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The Horyou Community has much to celebrate – from our global reach to our successful activities, we are proposing effective solutions for better times to come

SIGEF 2019 by Horyou

2020 is starting on a positive note: Horyou is growing bigger, more global, and it is spreading a positive message to the planet and its people. We have much to celebrate, and we would like to share with you the main highlights of the year that has passed:

  • HoryouToken, the digital currency for Inclusion and sustainability, was successfully launched worldwide and presented to the main global Blockchain audiences, in events including WSIS Forum 2019, Matinée Fintech, Blockchain Economic Forum and Chain Plus.

  • The 6th Edition of SIGEF took place last September in Tokyo, one of the worlds’ most innovative metropolis, covering critical global topics like Artificial Intelligence for Positive Change, Fintech and Blockchain, MedTech, SDGs, Sustainable Lifestyles, Sports for Good, Future Energy and Smart Mobility. Extensive converage and info on our SIGEF website.

  • Horyou community has expanded and strengthened its presence in Asia Pacific and Africa. Yonathan Parienti, Horyou’s Founder and CEO, and the Horyou team presented initiatives and shared inspiration in global events including the Future Here Summit, Oxygen 2050, Doing Good, Doing Well and many others.

  • Horyou media presence was stronger and much more diverse – from Asia to the Americas, in Japanese, English, French, Arabic and many more languages, we made our voice heard.

  • Horyou TV launched new documentaries and raised awareness about urgent causes such as Plastic Pollution and Refugees.

  • Our community has grown bigger, with more members, partners and personalities.

2020 full of surprises

The Horyou Team is now preparing its very first projects of 2020. We are proud of what we’ve achieved so far and we will bring even more visibility to our community and our projects this year through:

  • The Social Innovation and Global Ethics Forum – SIGEF – will have a special edition in Davos on January 22nd, during the World Economic Forum. Book your tickets and be part of one of the most important international gatherings fostering the UN SDGs, Sustainable Innovation and Blockchain for Good.

  • The next full edition of SIGEF will still take place in Dubai! Follow SIGEF 2020 Twitter account to know more.

  • Expect more partnerships, events and networking projects supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals, economic inclusion and social entrepreneurship all around the world.

Follow our blog, our social media channels (Twitter, LinkedIn and Youtube) and Horyou, the social network for social good. The Horyou Team wishes a Happy New Year to all of our members and partners around the world!

A global claim has been echoing for many years: since 2000, when the UN launched the Millennium Development Goals, the world hasn’t seen such public debate about the need to commit to social and environmental targets. As the years have passed and global leaders have complied with the reviewed and renamed Sustainable Development Goals, society started to be bolder about expanding the commitment to a better future.

In the last few years, more companies have been vocal about their own actions thanks to an increased responsiveness of their stakeholders: investors, clients and civil society who demand more engaged action for the SDGs.

Clients and consumers are the first group to put pressure on the private sector, carefully choosing ecofriendly products and brands. Last September, 87 companies, including Danone, Amazon and IKEA, committed to set climate targets across their operations and value chains, setting zero net emissions by 2050. A recent Accenture survey shows that 80% of consumers believe it’s important or extremely important for companies to design environmentally conscious products. It affects the whole supply chain: from lighter and smaller packaging that will require less material to components that are recyclable and reusable.

Jobseekers are another important group that influences companies’ commitment to sustainable actions. MBA graduates are now able to see if corporate social responsibility strategies are legitimate or pure PR – and choose companies they want to work for accordingly. A 2015 survey covering more than 3,700 MBA graduates shows that 64% of them don’t think businesses are making enough efforts to address environmental challenges. Recruiters are getting used to questions about these CSR policies and are feeling the need to develop their employer’s branding, the capacity to attract talented people, investing in real sustainable actions.

Finally, there is the deciding factor for many businesses: money. Asset managers are increasingly taking sustainability into consideration when shaping their investment strategies, according to a recently published article in the Financial Times. Some of them, like Hermes, are launching SDG Equity Funds focused on small and medium-sized companies engaged with the UN Goals. Others, like the Scandinavian investment group Summa, are focusing on some sustainable development areas like infrastructure and innovation (goal 9). These initiatives follow the launch of UN Impact, a program that aims to channel funds to SDG-related projects and companies.

