KUCHING, 10 OCTOBER 2023 – Neuon AI Sdn Bhd and Sinisana Technologies Sdn Bhd, two alumni from Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC) Digital Village Accelerator (DiVA) programme, won three top awards at the 2nd Edition of the Sarawak Digital Economy Awards held last week.
An emerging leader in AI technology, Neuon AI was conferred the prestigious Premier’s Award for their groundbreaking and locally-owned AI intellectual property, good financial sustainability, and the development of a robust and scalable platform. Their transformative work in AI and group-sourced big data promises to upgrade Sarawak’s infrastructure particularly in the areas of road maintenance and road safety.
Representing Neuon AI at the ceremony were its Chief Executive Officer Dr Chai KC and Chief Financial Officer Marcus Chai.
Neuon AI added another feather in their cap when they also received the Research & Development and Commercialisation Award for their works in automated vision technology. Their affordable and user-friendly AI platform has enormous potential in fostering community engagement and in multi agencies applications.
Specialising in computer vision, machine learning, and Internet of Things (IoT), Neuon AI was founded in 2018 with the aim to making AI solutions accessible to everyone. With AI, the company helps to transform businesses by increasing revenue, improving work efficiency, and optimising resources.
Its core business includes developing their very own in house deep neural network models customised for various customer needs. Neuon tailor-made face recognition model launched in March 2019 tackles the face recognition challenges in a multiracial society like Malaysia and has been successfully deployed into the first application.
Meanwhile, Sinisana received the Environmental Sustainability Award for their groundbreaking achievement in producing the world’s first blockchain-traceable sustainable pallet called palleTrace. The affordable, low-maintenance, and environmentally impactful innovation allows tracking of individual pallets in the global supply chains, ensuring transparency and environmental responsibility in the movement of goods.
Launched in 2019, Sinisana is a leading player in the blockchain industry that helps brands in the supply chain industry through digital technologies applications such as blockchain, zero-knowledge proofs, digital tools, and IoT sensors. The tech startup award-winning solutions consist of forced labour compliance, product traceability, consumer engagement, and resource lifecycle tracking for the circular economy.
Present to accept the award on behalf of Sinisana were Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Jonah Lau and Software Developer Erin Lai.
These achievements reflect the success of DiVA programme in nurturing and supporting digital startups in Sarawak. DiVA, a six-month flagship programme under the Sarawak Digital and Innovation Ecosystem, targets mature Sarawakian tech startups to accelerate their growth and maturity with a seed grant of up to RM150,000. To date, SDEC has run two cohorts with 10 tech startups graduating from the programme with an estimated valuation of RM80 million.
The Sarawak Digital Economy Awards was held in conjunction with the 27th World Congress on Innovation and Technology and the 6th International Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (WCIT | IDECS) 2023 gala dinner. The awards recognise outstanding talent and innovation in the digital economy sector.