Mr. Kong Qi Herng
RVRC Alumnus, NUS Class of 2022
RVRC is proud to showcase the growth and achievements of its alumnus Kong Qi Herng as a sustainability trendsetter in the field of entrepreneurship and business innovation.
Kong is the CEO and Co-Founder of the moonbeam co. The former National University of Singapore (NUS) Merit Scholar discovered his passion for sustainability while he was a student at RVRC, pursuing his BSc. (Pharmaceutical Science) Programme. He met his friends, who share the same ambition of using innovation and business to solve food waste problems, and co-founded Moonbeam together. He later completed his MSc. (Technopreneurship & Innovation) with the Chuan Thian Poh Scholarship to grow his entrepreneurial skills and network. He is currently working on Moonbeam full-time, where he engages businesses and institutions to encourage adoption of brewer's spent grains (BSG) in food products and services.
The Moonbeam Co was founded by three U21 students from the National University of Singapore: Jia Wei Lim, Qi Herng Kong and Varden En Cheng Toh. Having connected over their “common interest in food, drinks and, most importantly, sustainability”, they decided to change the way that food waste is treated in Singapore, upcycling it to create sustainable, consumer-packaged products, including beer and granola.
In 2021/22, The Moonbeam Co were awarded the title of ‘Most Innovative’ in the RISE Awards and Showcase. Since winning, the team have further committed to overcoming global inefficiencies in the management of food supply and waste as a means of meeting Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.
Continually learning, it was the impact of winning the RISE Award which first “affirmed” what the team were doing and “instilled confidence” as they assumed the great responsibility of tackling real-world, global issues. As a result of U21, their start-up’s vision also changed to “a much more global one.” In 2023, Qi Herng Kong spent three months in the UK, taking part in an incubator to further the start-up, which allowed him to gain “a more international perspective.”
RISE Awards, U21 Universitas: https://www.universitas21.com/news-and-events/news/rise-success-alumni-start-moonbeam-co
Straits Times (DBS x NEA Hungry for Change):
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/environment/nea-dbs-hungry-for-change-challenge-reduce-food-waste-students-innovations-beer-brewing-by-products-granola
NUS News: https://news.nus.edu.sg/championing-sustainability-one-grain-at-a-time/
