SHAH ALAM, 26 July — The Selangor State Legislative Assembly sitting was informed today that five start-up companies in the state have been identified as having the potential to become ‘unicorns’ in the future.
Chairman of the Standing Committee on Investment, Trade, Industry and Small and Medium Industries Dato’ Teng Chang Khim said some ‘soonicorn’ companies that have the potential to become ‘unicorns’ and are worth US$100 million are Aerodyne, Dropee, Fave, TheLorry and Naluri Hidup.
“Finding more potential companies in the desire to foster ‘unicorn’ companies in this state is important because it will contribute to innovation, job creation and further wealth creation,” he said when answering a question from Dusun Tua state assemblyman Edry Faizal Eddy Yusof who asked how many companies in Selangor have the potential to become ‘unicorns’ in the future.
Unicorn refers to a private startup company valued at over US$1 billion.
Last year, the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) targeted five ‘unicorn’ companies in the country in the next five years.
Teng said Carsome, an integrated car e-commerce platform emerged as the first ‘unicorn’ company in the country last year with a value exceeding US$1 billion, which has been established and operating in Selangor since 2015.
He said as Malaysia’s population and market size are not as large as other Southeast Asian countries, local entrepreneurs need to expand their market to the region to achieve ‘unicorn’ status.
— Bernama
