As an entrepreneur driving a Circular Economy start-up, Nophol Techaphangam, our Founder & CEO, was invited by Connecting Founders to join the panel on “How should the management and governance of SMEs evolve with the changing climate?” at the Launch of the “Climate Change Guidelines for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in ASEAN” on May 9 at the Pullman Bangkok King Power Hotel in Bangkok. 

Moderated by Caterina Meloni, Founder of Connecting Founders, the panel featured:

1. AnnaMae Tuazon, Representative, Canadian Trade Investment Fund

2. Stanley Ng, Programme Director, New Energy Nexus

3. Nophol Techaphangam, Founder & CEO, nornnorn

Organised by the Carbon Trust and Connecting Founders with the backing of the Canadian Trade and Investment Facility for Development (CTIF), the event marked the official introduction of the Guidelines. 

Developed between May 2022 and May 2023 through a technical assistance project initiated by the Thailand Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) with support from the ASEAN Secretariat and funding from CTIF, the Guidelines aim to aid SMEs, particularly those owned by women, in developing gender-responsive climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies. 

Click to view the Guidelines. 

As an entrepreneur driving Circular Economy services and innovations, Nophol Techaphangam, our Founder & CEO, was invited by the South and South East Asia Multidisciplinary Research Network on Transforming Societies of Global South (SMARTS), Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), to join the panel on “People, policy and finance to deliver the change” at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report Outreach Event on April 28 at the Pullman Bangkok Grande Sukhumvit Hotel in Bangkok. 

Moderated by Prof. Priyadarshi R. Shukla, IPCC Working Group III Co-chair, and Ahmed Afruh Rasheed, Senior Editor, Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, the panel featured:

1. Dr. Valérie Masson-Delmotte, IPCC Working Group I Co-chair; Research Director, Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives: CEA); and Climatologist, Laboratory for Sciences of Climate and Environment (Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement: LSCE)

2. Winston Chow, IPCC Author

3. Prof. Joyashree Roy, IPCC Author and SMARTS Director

4. Rachanee Chanawatr, Asia-Pacific Principal, International Financial Corporation 

5. Nophol Techaphangam, Founder & CEO, nornnorn

Hosted and organised by SMARTS, the event’s goals were to:

• Communicate the main findings of the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, with a focus on messages relevant for Thailand

• Engage with the regional climate research and practitioner community, government, policymakers, decision makers, businesses, civil society organisations and climate activists. 

Finalised in March this year, the full IPCC Sixth Assessment Report provides the latest and comprehensive update on the scientific, technical and socio-economic knowledge on climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for reducing the rate at which it is taking place.

Watch the event in full

Download the presentations used at the event

As an experienced practitioner in the Circular Economy-related capital market, Nophol Techaphangam, our Founder & CEO, was invited by the Thailand Textile Institute (THTI) to deliver a lecture on “Mechanism of the Sustainable Finance Market” on March 28 in Bangkok. The lecture was a part of the second batch of THTI’s “Sustainable Industry Development under the Circular Economy Concept” training programme that attracted 59 participants from 29 organisations from the textile and garment and other industries. 

The training programme was organised by THTI under the direction of the Office of Industrial Economics, Thailand’s Ministry of Industry, with the aim of driving the country’s industries towards sustainable development with the use of technology and innovations under the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economic Model. 

Nophol Techaphangam, our Founder & CEO, had the honour of joining Thailand’s key Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy drivers at the panel discussion on "Looking beyond challenges: How can Thai businesses utilise the BCG Economic Model to enhance Thailand-LAC partnerships?" at the third episode of the Thailand-LAC Seminar Series on March 24 at the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel, Bangkok. The theme of the event was “BCG Economy: Pathways to Enhanced Partnerships between Thailand and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC)”.

Sharing the panel with our Founder & CEO were:

1. Dr. Chanintr Chalisarapong, President, Thai Tuna Industry Association

2. Niwat Athiwattananont, Chief Technology Officer, SCG Chemicals PCL.

3. Rawee Boonsinsukh, Executive Vice President, Innovation and new S-Curve Business Development, Bangchak Corporation PCL.

