27.9 C
Vientiane
Wednesday, July 2, 2025
spot_img
Home Blog Page 1905

The Mills Fabrica Launches Inaugural Impact Report to Advocate for Measurable Planet-Positive Investment Standards

Marking five years of accelerating techstyle and agrifood innovations – call for more mission-aligned partners to join the ecosystem

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 16 May 2023 – The Mills Fabrica launches its first-ever Impact Report to mark five years of accelerating innovations, development, and adoption in the categories of techstyle (the intersection between technology and lifestyle) and agrifood tech.

The Mills Fabrica itself was grown out of Nan Fung Group’s textile legacy in Hong Kong, with a focus on supporting and investing in innovations within the textile and apparel, and agrifood industries. As both industries are significant contributors to climate change, emitting up to 44% of global greenhouse gas emissions, The Mills Fabrica aims to use its resources to catalyze innovations for sustainability, environmental and social impact. Today, The Mills Fabrica is made up of a venture capital fund, startup incubator, Impact Retail Store Fabrica X, labs, offices, and event spaces across Hong Kong and London.

Raising awareness and advocating for measurable investment standards

Since its inception in 2018, The Mills Fabrica has supported more than 35 of such innovations as part of its investment and incubation program, and invests up to USD 3M per startup. Its investment in startups and fund investments spans across the world (US, Europe, Asia), where over 50% of The Mills Fabrica investees receive successful subsequent fundraising.

To mark five years of accelerating techstyle and agrifood innovations, The Mills Fabrica launches its inaugural Impact Report to outline its investment strategy, raise awareness, and celebrate innovations in these two key industries.

“While we see great interest in supporting innovations around sustainability, more can be done to ensure that efforts and investments lead to genuinely effective outcomes. This is why, with the launch of the 2022 Impact Report, The Mills Fabrica aims to take first steps in consolidating standards to measure the positive environmental and social impact investments truly have on the world,” says Cintia Nunes, General Manager and Head of Asia, The Mills Fabrica.

The Mills Fabrica’s Impact Report advocates for using standardized and measurable methods for supporting innovations around sustainability. For The Mills Fabrica, it follows the nine planetary boundaries as outlined by the Stockholm Resilience Center (climate change, biosphere integrity, land-system change, freshwater use, biogeochemical flows, ocean acidification, novel entities, atmospheric aerosol loading, and stratospheric ozone depletion) and the IRIS+ framework, the generally accepted system for measuring, managing, and optimizing investment and support.

It leads by example by evaluating case studies from its portfolio companies, breaking down key impact metrics according to the nine planetary boundaries and IRIS+ framework – to showcase how its investments translated to positive environmental and social impact.

Nunes continues, “It is necessary that we make such knowledge accessible to the wider community. By adhering to the same standards, we hold each other accountable – ensuring that innovators and investors can work together in an intentional and concerted effort to generate genuine change.”

Taking one of the portfolio companies Circ as an example, who pioneered a chemical recycling technology that can recycle polycotton — what the majority of clothes are made of — into reusable fibers. Circ has recycled 41 tonnes of materials, which is the equivalent of 66 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MTCO2e). It also launched a collection with Zara in April 2023 to bring sustainable fashion to the masses.

In search of talented innovators worldwide: Ticket size up to USD 3M for direct investments

To make positive impact across the value chains of the textile and apparel, and agrifood industries, The Mills Fabrica has invested up to USD 3M per global techstyle startup over the past five years such as Renewcell, Circ, Colorifix, and unspun; and into agrifood tech startups such as Michroma, Geltor, The Supplant Company, amongst others.

Moving forward, The Mills Fabrica will be ramping up its efforts in supporting sustainable and disruptive innovations in the techstyle and agrifood tech space, and will continue to invest up to USD 3M per startup, and pursue partnerships with mission-aligned venture capital funds.

Aside from capital, The Mills Fabrica has also provided support for startups by utilizing its team of global industry experts and connections to manufacturers, retailers, and other like-minded investors. It calls out for partners from all sectors and around the world to join this network as well.

Its presence in Hong Kong and London means that The Mills Fabrica is uniquely able to add value for those who are looking to tap into the potential of Asia, as well as bringing Asian companies into the global arena through its capital, connections, and expertise.

The Mills Fabrica’s 2022 Impact Report can be downloaded here: https://www.themillsfabrica.com/insights/reports/the-mills-fabrica-2022-impact-report/

Hashtag: #TheMillsFabrica

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About The Mills Fabrica

The Mills Fabrica is a go-to solutions platform accelerating techstyle and agrifood tech innovations for sustainability. Officially launched in Hong Kong in December 2018, The Mills is a landmark revitalization project by the Nan Fung Group, transforming their old textile factories into a new heritage, experiential retail, and innovation centre. With its venture capital fund, business incubator, spaces in Hong Kong and London, and ecosystem-building initiatives, The Mills Fabrica aims to create success stories of collaborations between innovators, entrepreneurs, and corporates, that together, will drive positive change for future generations.

Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Visits Laos to Foster Friendship and Cooperation

Visit to Laos by Australia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Builds Friendship and Cooperation
Australia’s Foreign Minister, Penny Wong welcomed by Prime Minister of Laos Sonexay Siphandone

Australia’s Foreign Minister, Penny Wong traveled to Vientiane, Laos this week. The visit from 15-16 May, followed the successful visit to Australia by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Laos, Saleumxay Kommasith in October last year.

