When Max and Allen Low were kids, their parents would ask them to spend a few minutes picking up garbage.
"This became a habit which continued into adulthood, and we still make time for that today," Max tells the South China Morning Post.
But as adults, the two realized that plastic waste and garbage never stopped accumulating, and so a decade ago, the brothers started working on a more scalable solution.
Their company, PlasticFri, is now in its first year of business and has just been named the grand winner of the Singapore Institute of Innovation's Global Business Plan Competition.
The competition is regarded as one of Asia's largest university-led startup challenges, and the Swedish brothers won $100,000 in cash and a spot in the finals in September.
Their plant-based products, including paper bags, pet cups, and mailers, are designed to replace plastics.
Forbes calls them "one Sweden's most powerful leaders on sustainability."
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Nonprofit impact investing firm, Acumen, has invested $1.2 million to KZ Noir, a Rwanda-based coffee processing company owned by Kaizen Venture Partners. The investment will equip KZ Noir the funds for working capital, debt refinancing, and capacity expansion.