TechNode Global’s inaugural ORIGIN Innovation Awards held in 2020 celebrated the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship across Asia. Our subject matter expert advisory committee selected the companies and individuals that made a difference in the Asia Pacific region’s entrepreneurship and innovation scene. What we have come to realize is that, even as 2020 had been a time of difficulty and uncertainty, these innovators, movers, and shakers made a positive impact in their own industries.

This brings to light the potential of innovators in leading the world toward meaningful impact and change.

“Even with global issues like a health pandemic, economic uncertainty, and climate change, innovators can lead us in overcoming challenges, be it in building new business models, making a positive impact on the environment, or improving the lives of individuals across the region,” said Dr. Gang Lu, founder and CEO of TechNode Group.

This brings us to this year’s theme, “Unlocking Limitless Possibilities for Innovation.” TechNode Global has been immersed in the innovation ecosystem in the region, and we have seen how entrepreneurs, corporate innovators, and leaders in the ecosystem have overcome the limits brought about by the pandemic. We have seen how businesses have accelerated their digital transformation, how the travel industry has optimized its operations, and how e-commerce has changed the way we buy, consume, and even dine.

“We continue to recognize the brightest and outstanding innovators in Asia Pacific across fields as diverse as artificial intelligence, food and agri, FinTech, HealthTech, education, and e-commerce, among others. We will also recognize how emerging industries are making a big difference in the region, such as gaming, eSports, and sustainable technologies,” added Dr. Lu.

See: Announcing the winners for the ORIGIN Innovation Awards 2020

Award categories

For this year’s ORIGIN Innovation Awards, we have streamlined the award categories to the three main categories and 14 sub-categories:

1. Startup Awards
   • AI
   • FinTech and RegTech
   • GreenTech and Sustainable Tech
   • Food and Agritech
   • E-commerce
   • Internet solutions
   • EdTech
   • HealthTech and Medtech
   • Gaming and eSports

2. Corporate Innovation Awards
   • Best Corporate Innovation
   • Best Corporate Innovator

3. Movers & Shakers
   • People’s Choice VCs
   • Best Community Builder
   • Startup Leader of the Year

Following the nomination process, the best from each sub-category will be selected by a subject matter expert advisory committee, made up of media, VCs, PEs, and corporate executives from the APAC region. They will join us to score and review each entry before determining the winners.

We sincerely invite you to be a part of our journey to celebrate the spirit of innovation and resilience in the APAC region, and together we will walk the path to the new normal. 

 

How you can be involved

The ORIGIN Innovation Awards is open for both public nominations and self-nominations. We are looking for outstanding innovators in each category who meet the following criteria:

General qualifying criteria for Startup Awards category:

• The nominee must be based or operating in APAC
• The nominee should have a commercialized product 
• The nominee’s funding round must not exceed series B (i.e. company in seed to series B stage is eligible)

General qualifying criteria for Corporate Innovation Awards:

• The nominee should have a physical office presence in APAC
• For Best Corporate Innovation, the nominated innovation should have gone live and be at the execution stage or should have been initiated between January 2018 and April 2021 (three years)
• For Best Corporate Innovator, the nominated innovator should have ongoing innovations initiated between January 2018 and April 2021 (three years)

General qualifying criteria for Movers & Shakers Awards category:

• The nominee should be based in APAC 

 

Timeline

• Public nomination and self-nomination: June 15 to August 31, 2021
• Advisory Committee review and public voting: September 1 to October 31, 2021
• ORIGIN Summit x ORIGIN Innovation Awards: November 2021 – December 2021

For more information about ORIGIN Innovation Awards, please visit: https://technode.global/origin/innovation-awards