Other funding opportunities like HoryouToken, the utility token 100% dedicated to inclusion and sustainability, are also spotting projects and actions that resonate with the UN SDGs. Built on the concept of “Blockchain with a purpose”, HoryouToken supports and promotes social and economic inclusion while enhancing a positive circle of interactions benefiting civil society, social entrepreneurs and social good doers.

To know more about HoryouToken, click here.

Venture capital is looking more into your company’s sustainability performance

Impact investing: money with purpose

Sustainability in general, and The UN Sustainable Development Goals in particular, make for good business. And some investors have recognized that for quite some time – since 2004, to be precise. When the UN started conversations with a number of global stock exchange operators, corporate social responsibility hit the radars of listed corporations. In 2012, Nasdaq (USA), B3 (Brazil), Johannesburg Stock Exchange (South Africa), Borsa Istanbul (Turkey) and The Egyptian Exchange made a public commitment to advance sustainability in their markets. It was the first step in the Sustainable Stock Exchanges initiative (SSE), a UN-led global movement which now counts more than 80 members from all continents.

In the past few years, the SDGs have boosted the discussion on corporate sustainability and the role of companies in building a better business culture with a stronger positive impact on society. More importantly, the SDGs were eventually adopted by many companies to be an integral part of their sustainability plans as a major performance target. Since then, a number of studies have related SDGs to business performance, proving that gender equality, investments on education and fair wages lead to a more competitive society and, thus, to more sustainable businesses.

More recently, venture capitalists have been looking more closely into sustainability practices before deciding which companies to invest in. With the help of UN agencies, Social venture funds and social impact-driven investors networks were set up to prompt companies into improving their CSR practices while pursuing their profit-making operations. The recently launched UNDP SDG Impact program is a good example of how to channel private investment and capital to meet the SDGs, via providing funders with roadmaps and data on the best investment plans.

Initiatives like HoryouToken are also a worthwhile alternative for all investors to consider, from big corporations to private investors, owing to its Blockchain technology which provides transparency and traceability with proof of impact, resonating with the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Sustainability is now. It’s profitable, it can help change the world and build better times for all.

For decades, Japan has been known for its solid, predictable financial landscape built on aversion to risk and long-term returns. As a result, according to a Deloitte report, it’s been striving to attract investors and venture capitalists. Yet, in the last few years, the Japanese have been facing a much-welcomed revolution caused by fintech, a market that, in 2021, will be 15 times bigger than it was in 2015. The reason is that the fintech scene has been evolving thanks to a few factors that are key to the success of entrepreneurs in the country:

Photo: Miyabi Inoue

Support from the government – The Japanese Ministry of Economy understands that emergent fintech companies will bring innovation, competitiveness and jobs. In a recent publication, the ministry commits to a more modern regulatory framework, promoting such innovations as application programming interfaces (API) and Blockchain and electronic data exchange (EDI), especially among small and medium-size companies.

New regulation – In March 2019, the Japanese authorities set new rules for the Blockchain and fintech markets, offering more security and transparency to investors. The government is also studying new regulations for banks, which would potentially help new competitors, especially the ones involved with emerging technologies.

A strong ecosystem – Recently-founded associations such as Fintech Association of Japan and hubs like Finolab are helping to create a strong ecosystem of companies, united to learn from and help each other.

Investors – Japan is one of the most important business & tech hubs of Asia, as well as a safe haven for low-interest rates seekers. It is also a forward-thinking country known for its innovative companies. These unique characteristics attract investors who are looking for disruptive but safe projects to fund.

Want to know more about Japan, the host country of SIGEF 2019? Follow our posts on Horyou blog.

SIGEF 2019 will take place in Tokyo on 18-19 September.

