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In focus
In this edition, we cover:
- A Carousell co-founder’s move from recommerce to healthtech and robotics
- A climatetech storm brewing in the Philippines
- Microsoft’s push for open standards to improve AI agent collaboration
Hello reader,
I can’t imagine myself being a founder. So, I always have great respect for those who can start a company on their own.
Carousell’s co-founder and previous CTO, Lucas Ngoo, and the rest of the firm’s founding team took it up a notch. The recommerce platform is their first job, and they’ve achieved a lot in the last 13 or so years, too, with Carousell users reaching millions.
But the grind hasn’t stopped for Ngoo even after he stepped down from the company. He now has two new startups to lead – CareSense and another firm still in stealth mode.
This time, though, Ngoo’s focus has shifted to healthtech and robotics – far from the online marketplace that he helped build out. And in this edition’s top story, I dive into what these companies do and how Ngoo’s time in Carousell helped shape him into the founder he is today.
In another top story, Carlo Chen-Delantar, a social entrepreneur, dives into the Philippines’ climate paradox. On one hand, it is extremely vulnerable to natural disasters, but it also has abundant resources for green solutions.
Still, the country’s climate tech sector falls behind because of systemic barriers like regulatory inefficiency and underinvestment.
Miguel Cordon , Journalist
Top Stories
1️⃣ Carousell co-founder chases AI frontier
CareSense founder Lucas Ngoo / Photo credit: CareSense
Experience really is the best teacher. With Ngoo’s first official job being starting up Carousell, he now has the skill and know-how that gives him the confidence to found two new startups.
A data story you shouldn’t miss
This week’s 60/40 episode unpacks lessons learned from the mass withdrawal event in March
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