Cradle’s CGP gets a US$1.2mil boost for third series

  • Has received a total allocation of RM13mil (US$4mil) since inception
  • CGP3 hopes to attract more growth and global stage companies
Cradle’s CGP gets a US$1.2mil boost for third series

THE Coach and Grow Programme (CGP), a technopreneur training programme targeting pre-seed, growth stage and global companies, has received the go-ahead for its third instalment (CGP3).
 
The confirmation came after Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, chief secretary general at the Ministry of Finance, announced that CGP will be continued with a further RM4-million (US$1.2-million) allocation.

This brings the total allocation for the programme since its inception to RM13 million (US$3.9 million). It had received RM5 million when first launched in 2011, and another RM4 million when its second series (CGP2) kicked off in late 2012.
 
A total of 126 companies, of which two-thirds were from the growth and global stages, completed the CGP2 programme which ended two months ago.
 
These companies collectively achieved RM255.4 million (US$76.3 million) in sales and raised RM38.9 million (US$11.6 million) in capital from various parties throughout the 12 months of the programme.

The CGP is one of the key initiatives under Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd, an agency under Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance, while its programme manager is Proficeo Consultants Sdn Bhd.
 
“In the CGP, we set market-driven Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for all the companies, and these KPIs are customised depending on the stage of growth of the participants,” said Proficeo cofounder and chief evangelist Dr V. Sivapalan.
 
“The key objective of the CGP is to build scalable ventures at all stages of growth. The programme is structured to help companies move confidently from one stage of growth to the next in the venture cycle," he said.
 
Cradle’s CGP gets a US$1.2mil boost for third seriesAiming for more growth and global companies
 
Proficeo chief executive officer Renuka Sena (pic) said that she hopes the CGP will be able to see more companies in the growth and global stages joining the programme.
 
“We hope to have 80% of companies in CGP3 from the growth or global stages. It's a just a goal, as at the end of the day, companies qualify for the CGP based on [various] criteria,” she said at an awards ceremony held in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 27 to celebrate the CGP2 companies graduating from the programme.
 
But she stressed that while hoping for more growth and global stage companies, startups will not be neglected either.
 
“We need to see the bigger picture. There are so many programmes out there just for startups, why do we need to replicate them?
 
“We need the whole ecosystem to work together. Where do they go when they graduate [from a startup coaching programme]? We can take them after they graduate … then there would be a flow in the ecosystem,” Renuka said.
 
There were different KPIs set for companies in different stages under CGP2. For example, the main KPI for early stage companies was to complete their prototypes and obtain pilot customers to validate their business ideas.

“We are delighted to see that 49% of participants from this stage not only completed their prototypes, but are revenue-generating,” Sivapalan said.
 
The main KPI for growth and global stage companies was to achieve at least 20% growth in revenue.
 
“This KPI was achieved by 62% of the growth stage companies and 67% of the global stage companies,” he added.
 
According to Proficeo, the CGP has helped Malaysian companies penetrate global markets, with 67% of them entering at least one new market during the 12-month duration of the programme.
 
CGP’s role in the ecosystem
 
Cradle’s CGP gets a US$1.2mil boost for third seriesThe CGP has played an instrumental role in helping good technology companies become great performers, and regional and global players, Cradle claimed.
 
“Coaches in the CGP have done an incredible job of helping these companies find their niche and maximise their true potential,” Cradle chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan (pic) said in a statement.
 
“This is only possible because all the CGP coaches are entrepreneurs, investors or senior management from corporate Malaysia, who have experienced first-hand how to build companies from the ground up.

“It is this advice and guidance from coaches that is invaluable at accelerating the growth of Malaysian tech companies,” he added.
 
Room for improvement

Cradle’s CGP gets a US$1.2mil boost for third seriesProficeo’s Sivapalan, who expects CPG3 to be launched sometime in the first quarter of next year and the coaching to start by the end of the first half of the year,  sees room for improvement in the programme.

“There were improvements to CPG2 and we certainly hope to make further improvements in CPG3.
 
“For example, in terms of data collection, we did not have the data on the company’s employee size; so in CGP2, we included that in. For CGP3, we will probably track what kind of export sales they make,” he said.
 
Besides the improvement in data collection, Sivapalan also hopes that CGP3 can attract more foreign venture capitalists (VCs).
 
“In the last couple of years, there were more local VCs involved in the companies, funding them and coaching them. Next year, we are looking at bringing in foreign VCs as well,” he said, adding that “a lot of foreign VCs already know about CGP.”
 
Related Stories:
 
Cradle moves into the VC space
 
Malayia launches national angel network

 
Cradle’s CGP gets green light for second year

 
 
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