4. Dr. Savanit Boonyasuwat, Working Team - BCG Model, The Federation of Thai Industries

5. Chalumpon Lotharukpong, Managing Director, VT Garment Co., Ltd.

In addition to joining the panel discussion, nornnorn held a small exhibition at the event to showcase our innovative Circular Economy mattress subscription platform. Our booth had the honour of welcoming HE Don Pramudwinai, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, along with the ambassadors of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama and Peru.

Organised by the Department of American and South Pacific Affairs (Latin America Division), Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, in close collaboration with the Embassies of the Group of Latin American and the Caribbean (GRULAC) countries and the Thailand-Latin America Business Council, the event aimed to provide the participants with:

1. Updates on Thailand and the LAC countries’ business climates

2. Learnings from the industries and businesses that had adopted the BCG model in Thailand the LAC

3. Insights into the logistical challenges that had impeded the flows of trade and investment between Thailand and the LAC as well as the opportunities that had arisen out of the digital transformation in the country and the region

4. An opportunity to create networks and partnerships with businesses interested in forging trade links between Thailand and the LAC markets.

Click for a short VDO summary of the event.

Click to watch the seminar.

On March 20, nornnorn joins Cambridge Cleantech, a global hub for cleantech innovation linked to some of the most highly innovative centres in the UK, including London and Oxford.

The organisation provides commercial support to companies driving the development of goods and services in response to global sustainability challenges by uniting them with the financiers, partners and customers who can help bring the products and services into fruition, thereby creating a smarter, more sustainable future.

As a representative of nornnorn, the First Prize Winner of Thailand National Innovation Awards 2022 in the Social and Environmental Contribution (Social and Community Organisation) Category, Nophol Techaphangam, our Founder & CEO, was invited by Thailand’s National Innovation Agency (NIA) to join the National Innovation Awards 2023 Press Conference on March 15 alongside three other 2022 awardees.

Given annually by NIA since 2004, the Awards are the country’s most prestigious honour for Thai innovators working to advance the country’s economic and social development. The theme of this year’s Awards is “Innovations that drive the future”. 

Those interested can learn more about the Awards and submit entries from now until May 31 this year at https://award.nia.or.th.

Click to watch the press conference. (In Thai only.)

Based on the climate action data we declared in 2022, nornnorn has achieved the following recognition from Climate Neutral Now, a United Nations’ (UN) initiative that has since 2015 encouraged and supported all levels of society to take action to achieve a climate neutral world by 2050:

• Bronze Level for the self-declaration of our 2022 greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory

• Silver Level for our GHG emission reduction plan based on our commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2050 or earlier

• Silver Level for our financial contribution (through the purchase of carbon credits) to a bio-power plant operated by Mitr Phol Bio-Power Plant (Danchang) Co., Ltd., a project that has helped reduce global GHG emissions, based on our GHG emissions under Scopes 1 and 2 and Partial Scope 3 in 2022.

Overall, our 2022 climate action has achieved the initiative’s Bronze Level.

A member of the UN Climate Neutral Now initiative since May 2020, nornnorn aims to be carbon negative once our mattress recycling operation commences in around five years’ time or earlier.

For more information, click here.

On February 4, Nophol Techaphangam, our Founder & CEO and one of Thailand’s leading circular economy entrepreneurs, was invited by VERSO International School to join VERSO HACK 2023 as one of the seven mentors.

VERSO HACK 2023 is a guided hackathon for students aged between 13 and 18 from anywhere in Thailand to develop fundamental tech skills and entrepreneurial mindset. Given the growing pressure from a rising world population and global warming and changing views on sustainability, Circular Economy was chosen by the school as the focus of the hackathon, with Sustainable Fashion, Sustainable Tourism and Food Waste & Plastic Management as the three sub-themes.

As a Mentor, our Founder & CEO took his real-world industry experience to the event and coached and inspired the participants to embark on their own startup and impact entrepreneurship journey. 

For more information, visit VERSO HACK 2023.

Nophol Techaphangam, nornnorn Founder & CEO, was invited by Bualuang SME, Bangkok Bank’s club for small and midsize entrepreneurs, to share with their members the Circular Economy concept and nornnorn’s award-winning mattress subscription platform at their New Year party at the bank’s headquarter in Bangkok on December 23. 

