Verena Kuhn of the World Economic Forum explains how Innovator Communities are closing the global innovation gap through mission-driven startups and tech pioneers.
00:00Ok, tema yang diangkat di World Summit Forum Annual Meeting of the New Champions di Tianjin, China ini adalah keusahawanan dalam era baru.
00:24Justru kita ingin melihat pelbagai aspek keusahawanan tersebut dan cabaran yang mereka hadapi khususnya dalam konteks start-up dan juga inovator yang banyak menyaksikan tumbuhan yang besar pada ketika ini.
00:36Dalam sesi pembukaan pada hari ini, Perdana Menteri China Li Chang sendiri melihat dan juga menyebut tentang bagaimana sebenarnya sektor-sektor emerging yang baru tumbuh ini menjadi pemacu utama dalam keusahawanan dan ekonomi.
00:50Justru penting untuk kita melihat perkara ini dan saya berpesahati, saya bersama dengan Verena Kun iaitu Head Innovative Communities World Summit Forum pada jam ini.
00:58Verena, thank you so much for joining us.
01:00Thanks for having me.
01:01I want to talk about the innovators, innovative communities at World Summit Forum.
01:06Tell us more about it and why is it important to have innovative communities?
01:11Yes, so at the forum we have innovative communities, that's about 400 global start-ups.
01:16We have three different sub-communities for the different stages, technology pioneers for early stage start-ups, global innovators for growth stage start-ups,
01:25and unicorns that are companies that are valued at about a billion dollars.
01:30Now why are we doing this?
01:32First of all, I think if we take the example of AI, how could we discuss AI without having some of these disruptors there?
01:37So we bring them on board because we want to make sure that we bring their solutions, their insights to our work.
01:44But the second reason is also that we know if we bring them to our platform and give them access, it actually enables them to scale faster.
01:52They get connections to potential customers, they get connections to potential investors, and also importantly, they have connections amongst themselves.
01:59And so we see that that really helps them, and that's in a nutshell why we're doing this.
02:02Yeah, you obviously work closely with the pioneers and also unicorns. What are some of the new trends that you are excited about?
02:10Yeah, that's a hard question. It's a bit like, which child do you a lot most? I think they're all exciting.
02:15But for sure, AI still is a big theme, but it's a bit more concrete this year.
02:19So there are now AI applications. For instance, we have one of our new technology pioneers is Deep Principle from China, and they use AI for scientific discovery to develop new materials, new, more sustainable materials.
02:33But then at the same time, it's now a lot about AI infrastructure. We've seen this growth in AI. Robert needs a lot of infrastructure.
02:39And a good example of that is also New Tech Pioneer Star Cloud. They're taking a really big bet, and they want to put data centers into space, because it takes a lot less energy there, and you have 24-7 solar energy.
02:52So those are some of the things I'm really excited about.
02:54It's very exciting. Take us through the journey of choosing these innovators, because I'm pretty sure it's a combination between the global south and the global north as well.
03:07What are the representations of the global south innovators, especially in Asia, from Asia, also Africa, under the innovative communities?
03:16Yeah. So I would say in general, I mean, it is important for us to have representation from everywhere. We are the World Economic Forum.
03:24Now, when you talk about startups, obviously, we also need to reflect what is sort of the global footprint of the startup ecosystem.
03:30It is pretty U.S. heavy, but what we've seen this year in this new cohort that we announced on Monday of 100 technology pioneers,
03:36is we are shifting a bit away from the U.S., so U.S. representation went down, Asia representation went up.
03:43China, no need to say, is the second biggest market when it comes to in terms of unicorns, but also early-stage startups, but also other countries.
03:51And I think that also for these other countries, our programs are actually even more meaningful.
03:58You can think about it like a virtual ecosystem, which obviously, if you're not in Silicon Valley, these connections are even more useful for them.
04:05There's a term I read yesterday about mission-driven innovators and startup.
04:12Check us through about mission-driven, because at the end of the day, business still look at the bottom line, dollar and cents as well.
04:21In Malaysia, we used to talk a lot about the social entrepreneurship before,
04:25and this is a very thin line in terms of having a good business model in terms of making money and also a social solution to it.
04:35Take us through about the mission-driven innovator and startup.
04:38Yeah, so for me, really, it's not a contradiction.
04:41Mission and profit actually goes hand in hand, I would say.
04:44What we are looking for is, if we take the SDG, for example, we need so much change that we need these solutions to scale at a really, really big scale.
04:55So unless they're profitable, that will not happen.
04:58But I think where mission comes in is that if you're a mission-driven organization, it's a real competitive advantage.
05:04I just spoke this morning to one of our founders, and he told me that one of the key things that helps him bring on board talent,
05:10which really is one of the most scarce resources, even more than funding for the founders,
05:15is that he's working on such a big bet where people get excited and say,
05:19I want to be part of that, and that's something that's worthwhile coming to work in the morning.
05:25Let our audience understand better in terms of the innovation trends, at least for the next two to three years,
05:31based on your engagement with these innovators.
