Out of the 504 innovative projects competing for Thailand National Innovation Awards 2022, nornnorn’s circular economy mattress subscription service has emerged as the First Prize Winner in the Social and Environmental Contribution (Social and Community Organisation) Category.

Given annually by the National Innovation Agency (NIA) since 2004, the National Innovation Awards are the country’s most prestigious honour for Thai innovators working to advance the country’s economic and social development. The 2022 awards are divided into five categories, namely Economic Contribution, Social and Environmental Contribution, Product and Service Design, Media and Communication, and Innovative Organisation, with a total of 44 awardees.

Click to see the other winners. 

nornnorn, along with 19 other leading Thai small and medium-sized circular economy and impact enterprises, was invited by Thailand’s Office of Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion (OSMEP) to exhibit our circular economy mattress subscription service at the 28th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Ministerial Meeting and the 54th APEC SME Working Group Meeting in Phuket between September 5 and 10 to highlight the country’s readiness to transition towards sustainable development through the “Bio-Circular-Green” (BCG) economic model. 

Click to read more about the two meetings.

On September 9 in Wuppertal, Germany, nornnorn was one of the 27 promising, early-stage circular economy start-ups from around the world pitching to more than 100 high-level representatives from the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia’s leading companies and institutes, including Bayer, Franz Haniel & Cie., GEFA BANK, Siemens, Vorwerk and the Wuppertal Institute. The “Demo Day” marked the culmination of the third batch of the Circular Economy Accelerator that had taken place over the three previous months. 

Co-funded by the European Union (EU) and North Rhine-Westphalia and organised by the Circular Valley Foundation, the accelerator supported the EU’s Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan that aim to reduce and eliminate pollution of all kinds and cut down EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50-55% by 2030. 

Over the course of this summer, nornnorn had connected with a leading research institute, technology developers and investors both in Germany and the wider EU that may help propel our growth and development in the near future. 

Click to watch all the pitches in full. (nornnorn’s pitch begins at 2:15:38.)

nornnorn was invited by Thailand’s National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) to share the experience gained from winning a research grant from the UK Royal Academy of Engineering’s (RAE) Engineering X Transforming Systems through Partnership Programme (TSPP) to develop an eco-friendly and economically viable technology for polyurethane foam waste upcycling at the TSPP Networking Dinner in Bangkok on September 8. 

Commencing in March 2021, the project has been carried out by the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) and the University of Cambridge and is expected to yield a TRL4 technology by the end of 2023. 

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Nophol Techaphangam, nornnorn Founder & CEO and one of Thailand’s key drivers in circular economy development, was invited by the STEAM Platform to take part in the “Case Studies on Circular Economy Biz Model - Mechanisms, Opportunities and Challenges” webinar on July 26 alongside other circular economy business founders from Singapore and Taiwan. 

The webinar is a part of a series of webinars held by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) that aims to provide knowledge and insights for policymakers and investors.

For more information, visit STEAM Platform.

On July 5, nornnorn was selected by Impact Shakers as one of the “Impact Startups to Watch” along with five other start-ups working on services and products related to sleep from around the world.

According to Impact Startups, “the quality of sleep has a huge impact not only on our health but on our general wellbeing, productivity and performance. However, according to recent studies, roughly 62% of adults worldwide don’t sleep well. Sleep disturbances are such a common occurrence that the sleep market is forecasted to be worth 585 billion dollars by 2024 (by Statista).”

See the full list of all the highlighted start-ups here. 

Nophol Techaphangam, nornnorn Founder & CEO and one of Thailand’s key drivers in circular economy development, was invited by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (Thailand) (FES Thailand) and the Faculty of Economics, Chulalongkorn University, to take part in the “Incentives for a Circular Economy in Thailand” webinar on June 28 alongside the Secretary General of the Green World Foundation, Deputy Secretary General of Thailand’s Office of the Board of Investment (BOI), Senior Policy Specialist of the Sustainable Future Policy Group, Thailand’s Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council (NXPO), and Chulalongkorn University’s Environmental Economist. 

The webinar aimed to present how various stakeholders could be incentivised to make circular economy a reality in Thailand.

Watch the recording (in Thai only).

The Circular Economy (CE) Innovation Policy Forum’s organising committee has published the “Circular Economy Policy Forum Report 2022” to summarise the thoughts and advice on circular economy policy development as contributed by 877 specialists and experienced practitioners from 370 organisations from the industry; agriculture and food; policy and planning; tourism and service; education; science, technology and innovation; and finance and capital market sectors, including the Founder & CEO of nornnorn, between June and December last year.

The CE Innovation Policy Forum is a part of the Circular Economy Direction Development Project, an initiative of Thailand’s Office of National Higher Education Science Research and Innovation Policy Council (NXPO) and the Sustainable Consumption and Production Association (Thailand) (SCP (Thailand)) that aims to ignite collaborations between various sectors to drive forward Thailand’s circular economy policy innovation to support the Thai government’s commitment towards the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) sustainable economic development strategy. 

