From 40 to 1 – the first Rise Conference pitch winner is crowned

Julian Lee accepting his top prize with Casey Lau (far left), Google’s Ricky Kapur (second from right), and Paddy Cosgrave, CEO of Web Summit (far right)

This year’s Rise Conference wrapped up its inaugural event in Hong Kong today and featured two startup pitch battles. At the Breakthrough pitch session, reserved for companies just starting out, the newly launched Goxip won the competition. As we covered previously, Goxip analyzes celebrity fashion trends and gives users recommendations and ecommerce purchase options on outfits resembling those of their idols.

The main event was the not-so-subtly titled “Pitch” event which saw three startups showcase their business models for a panel of judges. Assessing the likelihood that these firms are future unicorns were Ricky Japour, managing director of Google Cloud for Asia Pacific and Japan; Sonny Vu, CEO at Misfit; Jing Ulrich, managing director and vice chairman of Asia Pacific at J.P. Morgan Chase; and Kevin Prior, global head of marketing for FbStart.

Starting with the winner, here is a bit more about the three startups:

Ambi Climate

Ambi Climate CEO Julian Lee

Ambi Climate has caught our eye before. Founder Julian Lee created a Nest-like air conditioning device adapted for Asian markets.

Lee explains there are 50 million air conditioned households in the United States versus 300 million in Asia. Further, American households have central air conditioning, which can be programmed and left on all the time. In most Asian countries, the air conditioning is remote controlled, meaning Nest would have a difficult time achieving product-market fit.

Ambi Labs has created a learning system for air conditioners that is optimized for Asian users. The product works in tandem with a smartphone app that functions as a remote control for the AC unit. Taking into account various factors such as humidity, temperature, and user comfort, Ambi Labs keeps the air conditioning at the right level for the user.

After a successful Kickstarter campaign last November netted US$114,000, Lee shipped 200 units the following month. Now, he is working to deliver another 1,000 units. Early birds nabbed the goods for US$79, while later birds are getting it at around US$99.

Ambi Labs took the top prize at Pitch, US$100,000 worth of service products from Google for Work. Speaking with Tech in Asia, Casey Lau, co-host of Rise and a long-standing figure in Hong Kong’s startup community, was effusive over Ambi Labs’ win. “I’m incredibly happy to see Ambi win as I feel I’ve been there at the beginning with Julian as he has launched and grown his team here in Hong Kong. I’m looking forward to what happens next,” says Lau.

See: Line CEO Takeshi Idezawa talks Line’s global push, hints at IoT integration at Rise

Soundbrenner

Soundbrenner CEO Florian Simmendinger

Prenetics