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer, Proteona, said, “AI-driven single cell multi-omics will change how pharma trials are run and save lives of cancer patients. We, at Proteona, are extremely excited to gain the support from XTC to move to the next level and to continue our journey as a technology grown at NUS and A*STAR to create global impact on clinical outcomes in oncology.”
3. Emir Nurov, Managing Director, Resync, said, “We are truly honoured and glad to be selected as a top 3 finalist at the XTC Singapore 2021, one of the biggest Deep Tech competitions worldwide. Aligned with the global vision towards a Sustainable Future, Resync’s AI-driven Energy Cloud solutions will empower companies and smart cities to transition towards greater energy efficiency. By joining the XTC community, we hope to gain global exposure, raise awareness about sustainable energy, and receive mentorship from industry leaders to help Resync break into the global scene.”

Appendix B – Top 10 Finalists at XTC Singapore 2021