Download the report (in Thai only).

nornnorn’s first green bond issuance in December 2021 has been highlighted in the 9th (January - March 2022) issue of the ASEAN Low Carbon Energy Programme (LCEP) Quarterly Newsletter as a strong indicator of how the green bond market has developed in Thailand. 

Funded by the UK government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, ASEAN LCEP aims to drive inclusive growth and poverty reduction through increased energy efficiency and adoption of low carbon energy in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The programme will run until 2022.

Download the newsletter.

The documentary highlights how Thailand is making Circular Economy a reality through interviews with key change makers, including those from government funding agencies, large corporations, SMEs, start-ups (including nornnorn) and research institutions, who are driving the country’s four key industrial sectors -  agriculture & food, plastic packaging, building & construction, and textile & apparel - towards circularity. 

Watch now

Nophol Techaphangam, nornnorn Founder & CEO, shares with Social Enterprise Thailand (SE Thailand), the country’s official centre of social enterprises, the story behind nornnorn. 

Watch now (in Thai only).

Nophol Techaphangam, nornnorn Founder & CEO, shares with Suwat Klingkesorn (Na Ting), Thailand’s top hit and most loved sport commentator, the story behind nornnorn. 

Broadcasted in Thailand on FM 98 MHz Spirit Wave on May 6, 2022.

Watch now (from 3:50 onwards). (In Thai only)

Out of the 357 startups and scaleups providing zero waste travel solutions that StartUs, Europe's leading startup and innovation network, reveals through its Global Startup Heat Map, nornnorn has been highlighted as one of the top five. 

Click to read more.

nornnorn is one of the 36 early-stage circular economy companies among nearly 500 applicants from around the world selected to join the third batch of the Circular Economy Accelerator in Wuppertal, Germany, a birthplace of the industrial revolution.

Co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and organised by the Circular Valley Foundation, the programme supports the EU’s Green Deal and Circular Economy Action Plan that aim to reduce and eliminate pollution of all kinds and cut down EU’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50-55% by 2030. 

Specifically, the programme’s goal is to accelerate the growth of unique startups and advanced companies working on closing material loops and business models to make circular economy a reality. 

Taking place this summer, the three-month programme will connect nornnorn with more than 70 industry, R&D and government partners from Germany, the EU and other countries across the globe. 

Product-market fit - Find a big market, create the right product, and let your business fly.

Broadcasted through the TED Fund Facebook Page on April 19, 2022.

Watch now (in Thai only).

As one of the winners of the crQlr Awards 2021, we were invited to share our business model at crQlr DESIGN SCRAMBLE during the BANGKOK DESIGN WEEK 2022 on February 5 at FabCafe Bangkok, TCDC, Bangkok. 

Watch the recording (in Thai only).

With the support of Thailand’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and leading women business leaders, we have raised THB6.05M (US$181k) from the issuance of our first green bonds to support our business expansion, thereby becoming the country’s first impact start-up to complete a green bond issuance. 

The bonds were issued under the Private Placement-10 (PP-10) scheme and in accordance with the International Capital Market Association (ICMA) Green Bond Principles. Click on the links to download our green bond framework and the independent external review on our green bond issuance.

Click to read more (in Japanese only).

Out of 204 circular economy-related projects from companies, start-ups, designers and other organisations from 24 countries across the globe, nornnorn is one of the 63 winners of the crQlr Awards 2021, having received the accolade in four categories, namely Model Business, Redesigning Relationships, Green Hospitality and Health & Wellness Impact.

Hosted by crQlr, “a global consortium that supports the practitioners and future creators of a new society based on a circular economy”, crQlr Awards recognise projects and ideas that design the circular economy from around the world.

Click to see the other winners of the Awards.

Out of the 15 Finalists chosen from 400 start-ups in the tourism space from 84 countries around the world to join the World Tourism Forum Lucerne (WTFL) Start-up Innovation Camp and Innovation Festival 2021 in Andermatt, Switzerland, between November 13 and 16, nornnorn has emerged as the Winner in the Impacting (Social Impact & Sustainability) category. 

Along with the other four Winners of the Camp (one each for the Living, Exploring, Savouring and Recovering categories), nornnorn is seen as a driving force that will help “the tourism sector restart faster and move forward” sustainably post-COVID-19. 

The WTFL Camps are yearly flagship initiatives of the Switzerland-based WTFL, a leading interactive platform where CEOs, Ministers, Academia, Finance, Start-ups, NextGens and Young Talents join force to address the future challenges of the travel, tourism and hospitality industry and shape a more sustainable future.

The Camps aim to boost the industry’s innovation ecosystem by connecting innovators with industry players and investors as well as helping scale and commercialise innovative solutions.