By Nasuha Badrul Huzaini
SHAH ALAM, June 30 — Thirty startups have been chosen to participate in the 5th Cohort of the Selangor Accelerator Programme 2022 (SAP 2022).
Themed ‘Net Zero, Sustainability and the Circular Economy’, the 5th Cohort will focus on five main verticals this year, namely Agritech, Greentech, Smart City, Fintech and Healthtech.
Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec) chief executive officer Yong Kai Ping said the submissions for this year have surpassed last year’s record by 36.4 per cent.
“We received a total of 225 competitive applications this year compared to 165 submissions last year.
“The increased interest denotes that more startups are eager to expand their business and this is in line with the SAP 2022 tagline, ‘Charge your startup, take it further’,” he said during the official launch of the cohort here, today.
Also present at the event were state executive councillor for investment Dato’ Teng Chang Khim, Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd (PNSB) chief executive officer Raja Ahmad Shahrir Iskandar Raja Salim and Affin Bank Bhd SME-Wide Ancillary and Transaction (SWAT) Sales, Enterprise Banking head Raymond Lee.
The selected startups will be nurtured by Sidec in the next 10 weeks, covering 14 workshops, three pitching clinics, five office-hour mentoring sessions and one closed-door semifinal pitching before the final demo scheduled for Sept 10.
Teng said only the best 10 startups will advance to the final demo day, where they will have to convince the jury of the sustainability and feasibility of their business.
“I believe that many startups have become aware of this programme and the facilities that are made available to them. The winners will not only get knowledge but the backing of financial institutions and venture capitalists who are ready to inject capital into the proposed businesses,” he added.
The shortlisted startups for this year are Buddey Technology Holdings, iReka Soft Enterprise, Capshere, AIRI Global, Energreen Tech, Mushin Biz Solutions, Loop Foods, Beebag, Entomal Biotech, Urban Farm Tech, Bumi Gemilang Oils, ARIA Spectre, Move On, Film Wallet and Fintech Worldwide.
Also shortlisted are SeedDream Technology, Axelcloud Technologies, Diet Ideas, Emergence Innovative, Mitra IT Solutions, Global Cerah, Blue Duck Tech, Niagable PLT, ELMLAB, Oh Digital Solution, Ironwood Global Logistics, MDC Digitech, Collaborative Excellence, Swipey and Ashisuto Global Technologies.
The programme collaborates with various partners from the industry including PNSB, Microsoft, Tuas Capital Partners, The Hive Southeast Asia, Agrobank and RHL Ventures.
For more information, visit www.sidec.com.my.
