MDEC, Draper Startup House to host Founders Grindstone Bootcamp

  • A series of workshops to help entrepreneurs enhance their eligibility to investors
  • Seven week bootcamp covers regulatory, legal concerns to tech, product scalability

MDEC, Draper Startup House to host Founders Grindstone Bootcamp

Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has announced the Founders Grindstone Bootcamp. 

In a statement, MDEC said the bootcamp is in collaboration with Draper Startup House and is an extension of MDEC’s flagship capability development and capacity-building programme, Founders Grindstone.

MDEC, Draper Startup House to host Founders Grindstone Bootcamp“The Founders Grindstone Bootcamp serves as an avenue for Malaysian-based tech entrepreneurs to connect with global and local investors, and potentially raise some funds during these tough times,” said Gopi Ganesalingam (pic), vice president of tech ecosystems and globalisation at MDEC.

“Through the partnership with Draper Startup House, we will be able to arm our local startups with the necessary skills, knowledge, and network to make them stronger, resilient companies facing a highly disruptive digital landscape,” he added. 

Beginning in 2020, the programme empowers tech entrepreneurs to maximise their potential and focus on their fundraising journey through a series of intensive workshops with professional partners from venture capitals (VCs), venture builders, and legal firms, MDEC said.

As an extension of Founders Grindstone, the seven-week bootcamp places entrepreneurs through a series of focused workshops to enhance their eligibility to investors as well as their investment readiness, it added.

Participants will also gain access to one-on-one mentoring from the programme’s investor partners and mentors, MDEC said.

Application for the Founders Grindstone Bootcamp is open for all startups, limited to a maximum of 30 companies. Priority will be given to companies with the following criteria: 

  • Malaysian-based companies;
  • Have at least one round of funding; and
  • Companies that are already in revenue stage.

Applications will be filtered through a pitch deck submission by a panel consisting of VC representatives and MDEC. Applicants are advised to include the above information for verification, MDEC said.

Apart from the three criteria, the panel will also select companies that are deemed to have gaps in any of the investment readiness areas.

Tentatively scheduled for Sept 8 to Nov 5, the workshops under the bootcamp will explore different topics each week. They are:

Week 1: Mapping and planning your growth journey (by Draper Startup House).

Week 2: Getting ready to fundraise from a legal standpoint.

Week 3: Financial projection and forecasting (by RHL Ventures and Iris Capital Partners).

Week 4: Valuation: Finding the sweet spot (by ScaleUp).

Week 5: Technology and product scalability (by Amazon Web Services).

Week 6: Pitching and storytelling (Wavemaker Partners/Cocoon Capital).

Week 7: One-on-one mentoring with investor partners.

After completing these workshops by early November, 10 companies will be selected to participate in the Founders Grindstone Demo Day in Draper Startup House, Penang, which will be attended by MDEC’s investor network.

MDEC, Draper Startup House to host Founders Grindstone Bootcamp“Investments and access to capital is a key component in building a global business,” said Vikram Bharati (pic), founder of Draper Startup House.

“The access to global flows of capital requires a business to be able to make the case to investors that investing in their business will be a good use of their capital, which requires understanding what investors look for in a business, and what they expect after the investment.

“We hope that the Founders Grindstone Bootcamp will provide the participants with the tools and tips needed to find global investors for their businesses and then to be able to make a compelling case to them.”

The Founders Grindstone Bootcamp’s Demo Day will be held in conjunction with the launch of the first Draper Startup House in Penang.

Draper Startup House is a global business platform with the mission to nurture and build one million startups worldwide in the next decade, through an ecosystem consisting of physical hubs, education investments, and business services.

“By launching in Malaysia, we hope to connect the larger Draper business ecosystem to startups in Malaysia and thus facilitate global trade and cross border commerce.

“We are excited to work with MDEC to build global partnerships, which will further drive Malaysia's digital transformation,” said Vikram. 

For more information and to register for the Founders Grindstone Bootcamp, visit here

The closing date for registration is on Aug 26.

 

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