GOVERNMENT FUNDING SCHEMES
Cradle Fund
Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle) is Malaysia’s early stage start-up influencer, and has helped fund over 900 Malaysian tech start-ups and holds the highest commercialisation rate amongst government grants in the country.
MDEC
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation Sdn. Bhd . (MDEC) is the holistic, government-owned agency launched in 1996 to pioneer the transformation of Malaysia’s digital economy.
MTDC
For 25 years, Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) has been the key player in technology commercialization in Malaysia and promoting the adoption of technologies by local companies.
MAVCAP
Malaysia Venture Capital Management Berhad (MAVCAP) raison d’être is to support seed, start-up early stage to late stage companies in the ICT industry as well as other high-growth industries. (including but not limited to content and digital media, IOT, e-commerce, financial tech, etc)
STARTUP INCUBATORS
MaGIC
The Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC) has set its mission of building and growing the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Malaysia including support startups going regional and global.
MyCreative Ventures
MyCreative Ventures Sdn. Bhd . is a Government investment arm launched in September 2012 to spur Malaysia’s creative industry via strategic and innovative funding through debt or equity investments in Malaysian creative companies. RM200 million was allocated from the 2012 Malaysian Budget to help boost the creative industry’s significance to the Malaysian economy.
Cyberview Living Lab
The accelerator is another government initiative, with multiple partners running the program (used to be run by Watchtower, 1337, and so on). Thus, the mentorship is provided by different people each year or when the vendors change. The website states that they provide Value Added Services Up to RM50k.
1337 Ventures
1337 is a technology accelerator and early stage venture capital focused on pre-seed and seed stage investments in Malaysia as well as South East Asia. Our primary investments are technology solutions (social enterprises, commerce and other out-of-the-box solutions)
Axiata Digital Innovation Fund
Axiata Digital Innovation Fund has been created by Axiata, MAVCAP and Johor Corporation. The three public and private companies established and organized a venture capital fund that starts at RM80 million and offers investments of up to RM10 million per company.
Sunway iLabs Accelerator
The Sunway iLabs from Sunway Group has been established according to a partnership between Sunway University, Sunway Group and its venture capital division, Sunway Ventures. Sunway runs this accelerator in collaboration with Nexea Angels.
Conclusion
Accelerators and government funding are very important for Startups in their early phases. Typically, accelerators add value to the company via validation of ideas, validation or market, or validation of growth. Apart from that, some accelerators are also able to add value via networks, mentoring, funding, and also via shared services like Finance, SEO, Marketing, or HR.
Since different businesses come with different needs, there is no one size fits all solutions. Some may need financial support, others may need mentoring and the right connections and others simply lack the necessary technical and marketing resources that can help them grow. Hence, take your time and choose wisely 🙂