Malaysian entrepreneurs will find more funding options to overcome economic challenges, thanks to MDEC.
THE Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has unveiled its latest Alternative Funding Programme this year to help entrepreneurs who are facing economic challenges in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Under this programme, MDEC is partnering with 11 crowdfunding operators to assist Malaysian entrepreneurs to overcome financial difficulties during the health crisis.
This is the second consecutive year that MDEC is offering the Alternative Funding Programme led by its Global Growth Acceleration (GGA) division.
Last year, the same programme saw 16 companies successfully listed on participating platforms with a total of RM19.89mil raised.
Realising the pressing need that startups had in terms of business funding at the start of the pandemic, MDEC immediately sprang into action with several funding facilitation programmes.
Launched in April last year, the first Alternative Funding Programme saw MDEC partnering with seven crowdfunding operators to offer alternative channels for startups to obtain funding.
At that time, venture capitalists were less than receptive to new investments, especially early-stage startups, due to the uncertainties caused by the pandemic.
Among the startups that successfully achieved funding through the programme was PolicyStreet which raised US$1.8mil, the largest funds attained to-date from an equity crowdfunding (ECF) platform in Malaysia.
“With the continued disruption to businesses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, it is crucial for startups in Malaysia to be able to explore multiple avenues for funding, ” said MDEC chief executive officer Surina Shukri.
“While initiatives like the Dana Penjana Nasional have done much to address the funding gaps for startups in Malaysia, it is in the best interest of MDEC for them to have more options to ensure sustainable cash flow.
“Backed by the strong outcomes from last year’s programme, I believe ECF and P2P are great fundraising avenues for startups to consider.
“While we were ranked 11th in the emerging startup ecosystem globally by Startup Genome in 2020, our ultimate goal is to be the top-ranking startup ecosystem in the world.”
‘With the continued disruption to businesses caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, it is crucial for startups in Malaysia to be able to explore multiple avenues for funding,’ said Surina.
Surina pointed out that funding facilitation initiatives like the Alternative Funding Programme are just one of the many efforts MDEC is making to nurture Malaysia’s startup ecosystem to be top ranked, as the nation strives towards Malaysia 5.0 and become the “Heart of Digital Asean.”
A total of five ECF and six P2P platforms are involved in this year’s Alternative Funding Programme.
The five ECF are ATA Plus, CrowdPlus.asia, Eurecca, Leet Capital and pitchIN, while the six P2P platforms are B2B Finpal, CapBay, Funding Societies, microLEAP, MoneySave and QuicKash.
Entrepreneurs who wish to explore this alternative financing option may submit their interest at https://mdec.my/gain/alternative-funding/. Deadline for submission is March 31,2021.
MDEC will initiate priority assessment of all applicants before submitting their profiles to the applicants’ choice of ECF/P2P operator.
“MDEC has been promoting ECF and P2P funding platforms actively to startups and I believe that the concerted effort put in by MDEC has led to an increase in public awareness towards the benefits of ECF and P2P investment, ” Policy Street co-founder Wilson Beh shared.
MDEC’s digitally powered business division vice president Gopi Ganesalingam added: “To further encourage entrepreneurs to leverage on ECF and P2P platforms, our division will also engage the founders of MSC-status companies and other high networth individuals to pay it forward as investors on these digital financing platforms.”
