​SINGAPORE - Dehydrated pet snacks from restaurant trimmings and “ugly” vegetables; 3D printed plant holders that are designed for herbs; recycled clothes into that one-of-a-kind bag. These are among the winning ideas from the Mapletree-SCCCI River Hongbao Hackathon 2023 (“RHBHacks 2023”).

Reimagining Green Living through immediate and practical daily measures. That’s the  theme of RHBHacks 2023, which  aims to inject a pragmatic dimension into an environmentally responsible lifestyle through novel and practical ideas or products for consumers.  

Mr Edmund Cheng, Chairman of Mapletree said, “By supporting young entrepreneurs through RHBHacks as part of the Group’s corporate social responsibility commitment, Mapletree hopes that budding student entrepreneurs will be encouraged to push the boundaries of sustainable businesses and bring more innovative, eco-friendly ideas to market.”

The annual event is open to students and youth entrepreneurs to reinterpret everyday objects or products that will make our lives greener. During the Hackathon, the proposals are evaluated and judged by a panel of industry experts on the criteria of feasibility, strategy, innovation and the Singapore identity. 

This year, 10 shortlisted teams of between 2 to 5 members were drawn from a field of 89 students from the Institutes of Technical Education, Polytechnics as well as universities. The shortlisted teams pitched their business proposals to a panel of judges at the Hackathon event held on 21 December 2022 at Mapletree Business City. Ms Low Yen Ling, Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry graced the event as guest-of-honour.

More students will have a chance to set up shop at the anticipated River Hongbao (“RHB”) 2023, with expanded support from Mapletree. Four teams, up from three teams in previous years, will each receive S$2,000 prize money and S$5,000 seed money to develop and sell their product or service at RHB 2023, which will be organised from 20 January to 28 January 2023 at Gardens by the Bay.

The four teams selected as the winners of RHBHacks 2023 were: 3R, Deko, Kapaw&co and RE5IVE. The Most Innovative Award was presented to TableTop3 while the Best Pitch Award was won by RE5IVE. Further details on the winning teams can be found under Additional Notes. 

RHBHacks is an entrepreneurship competition designed for students and youth entrepreneurs. Inaugurated in 2019, it provides youths with the opportunity to raise business ideas for the annual River Hongbao event.

RHBHacks 2023 is sponsored by Mapletree Investments (“Mapletree” or “the Group”) and supported by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (“SCCCI”) for the fifth consecutive year.

“Many people tend to think of green living in mega terms like infrastructure and technology, but for many of us, green living is something we can do daily. And that’s the objective of RHBHacks – practical ideas and products that we can adopt immediately,” said Mr Roland Ng, President of SCCCI. 

Mr Thomas Chua, Chairman of the RHB  2023 Organising Committee, added, “This is the fifth year of RHBHacks and every year, the participating youths continue to inspire us with their ideas, drive and passion. To bring that forward, we want to give the teams the opportunity to market their ideas and products to the public at a popular event like River Hongbao where the ideas are tested commercially.”

Photos

Credits: River Hongbao 2023 Organising Committee 
For High Resolution Photos click here.

​Team RE5IVE receiving the Best Pitch Award from Ms Kia Jiehui, Head of Sustainability Committee, SPETA, who was one of the judges

   
Team TableTop3 receiving the Most Innovative Award from one of the judges, Mr Daryl Neo, Co-Founder and CEO, Handshakes

 
Team 3R receiving one of the Top 4 Finalists Award from Ms Low Yen Ling, Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry

 
Team Deko receiving one of the Top 4 Finalists Award from Ms Low Yen Ling, Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry 

 
Team Kapaw&co receiving one of the Top 4 Finalists Award from Ms Low Yen Ling, Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry 

 
Team RE5IVE receiving one of the Top 4 Finalists Award from Ms Low Yen Ling, Minister of State, Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry 

 
Team WMG from ITE College West receiving certificates of participation from Mr Wan Kwong Weng, Group Chief Corporate Officer, Mapletree

Team BG from Nanyang Technological University receiving certificates of participation from Mr Wan Kwong Weng, Group Chief Corporate Officer, Mapletree

Group photo of shortlisted RHBHacks 2023 teams, judges and guests at Mapletree Business City 

List of Winners