ETAVOLT Crowned Grand Winner of TECH PLANTER Asia Final 2026

The TECH PLANTER Asia Final 2026 concluded with great success on 27 August 2026, uniting some of the brightest minds in technology and innovation from across Southeast Asia and Japan. Hosted at MRANTI Innovation Park, Bukit Jalil, Malaysia, the event served as a vibrant platform for startups to present groundbreaking solutions to real-world challenges, while engaging with industry leaders, investors, and ecosystem builders. This year’s final featured 14 exceptional teams, including top winners from the TECH PLANTER programs in Southeast Asia and Japan, highlighting the growing cross-border collaboration within the TECH PLANTER ecosystem.

The lineup of finalists included: TAM-IS Biosolution, Plasma Innovations, Alteonus, GlycoSphere, Ikanesia, NS4W Manufacturing, Rajantara, enfarm Agritech, ETAVOLT, Shio-Ion, Terrasense, Connect IQ, Umiaile and ALT Synergy.  These teams impressed the audience with innovative ideas and original designs, demonstrating significant potential to drive impact in fields such as AI, biotechnology, clean energy, and sustainable development. Finalist presentations were evaluated by a distinguished panel of judges, comprising representatives from: Leave a Nest Co., Ltd., Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation Berhad (SDEC), Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI), ScaleX,  Euglena Co., Ltd., Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT), KOBASHI HOLDINGS Co., Ltd., Taisei Corporation, Teral Inc., and UntroD Inc. The judges provided insightful feedback and recognized outstanding teams with special awards, contributing to the growth of these early-stage ventures. The event also featured partner sharing sessions, with SDEC, Taisei Corporation, and UntroD presenting in person, while JT, MRANTI, and TERAL Inc. shared their insights through video presentations, highlighting perspectives on innovation, collaboration, and deep tech development.

Among the finalists, ETAVOLT emerged as the Grand Winner of TECH PLANTER Asia Final 2026. ETAVOLT stood out for its innovative approach to solar panel regeneration and recycling, addressing the growing challenge of declining panel performance and end of life solar waste. Beyond individual solutions, ETAVOLT has developed a comprehensive system designed to extend the overall lifespan and value of solar panels. Its technology also offers strong potential for integration with other solutions in the solar ecosystem, such as automated solar panel cleaning technologies, creating numerous possibilities for collaboration and further innovation. With solar energy adoption continuing to grow worldwide, ETAVOLT’s solution has strong potential for implementation not only across Southeast Asia, but also in global markets. In addition to being crowned Grand Winner, ETAVOLT also received the SDEC Award.

SUMMARY OF TECH PLAN DEMO DAY ASIA FINAL 2026 AWARDEES

Grand Winner

Winner: ETAVOLT
Technology Theme: Solar panel regeneration and recycling solutions
Award Inclusions: 10,000 MYR Monetary Prize and an invitation to present at the Hyper Interdisciplinary Conference in Tokyo 2026.
Reason for Winning: Its innovative and scalable solar panel regeneration and recycling ecosystem, which extends panel lifespan and offers strong potential for global adoption.

Leave a Nest Award

Winner: enfarm Agritech
Technology Theme: enfarm AI Agronomic Intelligence Platform
Award Inclusions: An Invitation to present at the Hyper Interdisciplinary Conference in Tokyo 2026.
Reason for Winning: Its technology can be easily adopted by farmers, while the data collected can support the integration of future technologies and solutions.

SDEC Award

Winner: ETAVOLT
Technology Theme: Solar panel regeneration and recycling solutions
Award Inclusions: 4,000 MYR Monetary Prize
Reason for Winning: In line with SDEC’s goal of championing the commercialisation of university research.

JT Award

Winner: UMIAILE Co., Ltd.
Technology Theme: Protecting a peaceful and prosperous planet by “visualizing the ocean”
Award Inclusions: 4,000 MYR Monetary Prize
Reason for Winning: Creates a connection between people and the ocean by making it more visible and understandable, unlocking endless possibilities for exploration, conservation, and innovation.

KOBASHI Award

Winner: ConnectIQ Pte. Ltd.
Technology Theme: Industrial automation solutions
Award Inclusions: 4,000 MYR Monetary Prize
Reason for Winning: Its technology creates a manufacturing “memory” by capturing not only data, but also the context and knowledge behind it.

TERAL Award

Winner: Shio-Ion
Technology Theme: Eco-Anode Upcycling Platform
Award Inclusions: 4,000 MYR Monetary Prize
Reason for Winning: Its low cost battery technology has the potential to transform the automotive battery industry while creating opportunities for collaboration with TERAL.

UNTROD Award

Winner: enfarm Agritech
Technology Theme: enfarm AI Agronomic Intelligence Platform
Award Inclusions: 4,000 MYR Monetary Prize
Reason for Winning: Its user friendly technology can be installed independently by farmers without direct support from the enfarm team, providing a practical solution to real world agricultural challenges.

ScaleX Award

Winner: TAM-IS BioSolutions
Technology Theme: TAM-IS CaneBooster – A microbial solution targeting low sugar yield in sugarcane
Award Inclusions: Access to ScaleX Program 2027 & Living Lab
Reason for Winning: Its strong passion for supporting smallholder farmers extends beyond its technology, creating meaningful social impact and improving farmers’ livelihoods

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL WINNERS AND PRESENTERS!

The Leave a Nest team would like to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who contributed to making TECH PLANTER Asia Final 2026 a meaningful and memorable event.

To our 14 outstanding finalist teams, thank you for sharing your passion, technologies, and commitment to addressing real world challenges through science and innovation. Your presentations demonstrated the strength and potential of the deep tech ecosystem across Asia.

We would also like to express our deepest appreciation to our esteemed panel of judges for dedicating their time, expertise, and insights to the finalists. Your thoughtful questions and valuable feedback provided important perspectives that will support the teams as they continue developing their technologies and businesses.

Finally, our heartfelt appreciation goes to our local and global partners whose continued support and collaboration made this event possible: Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation Berhad (SDEC), Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI), ScaleX, Japan Tobacco Inc., KOBASHI HOLDINGS Co., Ltd., Taisei Corporation, TERAL Inc., and UntroD Inc.

TECH PLANTER Asia Final is more than a competition. It is a platform for building connections, creating new collaborations, and bringing together people who share a common ambition to solve deep issues through science and technology.

This year’s event may have concluded, but the journey continues. We are proud to announce ETAVOLT and enfarm Agritech have been selected to present at the Hyper Interdisciplinary Conference in Tokyo 2027, which will take place in March 2027.

Stay tuned for more updates from Leave a Nest, and should you have any questions or require additional information, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at [email protected] or contact Mr. Khalid Khalil directly at [email protected].

Once again, congratulations to all teams, and we look forward to welcoming you back for TECH PLANTER Asia Final 2027!