Cradle Fund Sdn. Bhd. (Cradle), recently hosted its inaugural networking event – “Cradle Circle”, a one-day event designed to connect funded startups with potential investors and other Malaysian startup ecosystem players through business pitching, networking and sharing sessions at Seputeh, Kuala Lumpur.
Hosted for the first time in the post-pandemic era, Cradle aims to gather its startup alumni and interested investors under one roof to provide more options for the startups to connect, build rapport and showcase their business models.
Sharing her thoughts on the event, Juliana Jan, Senior Vice President – Grant, Cradle, was delighted with the encouraging support from the ecosystem, especially through their participation at the event.
This augurs well with Cradle’s plan in hosting similar sessions in the near future to assist and facilitate even more Cradle-funded startups in breaking the barrier between them and potential investors via on-ground engagements.
“Cradle, as the appointed MOSTI focal point agency for the early-stage startup ecosystem, aspires to not just assist the early-stage startups with funding opportunities but to alleviate them in a holistic approach with “Cradle Circle” as one of our initiatives in bridging any possible gaps in the ecosystem. We aspire to organise Cradle Circle as a series of events with distinct themes for each event. The first edition of Cradle Circle features talks on topics very close to any startup’s heart; such as legal challenges and founders’ journey. Other activities included pitching sessions with potential investors, one-to-one consultation sessions with Cradle’s legal panel, and networking sessions between attendees. We certainly hope to add more enriching activities to the list in the upcoming editions”, she added.
Present at the event, Norman Matthieu Vanhaecke, Acting Group Chief Executive Officer – Cradle, shared, “Throughout Cradle’s 20-year journey in enriching and strengthening startups, we have often seen early-stage startups facing challenges such as lacking expertise and proper guidance or mentorship in their journey of scaling their businesses. Through initiatives such as Cradle Circle, we sincerely hope that we would be able to further enhance and empower them with business acumen while linking them with the much-needed network and resources. We hope that this first session – held exclusively for funded startups – proves to be a beneficial one to the participants, namely our startups, investors and corporate partners.”
Since its inception, Cradle has assisted more than 1,000 technologybased startups by helping them pioneer the path to commercialisation on their growth journey, which simultaneously builds the nation through technology and accelerates job creation and economic growth.
For more information about Cradle and how to get funded, startups and ecosystem players are encouraged to log on to www.cradle.com.my.