THE Science, Technology and Innovation Ministry (MOSTI) has launched the MYStartup Pre-Accelerator Programme that seeks to inspire early-stage start-ups while offering money-can’t-buy guidance and coaching in implementing business strategies, access to market and funding.
Commencing from May 12, 2022, the six-month programme saw close to 40 top-quality early-stage start-ups being selected to participate in the programme.
The programme saw these start-ups undergoing a rigorous four-stage selection process before securing other benefits including networking opportunities with key industry players, potential investors and business experts.
“The MYStartup Pre-Accelerator programme is part of the larger MYStartup strategy initiated by MOSTI, where it aims to create global successful Malaysian start-ups,” said Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd group CEO Rafiza Ghazali.
“Cradle is proud to be able to bring together and link up this pool of innovative start-ups and investors, in realising MOSTI’s vision.”
Cradle is the MYStartup Pre-Accelerator programme’s implementing agency.
According to Rafiza, early-stage start-ups would benefit from proper guidance or mentorship in seeking investments and in their journey of scaling their businesses.
“Having said that, Cradle hopes that through initiatives such as the MYStartup Pre-Accelerator programme we would be able to enhance and empower them with business acumen and financial expertise while linking them with the much-needed network and resources,” she added.
Also present at the launch was BEYOND4 CEO ST Rubaneswaran, who said that the BEYOND4 Ecosystem at its core is invested in accelerating various Talent DNA through the company’s Intelligent Multi-Tier Accelerator Ecosystem.
“At the end of our funnel lies the Start-up Accelerator with the end-goal of accelerating the start-up ecosystem regionally through strategic partnerships,” he pointed out.
“We aspire the Top 40 teams to leverage the most from our available resources and dense Mentor Pool to grow and scale themselves forward.”
Participating start-ups stand to benefit from the overall mentoring theme of the programme which consists of masterclass sessions, mentoring sessions, a midterm review and access to on-demand learning courses made accessible to the participants.
The masterclass sessions will see start-ups gaining and enhancing their respective proficiency through virtual and hands-on workshops, ask-me-anything (AMA) sessions with product development experts and networking sessions, among others.
On top of that, start-ups will also be assigned to a mentor from a specially curated pool of international and local key industry players, successful start-up founders and prime investors to whom they can reach out to; including one-to-one sessions if the need arises.
However, the actual perks that await the participating start-ups are at the tail end of the programme.
Successful finalists of the Demo Day stand a chance to receive potential funding in the form of a grant from Cradle under its CIP SPARK funding programme valued up to RM150,000.
This is in addition to investment and acceleration opportunities of up to RM50,000 in addition to an offer of joining BEYOND4’s very own accelerator programme.
Other benefits include opportunities to participate in local and overseas immersion programmes and access to various tools and resources.
For more information on the MYStartup Programme, start-ups and ecosystem players are encouraged to log on to www.mystartup.gov.my.
