Floating fish farm Fatih Aquaculture and food waste recycling platform Wastefyx emerged as winners in the open and higher institution categories, respectively, at the 16th LiveWIRE Brunei Business Awards on December 30.
Fatih received $10,000 for their growing operation, currently producing 300kg of fish per month. Meanwhile, the UTB students behind Wastefyx earned $5,000 to further the development of their mobile application prototype.
In the open category, Human Resource Management (HRM) software Track & Roll secured second place and $7,000, while digital invitation designer Happy Sunflower Co claimed third place, receiving $5,000.
In the higher institution category, New Wave Films, co-founded by YouTuber-turned-director Syafi Halim, earned second place and $3,000, while fresh produce online marketplace FreshER secured third place with a $1,000 prize.
Sixty businesses registered for this year’s awards, with 35 finalizing their entry by submitting their business proposals. Of these, 22 were under the open category, and 13 were from the higher institution category. To be eligible, businesses must fall within seven focus areas: agrotechnology, business innovation, digitalization, smart manufacturing, edutainment, social impact, and environmental sustainability.
The awards run as a six-month-long program structured into five phases, which include a business boot camp, a business plan development workshop, and pitching training. Local winners will also have the opportunity to compete in the annual Shell Global Top Ten Innovators awards.
Awards provide credibility and funding for expansion
For the winners of the open category, the LiveWIRE Business Awards confer credibility and supporting funds that can drive their expansion.
Fatih Aquaculture plans to use the $10,000 prize to install another 16 cages on their farm near Mentiri, which produces red tilapia and seabass. Having started their operation with 24 cages last year, Fatih has already initiated a second expansion to 54 cages with a grant from Darussalam Enterprise.
“Currently, we produce 300kg monthly, based on the output of 24 cages. We are now raising the fingerlings in the additional cages – so in the coming months, we expect to double our monthly output to 600kg,” said their founder, Fathi Norafan, who began the business in his backyard with a recirculating system during COVID-19.
“With the prize money, we can take it even further to 70 cages. Ultimately, in our one-hectare plot assigned by MPRT, we can have a maximum of 300 cages.”
The serial entrepreneur behind Track & Roll, Simon Soo, hopes the award will add further credibility when he markets his service to more established corporations.
Their cloud-based HRM currently has 40 businesses on board – the majority of them SMEs – covering about 3,000 employees, with pricing averaging $10 per head monthly.
Their software covers HRM essentials, including employee management, attendance, leave and claims, and payroll.
“We had our commercial launch in 2020 and saw growth during COVID-19 as businesses looked at ways to digitise,” said Soo.
“Being locally-based and locally-developed also gives us an advantage over foreign solutions in that we can offer more immediate and personal customer service, as we also understand local working conditions better.”
Higher institution winner Wastefyx will need to spend more on research and development before being able to roll out a mobile application for public use.
Their ambitious service aims to provide door-to-door collection of household food waste across the country, which is then recycled into bioproducts including fuel and fertilizer.
The public will be able to order the collection through a mobile application, but Wastefyx is still deliberating which parts of their service – such as waste collection and recycling – will be outsourced to business partners or done internally by them.
Meanwhile for 24-year-old Syafi Halim, who began his content creation six years ago as a YouTuber, the award is another milestone in his directing journey, having already racked up several local awards for his film-making pursuits.
“The vision is to continue producing work that will change Brunei’s film industry; creating more creative and innovative storylines,” said Syafi, who is now incubated at Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s Startup Centre, having recently graduated with a degree in Design & Creative Industries.
