1337 Ventures kicks off Alpha Startups Digital Accelerator programme

  • 99 teams to take part in five-week programme, culminating on public virtual demo day
  • Increased gender diversity, more participants from other Malaysian states

The ASDA 2021 Virtual Onboarding Party VENTURE fund player, 1337 Ventures, has kicked off their Alpha Startups Digital Accelerator (ASDA) 2021 programme.

Beginning April 13, 99 teams will be taking part in a five-week programme which will culminate on a public virtual demo day, in which the top two teams will be funded by 1337 Ventures and Amanz Media, 1337 Ventures said in a statement.

A total of 136 teams applied for the 2021 cohort of ASDA, which kicked off with a virtual onboarding party. The company had earlier expressed “cautious optimism” over the response of ASDA 2021, having noted that “Zoom-fatigue” has affected the enthusiasm of many but responses was better than anticipated.

1337 Ventures kicks off Alpha Startups Digital Accelerator programme 1337 Ventures also noted increased diversity in ASDA’s participants.

Kavidha Natarajan, head of Leet Academy, said the ASDA 2021 cohort has shown a rise in female founder participation, recording 27.9% female founders compared to 18% last year.

“While most of the startups are from the Klang Valley and greater Klang Valley, we’ve also seen an increase in out of state participants, particularly those from Sarawak, Negeri Sembilan and Johor,” she said.

“My goal is to make the knowledge of how to start a startup accessible to all Malaysians, so it's gratifying to see a diverse range of participants for the Alpha Startups Digital Accelerator 2021 cohort,” said Bikesh Lakhmichand , chief executive officer of 1337 Ventures.

Meeting goals 

According to 1337 Ventures, one of the programme's goals is to help create new Malaysian startups, which in line with the Malaysian government’s initiatives. Given that 75% of the teams that applied have yet to launch or go-to-market, 1337 Ventures believes it’s an achievable goal.

1337 Ventures kicks off Alpha Startups Digital Accelerator programme “I think one thing that’s definitely different this year is that we have more people who are committed to working on their ideas, as 42% are currently self-employed or freelancing. They’ve got skin in the game, and their enthusiasm shows,” Bikesh explained.

Some 26.5% of the participating startups are in the 'market research' phase, while 16.9% are in the 'breaking even' phase.

In terms of the type of service offering, 30.1% of the startups are classified as 'marketplace,' while 22.1% in the 'process/ service' space.

1337 Ventures kicks off Alpha Startups Digital Accelerator programme Alpha Startups Digital Accelerator is organised by 1337 Ventures and is powered by Leet Academy, its education arm. Sponsors include Amanz Media as a main partner, with iTrain Asia, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Airtable as supporting partners.

To register as an observer or investor for the Demo Day, set to happen on May 22 2021 from 2pm to 5pm, visit here.

 

Related Stories :

 
 
Keyword(s) :
 
Author Name :
 
Download Digerati50 2020-2021 PDF

Digerati50 2020-2021

Get and download a digital copy of Digerati50 2020-2021