Change makers, entrepreneurs, aspiring founders and those aiming to give back to the community, mark your calendars: The Makan for Hope Festival 2021 is launching on 24 June, bringing together intellectually curious and like-minded people for an engaging series of peer-learning opportunities, in support of vulnerable communities impacted by Covid-19.
The fully virtual fair, which runs until 30 July, will comprise 30 roundtable conversations led by established startup founders (such as CEO of Carousell and Shopback, as well as top investors from Vertex Ventures, Openspace Ventures and many others) and host partners from within the Asian tech community. Each will share with 10 new entrepreneurs their insights on topics ranging from emerging industry trends to their entrepreneurial journeys. (The first session, on 24 June, will feature Steve Melhuish, founder of PropertyGuru.)
Learning opportunity
An expansion of the Makan for Hope initiative launched in April 2021, the festival bears the theme “Seeding Hope for Future Generations”. Its goal is to inspire change makers and aspiring entrepreneurs to start up and also help existing entrepreneurs to find solutions to their challenges and build better companies.
Topics to be covered are grouped into three themes – entrepreneurial toolkit, blue skies topics and emerging trends – and sessions will delve into discussions of deep tech for a post-Covid world, how Singapore can be transformed into Asia’s Silicon Valley, why some startups in Asia succeed while others fail, and much more.
During each 90-minute session, leaders from the tech community with various areas of expertise will share their ideas and valuable lessons learned with participants over lunch or dinner. Meals are supplied by Soul Food (Western cuisine) or Pope Jai Thai (Thai or vegetarian food), plus a Halal option.
The co-founders of Makan For Hope Festival 2021 were inspired to do their part for those impacted by Covid-19. “I lost my job during the pandemic and I can empathize with the deep financial impact on families and individuals,” says Elise Tan Yee Ling. “I feel encouraged by like-minded folks such as my co-founder Andrew Tan in the tech and startup community, who band together to lend their time to volunteer or mentor and raise funds for the vulnerable too.”
Andrew Tan, the festival’s other co-founder, added: “I know what a privilege it is to learn from people’s experiences and that’s something we are trying to make more accessible. The idea for Makan For Hope sparked while thinking how to bring the ecosystem together and give back in different ways to create long-lasting impact. It is easy to have goodwill in good times, but in these trying times, how we help others will make a greater difference.”
Doing good
Tickets sales from Makan for Hope Festival 2021 and mentors’ donations will be donated to Fei Yue Community Services, in conjunction with the latter’s 30th anniversary, on 1 July. The fundraising target is $125,000, and the amount raised will then be matched dollar for dollar by a grant that Fei Yue received.
A hundred percent of the event proceeds to be channelled towards Fei Yue’s Early Intervention Programme for Infants and Children, and its Active Ageing Centres, to provide occupational and speech therapy for children with special needs that are from low-income homes and breakfast for seniors from low-income backgrounds, as well as an emergency support fund to cover essentials such as groceries and transport fares.
For more information, visit makanforhope.org. To sign up for Makan for Hope Festival 2021, visit eventnook.com/org/mfh-festival-2021.