Alpha Startups Digital Accelerator is back with Cohort 38

  • Window still open for entries till Fri the 17th
  • MDEC and Digital Penang co-organisers with 1337 Ventures

Group pix of the onboarding of ASDA's Cohort 37 earlier this year.

During this rough period of the pandemic where most businesses are bootstrapping, economies are slowly opening up and daily cases are stubbornly high in Malaysia, 1337 Ventures continues its single minded pursuit for early-stage startups with innovative ideas to help kick start their fledgling businesses and assist them in finding their Product-Market Fit.

1337 Ventures, as Malaysia’s first accelerator provider, has just launched its 3rd fully virtual, award-winning, Alpha Startups Digital Accelerator (ASDA) this Monday, 13 Sept. The good news for those who missed out or delayed too long in deciding to apply is that 1337 Ventures is willing to accept participants till Fri the 17 as they believe late entering startups can make up for the first week’s sessions

Alpha Startups Digital Accelerator is back with Cohort 381337 Ventures is not flying solo this time but has reunited with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to co-organise the program. Those with elephant memories will recall that the very first Alpha Startups programme was launched together with MDEC back in 2014 as a means to make entrepreneurship accessible. “And now, 38 batches later, we’re able to co-organise Malaysia’s first Online Accelerator programme with MDEC once again, to help Malaysians navigate themselves during these troubled times,” says Bikesh Lakhmichand (pic), CEO of 1337 Ventures.

The growing stature of ASDA has also attracted another partner in the shape of Digital Penang. Special perks from Digital Penang include office space entitlements for startups who want to expand/relocate to Penang. Unofficial perks include insider tips to the best street food hawkers in Asia.

“Alpha Startups will take you through ideation, validation, marketing, and prototyping; leaving you with a working prototype, pitch deck ready for fundraising, and more than US$4,800 (RM20,000) worth of digital credits from AWS, Airtable and more. The top two teams will also be funded up to US$12,000 (RM50,000) each, together with a 6-month mentorship, go-to-market partners, and further funding to help them grow,” says Bikesh.

The oldest accelerator in Malaysia Alpha Startups™ aims to help Malaysian early-stage startups with growth potential and the right team to leverage mentor, corporate and digital access alongside with support partners to achieve growth. Yielding more than 800+ successful alumni, 1337 Ventures have diversified by wearing many hats being investor, accelerator, venture builder, democratising funding via ECF platform to continue supporting local startups.

ASDA participants will devote 2 days per week in the online program for up to 5-weeks with selected mentors, culminating in a public virtual demo day on Oct 15.

While early stages of startups and entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply, 1337 Ventures also welcomes teams who have an idea and want to build a minimal viable product (MVP) to participate. The following criteria must be met:

(i) An idea / startups must have at least one Malaysian co-founder/teammate ; OR

(ii) be based and registered in Malaysia; OR

(ii) serve the Malaysian market and economy.

(iv) Individuals must be 18 and above.

(v) While startups and ideas across all verticals are welcomed, preference will be given to Fintech/Insurtech startups/ideas.

Alpha Startups have mentored and helped alumni such as EatCakeToday, Hometaste, BlueDuck, SparkFit, Arus Oil, Homegrown Farms & more.

 
 
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