Welcome to Asia Tomorrow's 12th newsletter. 🍂🍁

In today’s letter, we will first spotlight "the story and know-how of Entrepreneurship Center (AIT EC), the entrepreneurship education institute in Thailand” and their insights on the venture ecosystem in Thailand.

👀 Snippets of the letter

• How AIT EC in Thailand is fostering startups with their own philosophy

• The rising Japanese recipe app : How Pecco became the industry leader

• Analyzing Failure and Success : What Works and What Doesn’t for Founders

• 8 Indian Unicorn Startups Expected to Go Public in 2024

Inclusive Innovation: The Global Campus in Thailand's Approach to Entrepreneurship Events

The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), a renowned international institution, has been at the forefront of entrepreneurship education through its Entrepreneurship Center (AIT EC).

To gain deeper insights into AIT EC's contributions to this growing ecosystem and its entrepreneurial activities, we met with Dieter Trau, the founding director of AIT EC.

Trau is not only a faculty member at the engineering school but also a serial entrepreneur. With his unique background, he joined AIT as Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology and founding Director of AIT EC in mid of 2019. Under his leadership, EC has become known for providing inclusive activities and events for participants both on campus and from outside. 

This interview explores the center's approach to entrepreneurship events, the startups they are fostering and its vision for expanding their impact. 

Q. Could you introduce AIT EC?

AIT EC was founded in September 2019 as an inclusive center for everyone at AIT, including students, staff, faculty, alumni, and the wider community, which we refer to ourselves as the ‘AIT family’. Our outreach extends beyond the campus, welcoming students from neighboring universities, such as from our neighbor Thammasat University.

We are a small team of only 4 members and 2 mentors, and I also take on a faculty role at AIT’s School of Engineering and Technology. Despite our size and the situation, we are dedicated to running the AIT EC and actively inviting people to our events from both within and outside our campus, in person and several events are also in hybrid mode.

Q. Why did you open AIT EC?

I have been in Asia for a while since I obtained a Ph.D from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. My field is biomedical engineering, bioanalytics, bio sensors, and medical devices. Before I came to AIT, I worked at the National University of Singapore (NUS) for 16 years in the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

I’m a serial entrepreneur as well. I founded the deep-tech companies AYOXXA, a proteomics company, Tip Biosystems, a spectrometer tools company, and E3A Healthcare with my PhD student Shihao Li. Also, I’m involved in another deep-tech startup AVECRIS, a Singapore based emerging biotech company focused on programmable genetic medicine for vaccination and cancer treatment using its SPRING DNA platform.

Currently, it’s operating a research outpost at AIT to develop large scale manufacturing solutions too. A totally different startup is JDM Property Development in Cambodia, a sustainable farm and agriculture service company that currently develops its own resort, using AIT’s Habitech Building Technology.

With these experiences and background, I joined AIT in Thailand to build AIT EC becoming its founding director.

Although AIT already had some entrepreneurial activities in its various departments, there was no central hub for these initiatives. Looking beyond our campus, we're surrounded by neighboring universities and the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA), an organization of the Royal Thai Government to which we have excellent contacts and joint student supervision and research.

*Note: The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) manages a number of Doctoral and Master's level non-bonding scholarships provided by the Royal Thai Government (RTG)

Thus, AIT is not an isolated institution; we're part of a network of universities, institutes, and research facilities in Rangsit, Thailand. Recognizing this, we decided to establish AIT EC as an open and collaborative center.

Q. What are your entrepreneurial education activities like?

We organize various events, bringing in experienced startup founders and domain experts to share their knowledge and inspire our students through talks and workshops.

• Firstly, EC hosts 'expert talks', short events where specialists lecture on topics such as finance, prototyping, patents, and other topics relevant to entrepreneurs.

• Secondly, EC invites serial entrepreneurs to help students develop an entrepreneurial mindset. These sessions focus on cultivating resilience and perseverance in the face of challenges.

• Thirdly, EC conducts workshops and hackathons lasting 2-3 days. These events engage students in hands-on problem-solving experiences, guided by mentors. Some hackathons have specific themes like zero carbon emission or health and wellness. Hackathons close with a pitch session to present the outcome, the best teams will win some prize money to support the respective projects to bring it to the next level.

We have created a 'Green Startup Toolkit' in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). This toolkit is designed to help startups and existing companies to grow sustainably. It is used in our events to educate students but is also available as a free PDF for anyone to access. The toolkit serves as a valuable resource for entrepreneurs looking to implement sustainable practices in their startups.

To motivate student participation in our activities, we offer grants and prizes. These grants serve as investments for students to advance their ideas. Prize offerings vary, but for our upcoming event, we have an exciting opportunity: sending students to Paris to represent Thailand in the SDG Olympics next month. We're eager to identify promising entrepreneurs to award this prize

*Note: At the time of the release of this article, two AIT students competed at the SDG Olympics in Paris with support of the University of Geneva and AIT EC.

Q. How many people are actually participating in the events? 

The number of participants varies; it can be as low as a few and as high as 500 due to our online hybrid format. 

There are two factors we should consider when it comes to the number of participants. AIT offers only Master's and Ph.D. degrees, without undergraduate programs. Unlike most universities with entrepreneurship centers, we lack undergraduate participation. We recognize that not all graduate students are interested in entrepreneurship, as many are working professionals seeking to advance their careers.

Furthermore, AIT is smaller than our partner universities and has a diverse student body. About 70% of our students are international, representing over 40 nationalities on our campus, with applications from 80+ countries in the last intake. Some students may be online or part-time, which impacts event attendance. 

Despite these challenges in attracting participants, we are successfully engaging our own students and students from neighboring universities.

Q. How do you measure the impact of AIT EC's entrepreneurial activities?

I believe there are both immediate and long-term impacts. For AIT EC, providing entrepreneurial education can create future impacts. Our students, mostly from other countries, might start businesses back home. They can establish environmentally friendly startups and create jobs, making an impact there.

Additionally, the advancement of deep technologies can have long-term effects. These technologies can dramatically reduce costs, making services accessible to a broader range of users. Therefore, I believe measuring impact should consider diverse aspects.

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Q. Now, what do you think about Thailand's entrepreneurial ecosystem? 

I believe the entrepreneurial ecosystem is evolving. Having lived in Asia for a while, I've witnessed remarkable growth in Singapore and now followed by Thailand. Both countries recognize the importance of building an entrepreneurial ecosystem for their overall economy.

Additionally, they have realized that entrepreneurship can be a viable career path for students. In the past, graduates typically sought jobs or pursued further studies. Now, students can start their own businesses, reflecting a shift in the perception of entrepreneurship as a valued career option. They become job providers, not job seekers!‍

Q. How is AIT adapting to the changing ecosystem to support students interested in entrepreneurship?

AIT offers programs to help students consider entrepreneurship as a career option.

While foreigners face challenges starting businesses in Thailand due to regulations requiring 50+% Thai ownership, AIT can assist. As an official Thailand Board of Investment(BOI) approved Science and Technology Park, AIT can now host technology companies that can be fully owned by foreigners but approved as Thai companies.

This creates a value chain: Students develop ideas and technologies at school, then some students and faculty can develop startups around these ideas with funding. As these startups grow on campus, they can incorporate as BOI companies within AIT. This process allows for a seamless transition from idea generation to company formation and value creation.

Every country has certain limitations for foreigners to start and do business; we are fortunate that the Royal Thai Government has created the BOI pathway for foreign investment and entrepreneurs.

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Q. What is the attractive point of Thailand for startups, in your opinion?

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