THE Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Singapore-based KK Fund Pte Ltd announced on April 3 a virtual investor-matching initiative for local startups seeking capital injection amid the current economic slowdown.
The initiative, dubbed ‘Meet Your Match Malaysia,’ is a collaboration between venture capital fund KK Fund Pte Ltd, which has investment interests in internet and mobile startups across Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and MDEC’s Global Growth Acceleration Division.
To date, the initiative has secured nearly 60 global investors interested in matching virtually with startups in Malaysia that are actively seeking funding but are constrained by the Movement Control Order (MCO).
Startups that are keen to be matched with potential investors may submit applications at https://tinyurl.com/meetyourmatchmalaysia from today until April 17.
All profiles and applications will be screened by the organisers prior to being shared with the prospective investors. Upon a successful match, a virtual connection will be initiated by the investors to open further discussions with their chosen startups.
Echoing the findings of a recent Covid-19 survey by the SME Association of Malaysia, MDEC CEO Surina Shukri agreed that local startups face the same fate as many small and medium sized enterprises in Malaysia that are struggling with insufficient cashflow to
sustain them until the end of April.
“Given the very challenging economic situation, MDEC’s Global Growth Acceleration Division has been relentlessly seeking funding avenues for startups that have been dependent on physical meetings and networking events to connect with potential investors,” she said.
“We are also scouting for more funding opportunities to aid vulnerable companies in these challenging times,” added Gopi Ganesalingam, Vice President of MDEC’s
Global Growth Acceleration Division, who also expressed gratitude to KK Fund for the partnership.
The initiative’s predecessor, “Meet Your Match Thailand” which was launched recently, was an encouraging response with more than 40 global investors and 30 Thai startups involved, according to Koichi Saito, founder and general partner of KK Fund.
“For Meet your Match Malaysia, we decided to partner with MDEC and BEAMSTART that have been contributing prominently to the Malaysian startup ecosystem. We believe that startups should not cease engaging investors in light of a market slowdown.
“Startups should be perfectly ready for fundraising when the market momentum changes again. As such, we hope that Malaysia-based startups will take full advantage of this opportunity and move to greater heights,” said Saito. – April 3, 2020
