Social enterprises are helping businesses change lives for the better across the region
Social enterprises prove that creating positive impact while achieving profitability is a worthwhile endeavour. The State of Social Enterprise 2024 research by the World Economic Forum estimates that there are 10 million social enterprises around the world, all of which generate US$2 trillion in revenue each year and create 200 million jobs in various sectors such as AI, agriculture, food and financial services. They also “...contribute to the delivery of the SDGs, with a particular focus on health and education, climate and jobs—reducing poverty and inequality”.
In the region, the social enterprise champions on Asia’s Most Influential list contribute to the success of the mission-driven business model, which has allowed them to introduce solutions that help address inequality, food insecurity and more. Through their ventures and organisations, they also demonstrate a new way of doing business, one that integrates public welfare considerations into commercial strategies to benefit all.
Also read: The inspiring thought leaders of Asia’s Most Influential are pushing progress with fearless ideas
Aukrit Unahalekhaka, co-founder, Ricult (Thailand)
“It has been my lifelong goal to use technology to help improve the lot of farmers, who are the backbone of our country. We use advanced technology such as machine learning and satellites to help farmers enhance their productivity, increase their access to markets and secure more affordable loans,” explained Aukrit Unahalekhaka, founder of Ricult, to Tatler.
Knowing the challenges of small-scale farming, Unahalekhaka co-founded the social enterprise to empower farmers, who, through Ricult’s AI-backed solutions, can better manage their processes, costs and yields. Its farmer app, for example, offers free weather data, advisories, measurement tools and more, while the crop scan tool uses machine learning to easily view crop growth stages. The startup has already impacted 100 Thai farms, which via field trials were able to gain a twofold increase in cassava yields, leading to more than US$750,000 in crop value.
Read Aukrit Unahalekhaka’s full profile on Asia’s Most Influential
