Startup Genome, MDEC Partner To Boost Malaysia’s Startup Ecosystem In 2020 And Beyond
By Digital News Asia January 28, 2020
- Startup Genome will perform ecosystem assessment to identify policies, initiatives
- Collaboration part of MDEC drive to establish Malaysia as Heart of Digital ASEAN
Startup Genome and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) announced a partnership, yesterday, to supercharge the growth of Malaysia’s startup ecosystem, starting with Greater Kuala Lumpur. As part of this partnership, Startup Genome will perform its startup ecosystem assessment to identify policies and initiatives that will help achieve the potential of Malaysia’s vibrant startups and the wider innovation ecosystem. The research and advisory firm will be engaging the country’s startup founders along with investors, policy leaders, and other key stakeholders for input.
“We are excited to embark on this journey with MDEC, which is focused on assisting founders to succeed,” said JF Gauthier (pic, below), founder and CEO of Startup Genome. “We look forward to working closely with the startup community to bring the benefits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to the Malaysian startup economy. Malaysia certainly has the potential to be a regional and world leader in multiple startup sub-sectors.”
With more than 100 clients across five continents in 38 countries, Startup Genome is a leading research and policy advisory organization for governments committed to accelerating their startup ecosystems.
Malaysia’s ecosystem has seen explosive growth over the past few years. In 2018, Malaysia’s digital economy contributed to 18.5% of GDP while its internet economy was valued at US$8 billion (RM32.5 billion), growing at an average of 19% between 2015 to 2018. This is in the context of ASEAN’s internet economy hitting US$100 billion in 2019 and expected to grow to US$300 billion by 2025. ASEAN is also fertile ground to grow a startup as it has seen the emergence of five unicorns in a span of just over five years.
[RM1 = US$0.245]
“Malaysia is an ideal place to testbed and launch tech startups due to its cultural and demographic diversity as well as its business-friendly environment. The government also continues to play an active role in supporting startups and entrepreneurs. This partnership between our two organizations will build on the momentum established by MDEC. We are confident that Startup Genome’s insights and track record in the space will help us to realize our startups’ potential and firmly establish Malaysia as the Heart of Digital ASEAN,” said Surina Shukri, CEO of MDEC.
Malaysian based startup founders can support this initiative by taking a 15-minute survey.