Laos Gears Up to Host ASEAN Tourism Forum 2024

Laos Gears Up to Host ASEAN Tourism Forum 2024
A beautiful landscape of Laos (photo: Tourism Laos)

Preparations are underway as Lao tourism authorities gear up to host the annual ASEAN Tourism Forum next year, which will take place in Vientiane Capital from 22-27 January.

Respond.io Joins Forces with WhatsApp to Assist Enterprises in Driving Growth

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – Media OutReach – 12 May 2023 – Leading message platform respond.io is now a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider (BSP), placing it among an exclusive group of WhatsApp BSPs worldwide. This significant milestone means that businesses can now take advantage of its advanced messaging features and capabilities to connect with their customers like never before.

What’s in it for Businesses Worldwide

Businesses using respond.io can now seamlessly integrate the WhatsApp Business Platform directly from Meta’s cloud servers for increased efficiency and reliability. Meta’s worldwide network of servers is tactically positioned to reduce latency, resulting in faster updates and improved message delivery times.

By becoming a WhatsApp BSP, respond.io now has direct access to Meta’s support team. This new development enables respond.io to provide its customers with exceptional support and assistance with common requests, including WhatsApp Business verification.

As an omnichannel customer communication management software, respond.io adds value to WhatsApp API’s capabilities. It enables multiuser access for WhatsApp so all agents and teams can respond to a high volume of messages from one WhatsApp number. Plus, respond.io offers businesses a suite of powerful tools including an advanced automation builder, detailed analytics on team and agent performance, and seamless integration with custom messaging channels and over 5,000 applications, including CRMs and e-commerce platforms such as Hubspot, Salesforce, Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento and more.

Now, businesses will be able to manage all their conversations and WhatsApp Business Accounts on respond.io. This includes managing their WhatsApp business profile, message template creation and approval, and WhatsApp conversation charges, all from a single interface.

Respond.io also enables businesses to comply with WhatsApp’s policies and regulations, such as collecting customer consent to receive messages from a business. From offering multiple chat entry points, like ads that click to WhatsApp, QR codes and chat links, to obtaining opt-ins as part of an automated conversation, respond.io removes the friction in customer communication.

A Commitment to Advanced Messaging Solutions

Respond.io believes that instant messaging is the future of customer communication, and is committed to delivering the most advanced and effective messaging solutions to businesses across the globe.

WhatsApp is a key channel for respond.io as it is one of the most widely used messaging apps in the world. With over 2 billion active users across 180 countries, it has become an essential channel for businesses to engage with customers.

As of today, respond.io helps thousands of medium and enterprise customers worldwide unlock the power of instant messaging to deliver great customer experiences, build brand loyalty and drive growth and revenue. Among others, it empowered 200 agents at the Indian social media platform Sharechat to chat with 50,000 content creators using a single WhatsApp number and enabled Yoho, Hong Kong’s leading e-commerce platform, to grow its customer base by almost 10% in just four months by dramatically improving its sales and support experience.

“Empowering businesses to communicate seamlessly with their customers is our top priority as a WhatsApp Business Solution Provider. Our platform offers a personalized, conversational experience that fosters stronger relationships. By continuously expanding our capabilities, we enable businesses to achieve their goals and stay ahead of the curve. This collaboration with WhatsApp unlocks tremendous potential, allowing us to remain at the forefront of the latest trends to keep providing businesses worldwide with exceptional business messaging solutions.” Gerardo Salandra, CEO of respond.io.

Its new status as a WhatsApp BSP will better equip respond.io to help businesses improve the efficiency of their messaging operations, as well as boost customer satisfaction and retention for steady business growth. Interested clients can try the messaging software for free and get an account on the WhatsApp Business Platform in minutes by signing up on respond.io.Hashtag: #Startup #Technology #WhatsApp




The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

About respond.io

Respond.io is a customer conversation management software that enables companies to respond to messages from any channel from one centralized dashboard by teams of all sizes, thus making communication with customers easier, faster, and more satisfactory.

Over 10,000 companies from 86 countries, including British Airways, Klook, Decathlon, Roche and Bigo use respond.io. The platform processes 120 million messages per month, beating three of its main competitors combined.

In 2022, respond.io raised $7 million in Series A funding, led by with participation from , , and . The company is headquartered in Malaysia.

Laos to Conduct Feasibility Study of Waste-to-Energy Transformation

A landfill in Laos. (Photo : Zero Waste Laos).

The government of Laos and a private company in Vientiane Capital have signed an agreement to study the possibility of using waste to generate energy across the country.

District Authorities in Sanamxay Investigate Land Grab Incident

District authorities have spoken about the agricultural land invasion in Sanamxay District, Attapeu Province.

An investigation has been launched by district authorities in Sanamxay, Attapeu Province, following reports of a foreign company encroaching on villagers’ farmland without their consent.

What Lies Ahead for Thailand After Dramatic Opposition Election Win?

What Lies Ahead for Thailand After Dramatic Opposition Election Win?
Leader of Move Forward Party Pita Limjaroenrat (photo: AP NEWS)

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s opposition racked up a stunning majority of the 500 seats at stake in the race for the House of Representatives, dealing a major blow to the establishment parties and the former general who has led the Southeast Asian country since seizing power in a 2014 coup.

BCEL One to Be Added as Payment Option in LCR App

BCEL One to Be Added as Payment Option in LCR App
Two women take a selfie next to the Lao-China railway train (photo: China Daily - Global Edition)

BCEL One will soon be available as a payment method on the LCR application for purchasing travel tickets for the Laos-China Railway.