MDeC partners Founder Institute on the startup front
By Digital News Asia July 18, 2013
- To launch new startups with regional and global potential
- In line with Digital Malaysia objectives, says MDeC
MALAYSIA’S national ICT custodian the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) has announced a partnership with the Founder Institute in a bid to boost the startup ecosystem here.
The partnership involves a programme that would help launch new startups through market-driven solutions with regional and global potential, MDeC said in a statement.
The Founder Institute believes that many aspects of entrepreneurship can be taught. The programme with MDeC aims to democratise the access that up-and-coming entrepreneurs need, partly by opening up networks and opportunities to those on the outside of the tight-knit startup world, MDeC said.
“There is no better time to be a startup in Malaysia, but achieving the projected economic contribution will require a significant and persistent effort to encourage more Malaysians to create tech startups,” said MDeC chief executive officer Badlisham Ghazali.
“MDeC’s collaboration with the Founder Institute is in line with one of Digital Malaysia’s strategic thrusts, which aims to help Malaysians fully capitalise on opportunities by leveraging the Internet to become producer-consumers.
“Our long-term goal is to create opportunities in the local startup ecosystem for all players, including part-time and full-time startups, investors, venture capitalists (VCs) and talents, by working alongside regional and global accelerators such as the Founder Institute,” he said at a graduation ceremony held for the batch of entrepreneurs coming out of the Institute’s Malaysia chapter.
Digital Malaysia, overseen by MDeC, is the Government’s programme to transform the nation into a digital economy.
The Founder Institute is an early-stage startup accelerator and global launch network that says it helps entrepreneurs create meaningful and enduring technology companies.
Through a part-time four-month programme, existing and prospective founders can launch their company with expert training, feedback and support from experienced startup CEOs.
In just over three years of operation, the Founder Institute has helped launch over 800 companies across 40 cities and six continents – making it the world's largest startup accelerator, it claims.
Its goal is to ‘Globalise Silicon Valley’ by launching 1,000 meaningful and enduring technology companies per year in over 50 cities worldwide.
The Founder Institute Malaysia was launched in April, which saw the first batch of nine startups graduating on July 15.
The inaugural batch received software and development tools support from Microsoft Malaysia under the Microsoft BizSpark programme, while, MDeC played a supporting role as a community partner by providing incentives to founders by subsidising the cost of the mentorship programme.
“Our Malaysian launch rivaled many other large markets, in terms of demand and positive reception,” said The Founder Institute partner Jonathan Greechan.
“We are grateful for partners like MDeC and Microsoft Malaysia which share our passion to help early-stage entrepreneurs succeed,” he added.
Leveraging on the presence of global and regional mentors in Malaysia during the course of the accelerator programme, MDeC and the Founder Institute will be co-organising public events.
One example is the Founder Institute–MSC Malaysia Coffee Chats, a series of informal knowledge sharing session that connects the Institute’s global mentors to local startups, with the aim of inspiring the next generation of startups and digital entrepreneurs.
MDeC will also be collaborating with the Ministry of Finance (MoF) in the forthcoming Global Entrepreneurs Summit (GES) 2013, slated to be held in October, which aims to spur innovation and strengthen relationships among entrepreneurs in Muslim-majority countries globally.
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