The Asia Pacific Summit takes place in Singapore and will discuss the developments and trends of the Blockchain Financial Industry

Chain Plus will take place in Singapore from 11-12th April

What do top investment institutions, start-ups, traditional financial giants and disruptive entrepreneurs have in common? They all are looking at Blockchain finance. The financial industry is most likely the first area where Blockchain will be widely used, according to the Ethereum co-creator Vitalik Butarin. It has developed many purposes and today, it can have even a social impact. One example is the recently launched HoryouToken, the ‘Blockchain with a Purpose’ which supports and promotes social and economic inclusion.

2019 Chain Plus Asia Pacific Blockchain New Finance Summit, which will be held in Singapore on April 11th-12th, intends to discuss the main advances of the Blockchain Finance and uncover the new trends in the industry. Speakers on Chain Plus will include: Piotr Jan Pietrzak, chief innovation officer at ING, the world’s 11th largest asset manager; Zhukuang Lee, head of product innovation at Standard Chartered Bank, Kelvin Tan, head of capital market innovation & technology operations department of DBS bank, the largest commercial bank in Singapore and Andrew Pudovikov, software development engineer at the blockchain laboratory of Sberbank, Russia’s largest state-owned commercial bank.

In addition to big banks and investment institutions, cryptocurrency exchanges, venture capital firms and government officials will also attend, as it covers almost the entire ecosystem of Blockchain. Global leaders from around the world will attend to discuss and present various topics about the Blockchain industry, cryptocurrency, decentralized networks and finance. Attendees will gain a wealth of insights and information about the state of the Blockchain industry through discussion and networking parties.

Horyou is pleased to act as a media partner of the Chain Plus Asia Pacific Blockchain New Finance Summit. As a gift to our community, all Horyou members can profit from a free ticket – apply for it using the promotional code TBGC0314 at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2019-chain-plus-asia-pacific-blockchain-new-finance-summitsingapore-tickets-55261439453

The Alpine winter was not hard enough to cool off the world’s most important economic forum

Horyou team was in Davos, Switzerland

Every year, the World Economic Forum is a most awaited event – the freezing Swiss town of Davos is the place where world leaders and their finance ministers take the stage to ‘seduce’ investors and commercial partners. 2019 WEF was no different as it set the tone for all conversations and debates for the year to come. And Horyou team was there. As for some of the main outcomes of Davos:

1. The ubiquitous AI – Artificial Intelligence has been a hot topic for some years at the WEF, but in 2019 it is a star. Its technology is everywhere – in our homes and our workplaces, and it is helping shape the world we live in and how we see it. For some firms, like Reuters and Majid Al Futtaim’s shopping mall, the forum was a platform to launch their AI solutions.

2. Clean energy now – Even oil-based economies agree that it is important to consider alternatives. Climate change and investor pressure are pushing companies to re-think their strategies and invest in the production of cleaner energy with help from more technology.

3. Blockchain is the name of the game – Speaking at the Blockchain Economic Forum, Horyou’s founder and CEO, Yonathan Parienti, presented the concept of Blockchain with a Purpose and HoryouToken. As a disruptive decentralized technology, Blockchain is impacting not only the financial system but also the healthcare, philanthropy, and insurance industries among others. And the World Economic Forum gave it an important exposition.

The Blockchain Economic Forum took place in Davos from 24-26 January

4. The future of work – It’s already happening. Humans and machines now coexist at the workplace. Companies and countries are discussing the possibility of designing strategies to make this transition smooth and collaborative, without threatening jobs and incomes.

5. Environment matters – The WEF opened its stage to Sir David Attenborough, who was awarded for his lifetime contribution to the promotion of the protection of animal life, as well as Prime Ministers Jacinda Ardern, from New Zealand, and Mark Rutte, from the Netherlands, who spoke about the urgent need to protect the environment. The private sector also showed its engagement with the cause of the planet – a group of 50 CEOs working across 150 countries met to discuss ways to reduce emissions.

6. SDGs in the Spotlight – Besides setting a dedicated area for the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the WEF nurtured many debates around them. On the Forum’s platform for public-private cooperation, business projects were presented on topics including sustainable consumption and production, mental health, youth empowerment and disability inclusion.

Want to know more about HoryouToken and how Horyou supports the SDGs? Follow us on our social media channels and on Horyou, the social network for social good.
Be the change, be Horyou.

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