"Fantastic social impact!" exclaimed the venture capitalist. "When your team is ready, reach out to me." An accomplished businesswoman added, "I have a chain of stores selling luxurious goods at airports in Asia, ready to distribute your beautiful lotus silk." This is how the room would have felt if a standing ovation was a thing in a startup competition.
Team Sens's final pitch of the day concluded the SUSS Impact Startup Challenge 2024 (Ho Chi Minh) on a high note. The level of validation by a team of experienced venture capitalists was unprecedented. This came after a five-day boot camp, during which participants were grouped into teams on day one, identified startup opportunities in the business landscape, conducted interviews to validate their assumptions, and prepared a demo day pitch to a panel of seasoned venture capitalists.
"My grandma used to tell me this story when I was little.
Once upon a time, there was a beautiful village girl named Mya Mya. She habitually asked her suitors to bring her a stalk of lotus flowers daily. Of all the men who courted her, only one continued doing this for years.
Sadly, one day, Mya Mya fell ill and soon passed away. The loyal man then visited her family and discovered an unfinished lotus silk shawl made from the lotus stems he had brought daily. Mya Mya had intended to give the silk to the man as a gift. The man, saddened by her passing, completed the silk shawl and started a business weaving silk in the village in memory of Mya Mya.
Today, the village is renowned for its environmentally friendly and elegant silk made from lotus stems."
Sens - transforming and empowering communities. Narrated by Phung Tran Viet My, together with teammates Vinson Joshua Agcanas, Kee Guan Cheng Elson, Teo Choon Long, Tran Thi Thuc Quyen (UEH-ISB), and Chan Ging Yang.
Sens's opening pitch was about sustainable lotus silk. This social enterprise helped uplift a lotus silk village by modernising the harvesting process with technology while enhancing the productivity of the artisans who craft the silk.
During the boot camp, we deliberated on different revenue streams and carefully assessed their viability. Eventually, we picked a social enterprise business model to uplift the village as we hope to maximise social impact and preserve the authenticity of lotus silk as an art form. The decision to market the lotus silk as luxury goods was based on the village's limited production capacity and the need to preserve the exclusivity of the art form.
Everyone in the team chipped in, encouraged by the constructive suggestions from team members as they researched the opportunity. Eventually, the pitch was finalised hours before the demo day (yes, Vietnamese and Singaporeans are hardworking people).
The winning team, Sens, after receiving the award.
I am proud to be the team mentor and instructor for the program. I learned as much from the teams as they benefited from the boot camp, which taught them venture ideation and validation. I am humbled by the opportunity to mentor the teams and lead the program. The boot camp was a powerful learning experience for everyone involved, and I am excited to continue fostering inspiring ideas and collaborating with innovative individuals from all backgrounds.
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