05:33as well as some of the key trends that the world should look at.
05:36I'm sure I've brought you actually a summary of a report we've done yesterday.
05:40Okay.
05:41The top 10 emerging technology report.
05:44I'm not going to talk you through the 10, but there's three that I feel like I'm really excited about,
05:49and I also have companies here that represent them.
05:52So the first one is Osmotic Energy, and we have a startup here that is Switch,
05:57that is trying to use osmotic power for power generation.
06:00That will be very clean power and power that you can switch off and on,
06:04which obviously makes it even more powerful.
06:08Then we also have advanced nuclear technologies.
06:11So people are coming back to nuclear because it is a very clean form of energy.
06:15and here as well, we have one of our new tech pioneers, Jimmy, is working on small nuclear reactors.
06:22And then finally, a really, really big trend, which is also somewhat connected to AI,
06:26is what in the report is called collaborative sensing.
06:30So where you take data from a lot of different sensors and you try to make sense of it.
06:34I think there's, in general, a bit of a consensus that the large language models with language only
06:40has a certain limitation, so bringing in other data sources is really powerful.
06:44And we have Archetype, one of our new tech pioneers here as well,
06:47that is doing exactly that, taking data from sensors and putting an AI model on top of it.
06:52It's very interesting.
06:53I want to talk about the participation as well.
06:56But what kind of support do they get when they are being part of the forum's community?
07:01Yeah, I think the best image I can really use is, it is a virtual ecosystem.
07:07So they get a lot, a lot of different connections, be it to big industry partners that could be their customers,
07:15but also to investors, also to governments, and then finally amongst themselves.
07:19And these connections, I think, are very powerful.
07:22The other image I want to use is, one of the founders once described being part of our community
07:27as having a seat at the table.
07:29So you get a seat at the table with the big industry players, with the policy makers,
07:33and your voice is heard.
07:35And this is really what we're trying to do, to make sure that their voice is heard.
07:38I want to get your point of view as well, because you've seen innovators from developing countries
07:43and advanced countries as well.
07:45So do you see a stark contrast in terms of ideations, in terms of their capabilities
07:52of tuning out ideas and commercialization, in terms of technology and innovations?
07:59Yes and no.
08:00I mean, there are obviously different resources, right?
08:03So raising 100 million in Silicon Valley, I think, is significantly easier than around the world.
08:09But in terms of ideas and technologies, and also passion for mission-driven organizations,
08:17I think they can come from everywhere.
08:18And that's why, for our communities, we're really interested in bringing them from all around the world.
08:22Okay.
08:23Brena, last but not least, for innovators out there who watch this particular interview,
08:27your message to them based on your engagement with innovators, what should they do?
08:31It's either to engage with you or to propel further their business and idea.
08:37Yeah.
08:39Something that has come out of the discussion I've had here and also what I've observed in the last five years
08:43in this role is connections and community is so, so, so important.
08:49You know, there's so many startup meetings and sometimes you can be tempted to say,
08:52well, you know, what's the use of that?
08:54But actually, the more connections you have, the more you can discuss your ideas
08:57and you get feedback on your ideas or supporters, the better.
09:00So, I think that's something I would encourage founders to do.
09:03Seek out sort of your crowd.
09:05And then, obviously, I'm happy for them to apply.
09:07We're opening the applications for the new technology pioneer cohort for next year in October.
09:12So, reach out to me on LinkedIn and definitely connect.
09:16Okay.
09:16I forgot to ask this.
09:17I need to ask because this is what happened in Malaysia when I used to interview about startup a lot back then.
09:23Their resiliency, resilient in increase for the next five years or 10 years down the road.
09:27So, how do you see the resilience of startup in terms of their business model,
09:32in terms of their beliefs, ideas to sustain their business for the next, I don't know, decades ahead?
09:38Yeah, I think that's the key question, right?
09:40Resilience.
09:40And I think they need to do two things at the same time.
09:43They need to be very flexible and very adaptive, pivot ideas.
09:46Also, have an organization that can be flexible, so don't hire too many people.
09:53We had someone here who just told us she moved from 40 people to five people, is now doing much better.
09:58Also, AI, obviously, enabling a lot of that.
10:01But at the same time, you need to keep the midterm and long term also in mind, right?
10:07and have a clear strategy of where you want to go.
10:11And again, I think in this point of resilience, that's a very, very hard thing to do,
10:15to be flexible in the short term but then somehow not lose sight of your midterm goal.
10:19I think a community can be really helpful.
10:21And what we observe in our sessions is that the connection between founders are very valuable.
10:27They're the only ones who understand each other because they're facing exactly the same problems.
10:30Thank you so much, Harani. I really appreciate your time with us.
10:34It's that we can see how we can learn about startups and innovators,
10:38especially for the viewers in Malaysia.
10:40We have a group of ideas that have a lot of their ideas,
10:44that have a lot of their ideas, how to move forward to the world forum.
Be the first to comment