Week in Review: Fueling the dreams of start-ups

  • It was a week of start-up stories, with two interesting developments
  • Both stories bring funding issues to the forefront

Week in Review: Fueling the dreams of start-upsSTART-UP stories are always interesting because they offer your typical David vs Goliath scenario, of small two- to five-man teams of smart people who have big dreams and lion hearts.
 
They are often aiming to exploit a market opportunity which the big boys do not see because their salaried employees are not chasing dreams but intent on meeting KPIs. Dreams don’t get you promoted.
 
Start-ups the world over hope to exploit this advantage they have to create a product or service that can gain enough traction to help them get that critical infusion of funding, which then helps to further fuel their dreams.
 
Digital News Asia (DNA) readers are already familiar with this world thanks to the regular stream of interesting start-ups, both in Malaysia and Singapore, which we have been covering. Funding for their dreams has come from both public and private money.
 
And next Wednesday (Feb 20), at the fifth DNA-TeAM Disrupt session, we will bring you that fusion of public and private money and learn about how the people behind them think when it comes to fueling ideas and entrepreneurs. (CORRECTION: An earlier version had the wrong date for Disrupt)
 
With Jamaludin Bujang of Mavcap and Patrick Grove of Catcha Group as our panelists, it will be fascinating to hear their philosophies and influences when it comes to funding, what they hope are tomorrow’s billion-dollar companies.
 
Aiming to make it to that category is Piktochart.com, which we featured this week. That article, incidentally, caught the attention of one of the leading Internet entrepreneurs in the region (not Catcha’s Grove) who asked to be introduced to Goh Ai Ching, Piktochart’s founder.
 
Maybe she will raise the US$1 million she is looking for from him?
 
One company that is in the Internet start-up space, albeit from the sidelines, is online media outlet e27, which covers the start-up space in South-East Asia but with a heavy focus on the scene in Singapore, where it is based.
 
It raised US$614,000 and what is interesting about this company is that one of the original founders of Catcha.com back in 1998, Nic Lim, is an investor.
 
After staying away from the start-up scene for 10 years when Catcha flamed out in 2002, after just missing the IPO wave in mid-2001, Lim has regained his zest for the Internet space.
 
Now, when will he make his first investment in Malaysia? For that, watch this space! And see you next Wednesday!
 
Earlier Installments:
 
Week in Review: Penang no longer just about MNCs
 
Week in Review: We’re all going to be watching Matt Chandran

Week in Review: Success begets success

Week in Review: Data centers, unsung heroes and digital economy drivers

Week in Review: Start-up and funding ecosystem questions

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