Week in Review: Cradle’s CGP sets yardstick for C-level intervention programmes

  • Partnership with Proficeo, programme architects, delivers strong results
  • Strong mentors, humble, hungry, entrepreneurs, govt support, a winning combination

I ATTENDED the graduation ceremony for Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd’s third Coach & Grow Programme (CGP) cohort this Wednesday. Designed and delivered by Proficeo Sdn Bhd, CGP, which started in 2011, brings together key players in the entrepreneurial ecosystem to provide entrepreneurs the support to scale their businesses.

Having followed the programme since the beginning and talking to the entrepreneurs who have gone through it, and have benefited, I feel that this is truly the outstanding C-level intervention programme for tech entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia (SEA). CGP doesn’t just help mainstream tech companies. Agritech, greentech and biotech entrepreneurs have been helped as well. And, even though Dr Sivapalan Vivekarajah has acted as a mentor for me in my entrepreneurial journey, that relationship has nothing to do with my high regard for the programme.

As the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Finance, Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah said, “Let the data speak for itself.” Irwan who officiated the event also announced continued government support to the tune of US$895,000 (RM4 million).

This is some of the data:

At the conclusion of the third season, CGP has helped a total of 366 companies and 1,235 entrepreneurs.

To date, CGP graduates have collectively generated US$285 million (RM1.27 billion) in revenue, with many doubling their growth during and post coaching. 

US$33.3 million (RM148.2 million) out of the total revenue has been export revenue.

CGP companies have penetrated 92 export markets since the programme’s inception.

The export revenue for CGP3 is 25% or US$ 10.9 million of the total revenue of US$44.4 million. A large jump from the first two years where export revenue was 12% of total revenue.

CGP companies have raised US$72.1 million over the three seasons – 25% by scaleups and 75% by startups.

The good news for entrepreneurs in Malaysia is that the success of CGP has now led Cradle to open up the programme to non-tech entrepreneurs as well. So hurry up and get yourself registered and hope you get picked for CGP Season 4.

To get a better sense of the CGP and what makes it special, I had invited Renuka Sena, Proficeo’s CEO and co-founder to DNA’s Tech Talk show on BFM, the leading radio station in Malaysia. You can have listen to the podcast here. Our conversation starts at the 25m35 sec mark.

I urge you to listen to the 12 min segment as you get to hear from Renuka about the programme, her thoughts on the commencement address delivered by Ganesh Kumar Bangah and about the role the mentors play. Speaking of mentors, look out for my article on Wong Siew Hai, who was picked by the CGP class as the best mentor. The former managing director for Intel Malaysia and later a vice-president for the company clearly brings a strong network and deep domain exposure to the table.

He gave an interesting answer when I questioned whether he could be an effective coach as he had never been an entrepreneur himself before. But you enjoy your weekend first and you can read that article on Monday as you start your week.

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