Climate tech funding makes a big splash in SEA

This week’s On the Rise maps the climate tech startups cleaning up SEA, dives into eFishery’s expansion plan, and decodes the EU’s new AI Act. [Read from your browser]( On the Rise 🚀 Welcome to On the Rise! Delivered every Tuesday via email and through the Tech in Asia website, this free newsletter breaks down the biggest stories and trends in emerging tech. If you’re not a subscriber, get access by [registering here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- IN FOCUS In today's newsletter, we look at: - SEA’s [climate tech startups beyond EVs]( - EFishery [casts its net in India]( - Impact of the European Union’s AI Act Hello {NAME} , My friend Rahul has been preparing for the Indian Administrative Services exam for the past year in New Delhi. Recently, he had to relocate to the city of Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan due to the health impact of the [smog in Delhi](. It is estimated that the air quality in Delhi is equivalent to smoking [10 cigarettes]( per day. Not just in India, but globally, climate conditions are worsening. Fortunately, there are companies working to address these issues. In this week’s Big Story, my colleague Deepti writes an in-depth report on Southeast Asia’s climate tech landscape. It seems that investors are also acknowledging the issue, with funding into the sector rising over the last few years. Last year, 41 climate tech startups in the region raised funds - the highest to date. In this week’s second Big Story, my colleague Jofie dives into the business of Indonesian aquaculture startup eFishery’s expansion into India and what it’s up against. The company plans to introduce its own branded seafood products in Indonesian supermarkets and retail stores by the first half of 2024. Meanwhile, in this week’s AI Odyssey, I discuss the European Union’s recently implemented AI Act and its future implications. The newly introduced law sorts generative AI models by their risk and enforces stricter rules for higher-risk ones. -- Lokesh  --------------------------------------------------------------- THE BIG STORIES 1️⃣ [SEA’s climate tech landscape: Energy solutions are making it rain]( In 2023, 41 of the region’s climate tech startups secured investments, raking in the highest annual funding to date. 2️⃣[EFishery takes on global aquaculture in a balancing act]( The newest Indonesian unicorn has kicked off an international expansion despite having only a 7% to 8% market share in its home country.  --------------------------------------------------------------- AI ODYSSEY  Promising AI projects we’re noticing Will EU’s new AI regulation be the global benchmark? In January 2020, a man named Robert Williams was arrested for theft in the US. He turned out to be one of the first people who was [wrongfully identified]( as a criminal by AI. There have been many instances where researchers came together to [request a ban]( on the use of AI for such purposes due to the biases in the data used to train these models. In 2023, several other issues around generative AI started to crop up, including copyright infringement for unauthorized use of data to train models, rise of deepfakes, and data leaks. All these fueled the conversation around the need to regulate AI. Last month, the European Union (EU) became the second governmental body - after China - to pass a law that regulates AI companies. Generally, if the EU passes a law, it becomes a benchmark for many countries. For example, the European car safety standards set by Euro NCAP is regarded as one of the best globally. I bought my car after seeing its 5-star rating in Euro NCAP. Essentially, the [AI Act]( establishes a tiered system that ranks foundational models - such as GPT-4 - by their potential risks, which is mainly determined by the amount of computing power used when training them. The law outlines transparency requirements for AI firms and assigns a central role to the [European Commission for supervision and enforcement](. The main highlight of the AI Act is that it requires foundational models to provide technical documentation, information sharing with system providers, EU copyright law compliance, and public disclosure of training data. These are requirements that most AI companies will not be comfortable with. Other markets are following suit. The US, for example, is reportedly releasing its [own set of AI laws]( soon. It’ll be interesting to see how it tackles the tech, considering it is a country with a lot of corporate lobbying. On one hand, companies like Microsoft are proposing to develop a regulatory framework. On the other hand, many firms are opposing the creation of a new law and think AI is best regulated under existing regulations. However, one thing that I can say for sure is that the EU’s AI Act will drive the growth of task-specific models. These models, being smaller compared to generalist ones, will require fewer permissions to roll out and had already started [gaining attention]( in the latter part of 2023. While India, too, is planning to [amend its IT Act]( to include AI regulations that focus on tackling model bias as well as a dedicated law for deepfakes, the EU’s AI Act goes beyond large language models, covering a wide range of systems. For example, the EU’s law has set guidelines for predictive policing and the use of real-time remote biometric identification systems in public spaces, requiring authorization from a judicial or independent administrative authority. However, countries like India are relying on predictive policing and AI to manage its large population, using the tech to prevent [election manipulation]( and identify criminals in [large gatherings](. -- Lokesh  --------------------------------------------------------------- FYI 1️⃣[Drone company Avirtech in dispute with former CEO over misconduct allegations]( While the company said it fired Rendy Ferixsen The, the former CEO said he voluntarily resigned. Both sides have accused the other of misconduct. 2️⃣[A look at the Singapore space startup said to have raised $100m in seed money]( Details on Qosmosys’ seed round and the investors involved are scant, though Airbus is helping to develop its moon lander.  --------------------------------------------------------------- NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW Also check out Tech in Asia’s coverage of the emerging tech scene [here]( 1️⃣ [Zenius presses pause]( The Indonesian edtech firm is temporarily shutting down due to operational challenges. Zenius, which underwent three rounds of layoffs in the past two years, did not specify the duration of the shutdown or what has happened to its over 500 employees. 2️⃣[Funds for society]( Funding Societies, a Singapore-based lending platform, has secured an undisclosed amount of capital from Khazanah Nasional and CGC Digital. The investment aims to support the company’s expansion in Malaysia, where it aims to serve over 25,000 MSMEs by 2025. 3️⃣[Qiming charges battery swapping]( Swap Energy, an Indonesian firm focused on electric vehicle battery services, has raised US$22 million in a series A round. The fundraise was led by Qiming Venture Partners and joined by GGV Capital and Ondine Capital. 4️⃣[Intel's AI spinoff]( The US-based chipmaker has announced that it is creating a new company called Articul8 AI. The firm, which will be focused on AI software, will have a board of directors separate from Intel’s. 5️⃣[Canva's billion-dollar brush]( The Australia-based design startup is close to finalizing a deal that would allow its employees as well as existing backers to sell over US$1 billion worth of stock to new investors. Canva is currently valued at US$26 billion. --------------------------------------------------------------- That’s it for this edition - we hope you liked it! Do also check out previous issues of the newsletter [here](. Not your cup of tea? You can unsubscribe from this newsletter by going to your “edit profile” page and choosing that option in our preference center. See you soon! [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( | [HIRE]( | [FIND JOBS]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Too many emails? 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