MaGIC's Programme To Help Start-Ups Break Into ASEAN Market

CYBERJAYA (Petaling Jaya, Malaysia), July 4 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre’s (MaGIC) signature Global Accelerator Programme (GAP) will help equip 56 local, regional and global start-ups with skills, knowledge and network to break into the Asean market. Chairman Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah said the four-month programme would further establish and strengthen Malaysia's position as the gateway to the region for entrepreneurs keen to expand their business and reach in the Asean market. Mohd Irwan, who is also Secretary General of Treasury, said since GAP was first launched three years ago, about 223 start-ups were trained in three successful cohorts and more than 70 per cent were successful in the South-East Asian market. "I am hoping the innovation and creation by the start-ups will be able to place Malaysia to be among top ten in the Innovation Index. We are way behind despite being among the top ten economies in Asia. Currently, we are ranked 8th in Asia and 37th globally in the Global Innovation Index 2017. "We want to get more local laboratories to work with foreign companies and come up with pioneer products," he told reporters after launching the programme for this year here Tuesday. Meawnwhile, MaGIC's Chief Executive Officer, Ashran Ghazi, said the top 56 start-ups will receive benefits from Microsoft, Amazon, Web Services, IBM, 123RF, HubSpot worth over US$400,000 each. Sixty per cent of the start-ups were from Asean while the rest were from countries such as North America, Europe, Africa, West Asia, South Korea. He said the GAP participants were handpicked from 950 applications received from 47 countries based on three key criteria – prospect to expand in the Asean market, potential of highly scalable products and readiness for early stage investment. "The participants will focus on nine industry verticals including social innovation, smart cities, healthcare, supply chain, creative and lifestyle, finance, education, e-commerce and mobile. The supporting cross-border collaboration in entreprenuership and innovation was critical in building the regional entrepreneurship ecosystem. "We believe in striking a balance between financial profit with people, social and environment values to drive real change. We aim to help create inter-connectivity through collaboration with global and local start-ups," he said. -- BERNAMA