Sidec brings Top ECM awards back, adds Fashion Accelerator to the mix

  • Top ECM Awards back, alongside Selangor Fashion Accelerator
  • Matrade to provide export facilitation to the top five winners

Yong Kai Ping, CEO of Sidec (middle) and Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin (4th from left) together with strategic partners at Sidec’s Press ConferenceThe Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (Sidec) has announced its latest edition of Top ECM Awards 2022 with the support of Affin Bank Bhd as the main sponsor and SUBPLACE as the official e-commerce marketplace, alongside its first-ever Selangor Fashion Accelerator 2022.  
 
In a statement, Sidec said the Top ECM Awards seeks to reward the most successful, creative and innovative homegrown e-commerce merchants.

At the same time, merchants who take part can benefit from increased recognition and opportunities to further increase their brand’s presence among industry players, it said.
 
“When we first launched in 2016, only 60 e-commerce merchants participated while in 2021, the numbers increased to 181 merchants and generated US$10.7 million (RM47 million) in sales.

“The improvement shows that the e-commerce industry continues to grow, and Sidec is here to crown the best e-commerce merchants this year. After recording a total sales of US$27.9 million (RM123 million) over the past six years, we target to receive 250 submissions and hit a total sale of US$4.5 million (RM20 million),” said Yong Kai Ping, CEO of Sidec.

[US$1 = RM0.23]
 
Sidec said the three month competition offers US$13,600 (RM60,000) worth of cash prizes and other attractive prizes in-kind.

All the shortlisted merchants will be judged based on three criteria that have been set by the organiser, namely Online Sales Contest (50%), Livestream Contest (25%) and Business Potential (25%), it said.
 
This year, Top ECM Awards is also adding a new element of Livestream Festival in which participating merchants at the 7th Selangor Smart City and Digital Economy Convention (SDEC) will have a chance to promote their products or services in livestream studios within the exhibition area.

The livestream will be broadcasted through social media platforms throughout 6th until 9th October 2022 live from SDEC 2022 at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Sidec said.
 
Participants are required to have an e-commerce store operated before March 2022 and that sells products to end-users only (B2C), achieved at least minimum of US$5,700 (RM25,000) in sales or minimum of 100 orders in any single month between June 2021 to June 2022, supporting documents and is registered under Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM).

This year, the event features three categories of awards - Malaysia Top E-Commerce Merchant Awards; Selangor Onboarding Programme Awards; and AFFIN BANK Special Awards (Rising Star and AFFINGEM Women Trailblazer Awards).

The Rising Star Awards is a special award category where three winners are chosen based on the company's business potential, must be operating less than three years and must be shortlisted in the top 40 of the main category to be selected for this award.

The AFFINGEM Women Trailblazer Awards is a new subcategory introduced to support and foster female entrepreneurship, and recognise strong women entrepreneurs who have succeeded in the industry.
 
Sidec is pleased to receive support from Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) in which they will be providing additional export facilitation to the top five winners of the Top ECM Awards for their international market expansion.
 
Sidec said it is also stepping forward to help emerging fashion enterprises flourish in terms of sales and investment potential.

The two-month programme will take 16 fashion entrepreneurs to an investment and expansion-ready level by providing great coaching from experienced mentors and through comprehensive workshops, it said.
 
“Adapting to these changes, we have finalised the theme to be 'Modest Fashion,' which will focus on ready-to-wear (RTW) modest attire with a twist of modern and minimalistic elements. We’re here to provide exposure and recognise our local fashion entrepreneurs for their contribution and hard work throughout the years,” said Yong.  

Sidec gained major support from judges of different backgrounds and expertise and this includes Malaysian national music icon and businesswoman Siti Nurhaliza Tarudin.
 
Applicants must also be a Malaysian fashion startup or SME with a minimum sales turnover of US$23,000 (RM100,000) in 2020 or 2021, have been in business for less than five years, and produce ready-to-wear (RTW) products classified as modest fashion.

Furthermore, they benefit with no fee and no equity, an introduction to industry experts, brands, retailers, and manufacturers, business consulting and growth mentoring, plus access to Sidec's investor network and potential funding, Sidec said.
 
All 16 candidates will receive training from Aug 1 and Sept 23, and only six will be chosen to pitch to investors and industry partners on the Demo Day, which will take place on Oct 8 at Pitch at Selangor 6, in conjunction with the 7th Selangor Smart City and Digital Economy Convention (SDEC).

Best of all, victors will receive potential investment opportunities from The Hive Southeast Asia and Permodalan Negeri Selangor Berhad (PNSB).

For further information, please visit here.

 

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