Disruptr speaks to Ahmad Kashfi Alwi, Senior Vice President, Ecosystem Development, Cradle on the growth of MYStartup since its establishment, initiatives taken to plug gaps in the ecosystem and its hope to build a robust ecosystem.
Since its establishment, MYStartup’s focus and aim has always been to build an inclusive and sustainable startup ecosystem in Malaysia. In order to achieve this objective effectively, the platform aims to strengthen its position locally and regionally through collaboration.
With almost 6,000 startups having benefited from the MYStartip initiative, the team behind the initiative is looking to grow this number exponentially.
One of the key areas that MYStartup is focusing on is to enhance collaboration through partnerships with regional counterparts and corporate partners. This, they believe, will help to create a more interconnected startup ecosystem that can benefit all stakeholders.
“MYStartup is also placing a strong emphasis on product innovation. We recognise that innovation is a key driver of growth for startups, and we are looking to create an environment that fosters creativity and experimentation. By providing startups access to the latest technologies and resources, the platform is helping to ensure that they have the tools they need to succeed,” says Ahmad Kashfi Alwi, Senior Vice President, Ecosystem Development, Cradle.
Another important aspect he says is their ongoing engagement with universities, due to their potential as a key source of talent for startups. By collaborating with universities, MYStartup is helping to create a pipeline of fresh graduates who are ready to join the startup ecosystem.
This is evident, as seen in the recently held LaunchX, the first University Startups Accelerator Programme in the country. Hosted by Sunway Innovation Labs at Sunway University (iLabs Foundry) and supported by the Ministry of Higher Education, the programme aims to cultivate a synergistic and holistic entrepreneurial ecosystem that empowers student entrepreneurs to unlock their potential and foster sustainable growth for their ventures.
The platform’s work in working with universities works well for the long run to close the gaps left by talent shortage and the need to develop more talents.. As more students showcase interest in entrepreneurialism, universities are also adapting accordingly with new curriculum and courses.
Attaining Quality Tech Talents
Attracting and retaining talents remains a challenge to startups, particularly those functioning in the tech industry or in need of tech talent in order to help the organisation scale faster and further. In order to address the skill set gap among fresh tech graduates, the MYStartup Dev programme has been introduced to guide them in becoming highly marketable tech talents and to become workforce ready.
The programme is also looking to unlock the potential of young talents and foster within them an entrepreneurial mindset through innovative thinking and skills development. This is in addition to the programme’s objective in nurturing and upskills tech talents for highly investable tech startups.
Additionally, some of the platform’s 2023 plans include building a community of 3,000 registered developers through 10 outreach programmes that will include coffee chat series, conferences, bootcamps, development programmes and mentorship among others.
These programmes would also include a coffee chat series, where we connect tech startup, CTOS with university students, providing them with the opportunity to learn directly from experienced professionals.
Additionally, there will be conferences to showcase new technology fresh out of Cupertino to our communities in Kuala Lumpur.
“With the support of our partners such as the local universities, tech giants and startups, we aim to constantly build a community where learning, upskilling and placement programs are actively and exclusively designed to empower and unlock the full potential of tech talents in Malaysia- contributing to our main goal in creating an inclusive and sustainable economic flywheel for startups to thrive,” Kashfi says,
Going Beyond Klang Valley
According to Kashfi, over 5,000 startups have benefited from MYStartup’s bespoke programmes and the team’s efforts are far from over. The MYStartup NXT, which was recently launched earlier in May comprises a series of micro conferences which will be taking places in selected locations throughout the nation.
The programme designed to engage closely with local startups across Malaysia, aims to enable ecosystem members to access support and benefits that will empower them and scale to the next level.
“Through these micro conferences across Malaysia, we act as an enable to provide equal access to startups and their founders beyond language and geography and we strongly believe that inclusivity will help ensure a vibrant startup community,” he says.
“By taking the culture of innovation to the grassroots, MYStartup envisions nurturing an inclusive revolution across the country,” Kashfi adds.
To date, aside from Kuala Lumpur, MYStartup has six established chapters across Malaysia in states such as Penang, Pahang, Johor, Terengganu, Sarawak and Sabah that support and encourage the platform’s programmes.