PUTRAJAYA: The Royal Academy of Engineering’s Leadership in Innovation Fellowships (LIF) has chosen eight Malaysian entrepreneurs and innovators for the prestigious programme, which includes two weeks in the UK and a chance to pitch to investors.
The Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) said that the selected innovators, representing various higher education institutions, will undergo training, mentoring, and networking to support the commercialisation of their groundbreaking innovations.
"This support will be provided both in Malaysia and during an intensive two-week residential programme in the UK in July 2025," it said in a statement on Wednesday (Feb 19).
The group said that participants will have the opportunity to compete for the Best Pitch Award before UK investors, venture capitalists, and angel investors, with the potential to secure funding to scale their solutions globally.
The eight Malaysians will join over 60 representatives from Brazil, Colombia, India, Mexico, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam for LIF Global 2025.
They were selected for their exceptional projects and groundbreaking innovations, which align with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.
The group said that LIF is part of a collaboration between Malaysia and the UK under the International Science Partnerships Fund, aimed at helping local entrepreneurs turn their engineering and technology innovations into impactful and sustainable businesses.
"LIF nurtures bold, scalable innovations from all areas of engineering and technology that address some of the world’s most complex environmental, economic, and societal issues.
"Conducted since 2016, the LIF programme in Malaysia has supported 82 alumni members to date, collectively generated more than 500 highly skilled jobs and raised over USD3.88mil (RM17.24mil) in third-party follow-on funding," it added.
MIGHT and the Royal Academy of Engineering hosted a send-off ceremony on Monday for the eight innovators heading to the UK.
It was attended by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation secretary-general Datuk Dr Aminuddin Hassim, British High Commission counsellor Ruzina Hasan and Academy fellow and chair of LIF Steering Committee Ian Ritchie.
MIGHT was represented by its joint chairman (Industry) Tan Sri Ahmad Tajuddin Ali, joint chairman (Government) Tan Sri Zakri Abdul Hamid, as well as president and chief executive officer Rushdi Abdul Rahim. - Bernama
