By P. Vijian
PHNOM PENH, Oct 10 (Bernama) -- Malaysia-based Toybox Creations and Technology Sdn Bhd won the final One ASEAN Startup Award 2024 in the Digital/AI Category in Vientiane on Wednesday.
The company received RM42,200 (US$10,000) as a research fund and earned the Best One ASEAN Startup Award 2024 title.
FINA Fintech from Laos, meanwhile, won in the Impact Startup Category.
Vientiane hosted the final event following three pre-events held in Manila, Kuala Lumpur and Phnom Penh.
“We are absolutely thrilled that the digital tools we developed with University Malaya and Sunway University in Malaysia have successfully completed the PoC (proof of concept), been commercialised and are now expanding to effectively address common social issues in ASEAN,” Toybox Creations’ co-founder and CEO Masaki Ishibashi told Bernama.
Toybox Creations is an AI-backed edutech, and its brand name is TOY EIGHT (TOY8).
TOY8 empowers all preschools advocating for inclusive education with cutting-edge digital tools and teacher training, hands-on support for implementing digital developmental screening and early intervention programmes, and data-driven holistic, inclusive education and sustainable operation.
Ishibashi said TOY8 boasts many skilled Malaysians, and Malaysia is also an attractive country for talented expatriates to work in, providing a good pool of talent.
“The question of what can be achieved through digital tools and innovation is crucial. If we aim to address social issues, it's logical to adopt digital advancements from Malaysia, as a member of ASEAN,” he said.
The Jakarta-based Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia ( ERIA) organised the startup award competition to foster the growth of the startup ecosystem across Southeast Asia.
President of ERIA, Tetsuya Watanabe, said startups will be the engines powering the economic growth of ASEAN over the next decade.
“In this context, cross-border collaboration among startups, both within and beyond ASEAN, is more important than ever.
“Drawing on our extensive experience and deep knowledge of the region, ERIA is fully committed to contributing to the growth of the startup ecosystem,” Watanabe said at the event.
The One ASEAN Startup Award 2024 final was held during the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ABIS), organised by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council.
ABIS runs in parallel with the ASEAN Summit in Vientiane from Oct 8 to 11.
-- BERNAMA
TAGS: ASEAN, startup award, Toybox, Vientiane, TOY8
VP VMP SASM
