SINGAPORE — When it comes to business, 'doing good' and 'pursuing profits' are often deemed as mutually exclusive goals.
SINGAPORE — When it comes to business,"doing good" and"pursuing profits" are sometimes deemed as mutually exclusive goals.
And it is not just consumers who are driving this change by demanding more “innovations for good”: Governments around the world are also starting to put in place regulations in the environmental, social, and governance spheres that make these innovations all the more relevant. Dr Viknish, now 42, was a research fellow at the Agency for Science, Technology and Research in 2012, when he developed a thin “coating” to allow animal cells to attach themselves to, and grow at a quicker rate.
While he had been earning a stable salary at NUS, he found that the impact he would make as an academic may not be as meaningful as bringing his research and product straight to the market. Business deals stalled in the first months of the pandemic, but the firm was able to start raising funds in April last year, thus allowing it to continue its research and development to improve its product. While it was just Dr Viknish helming the company at the start, the firm now has 12 staff members.Dr Viknish Krishnan-Kutty , founder of Cellivate Technologies and his team poses for a photo in the lab on Nov 2, 2022.
However, the challenges of running a new company that seeks to find novel solutions to age-old problems are manifold. Indeed, the firm is fast growing. While his investors valued the firm just US$3 million last year in April, they now value it four times more — at US$12 million.“Once we get enough traction… then I think the financial returns will definitely be there, as there is a need in the world for these things, but it will take a little bit more time.
He spent five years with the firm before deciding in 2015 to start his own company, Liquinex, which specialises in water purification solutions. “It was a strain, because I was the sole breadwinner and my wife is a homemaker, so it was a difficult period, but we got through it,” he said. The"humanitarian suitcase" can produce about 3,000 litres of clean drinking water in six hours, which can sustain about 300 people. This is a far better yield than the traditional hand pump, which produces only about 4 litres of water for every 10 manual pumps.
This means that Liquinex’s products, which help to reduce toxic pollutants in the environment, will be in even higher demand, he added. As for his family, their initial fears have all evaporated. “ has been my cheerleader, she is very proud now and without her support, I wouldn’t have done this,” said Mr Bashir.Mr Lester Leong, 29, had tasted failure in his university days when two tech companies which he started did not take off.
“For investment banking… you work so hard, you barely get to see the sunlight,” he said. “I thought at that point in time that if you’re work so hard for somebody else, why not work for yourself?” This occurs through a chemical reaction that occurs on the paint surface, which breaks down any pollutants in the air into harmless byproducts.
Mr Lim, 51, said that getting the funding was crucial, because it allowed Gush’s products to be proven in the market, thus attracting more buyers.
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