As a fourth generation heir of Thailand’s leading mattress and bedding business with over 90 years of history and the Founder and CEO of nornnorn, the world’s first circular economy mattress subscription platform, Nophol Techaphangam is one of the 17 recipients of the Business and Professional Women’s Association of Thailand - Bangkok under the Royal Patronage of HM the Queen’s (BPW Bangkok) “Family Business Successor of the Year Award 2022”.

Given by Khunying Natthika Wattanavekin Angubolkul, the President of the Federation of Business and Professional Women of Thailand under the Royal Patronage of HM the Queen (BPW Thailand), at the gala celebrating the 58th anniversary of BPW Bangkok in honour of HM Queen Sirikit the Queen Mother on December 14, the Award recognises outstanding successors of major Thai family businesses who have furthered the legacy of their families.

BPW Bangkok is a chapter of the International Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW International) and the leading part of BPW Thailand. Since 1964 the Association, together with BPW Thailand, have built friendship and understanding among Thailand’s top business and professional women; promoted and honoured professional women; uplifted the standard of business practices; provided society with various services related to all kinds of business and professions; and enabled business and professional women to appreciate their roles in driving positive impact both in Thailand and abroad. 

Nophol Techaphangam, nornnorn Founder & CEO, shares with Thunyawat Chaiyatrakulchai, one of Thailand’s leading marketing gurus, how nornnorn helps provide easier access to premium mattresses and make Circular Economy a reality.

Broadcasted in Thailand on FM96.5 on November 22, 2022.

Watch now (in Thai only.)

On November 1-2, the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), University of Cambridge and nornnorn (under Circularity Co., Ltd.) hosted the inaugural Circular Systems Innovation for Plastic Waste Workshop (CSI-PW 2022) at the Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square Hotel, Bangkok.

The hybrid event was an opportunity for all wanting to contribute to the realisation of a circular economy for plastic to hear from key experts from Thailand, wider Asia and Europe the challenges and innovations pertaining to circular and sustainable plastic waste management as well as interact with like-minded peers.

The areas under focus were:

• Circular economy for plastics

• Closing the loop on plastic waste

• Sustainable materials & manufacturing

• Plastic waste recycling & upcycling innovations

• Plastic waste policies & societal acceptance.

 The speakers featured were:

• Prof. Abdul Salam, Professor and Chair, Sustainable Energy Transition Programme, AIT

• Aprilia Nidia Rinasti, Research Associate, Geoinformatics Centre, AIT

• Celine Moreira, New Product Development Manager, Polymateria, UK

• Chaiya Boonchit, Director, Planning and Evaluation Section, Waste and Hazardous Substances Management Division, Pollution Control Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Thailand

• Prof. Chettiyappan Visvanathan, School of Environment, Resources and Development, AIT

• Dr. Curie Park, Research Associate, Centre for Industrial Sustainability, Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge, UK

• Dominic Chakrabongse, Director, Precious Plastic Bangkok, Thailand

• Prof. Joyashree Roy, Director, Centre on South and Southeast Asia Multidisciplinary Applied Research Network on Transforming Societies of Global South (SMARTS)

• Nano Morante, Co-Founder, PLASTICPeople, Vietnam

• Nophol Techaphangam, Founder & CEO, nornnorn

• Dr. Ward Mosmuller, Director Partnerships & Coalitions, Niaga at Covestro, the Netherlands.

Sponsored by the UK Royal Academy of Engineering under the “Engineering X Transforming Systems through Partnership” programme, Thailand’s National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA) and Circularity Co., Ltd. and supported by Korea University, the highly interactive event is the first of its kind in Thailand and a part of nornnorn’s ongoing project to develop innovative polyurethane foam upcycling technology that has been led by AIT. 

The event was joined by representatives from more than 40 organisations from various sectors from both Thailand and abroad. 

Click to watch the recordings of the event.

Nophol Techaphangam, nornnorn Founder & CEO, shares with Burin Journey the story behind nornnorn. 

Watch now.

Nophol Techaphangam, nornnorn Founder & CEO, was invited by the Rotary Club of Bangkok (RCB), Thailand’s oldest Rotary Club, to share with their members the Circular Economy concept and nornnorn’s mattress subscription service at their weekly meeting at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel, Bangkok, on November 10.

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. 

Read more

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.