ScaleUp Malaysia unveils 20 growth-stage startups selected for cohort 3 

Growth-stage accelerator ScaleUp Malaysia, which is powered by Singapore’s Quest Ventures and Malaysia’s Indelible Ventures, has picked 20 companies for the third cohort. 

Each of the 20 firms will be on separate tracks and closely work with the VC firms. They will also receive group-based and 1-1 coaching sessions on elements such as building scalable products, financial modelling, crafting narratives, and go to market strategies.

At the end of the programme in January 2022, 10 companies will receive offers for investments of around US$60,000 (RM250,000) to continue their growth journey.

The selected companies hail from a diverse group of industries and verticals such as edutech, fintech, media, manufacturing, cyber security, foodtech and e-commerce, with average revenue of US$288,774 (RM1.2 million) in the last year.

Below are the details of the top 20 companies:

• SpareXHub provides an e-commerce marketplace for genuine auto spare parts.
• Biztech.Asia is a cross-media and marketing B2B platform that enables B2B marketing for clients via scheduled video and podcast content and networking and corporate gaming events.
• GuruInovatif is a platform that provides complete online resources for teachers’ professional development.
• Hav.Life is a platform that rewards steps to fitness.
• Howuku is an online platform that offers an all-in-one web optimisation and analytics solution to help companies visually understand their visitors and improve conversion rates.
• Aoikumo and KumoDent are SaaS providers for the beauty and medical aesthetics industry.
• Nanka produces plant-based meat from jackfruit, aiming to provide a better alternative to the highly processed fast food in the market.
• J8 Austism Athletics provides fitness services catered specifically to the neurodiverse community with the skill sets to socially assimilate, partake in family physical activities, and lead a healthier life.
• Jazro is a robotics education company that aims to develop digital talents in STEM education fields with specially curated content for students aged 5-17 years old.
• MADCash is a digital platform that tracks the impact of funding an interest-free microloan given to unbanked women micro-entrepreneurs.
• Midwest Composites serves as an engineered composites partner by designing and manufacturing advanced composites and biobased composites for customers that want to use futuristic materials in their products.
• Neptrix is a Saas provider for the manutech industry. It provides SMEs with ERP technology to convert them into smart factories that are more productive and cost-efficient.
• Open Academy is an education platform that provides real, non-theory based programmes, training, and content by industry practitioners.
• Pantang Plus is a web-based booking platform for traditional post-natal therapy. It serves pregnant mothers looking for therapists or confinement ladies. It considers itself the “Grab” for confinement services.
• Q3 Payment provides standardised connected payment solutions while working with preferred payment acquirers in the region for easy deployment and providing automated payment reconciliation reports and real-time visibility through their single pane of glass approach.
• Graze market aims to bridge the gap between food waste and hunger by ensuring imperfect fresh produce from farmers and distributors find a market at a discounted price to the public.
• Wego is the online marketplace for a broad range of services, including delivery and blue-collar services focusing on underserved towns in Malaysia.
• Traitily is a digital recruitment platform that leverages behavioural assessment for employers to filter a candidate’s fit to the job function.
• Vireserve is a managed service provider that focuses on cyber security and IT solutions. The platform can be used as a tool for freelancers and/or consultants to perform compliance consulting and act as lead generation to service providers.
• WA Sushi is an F&B e-commerce company building “quality food-made for delivery” focusing on quality Japanese cuisine.

Also read: Why Malaysia needs to be on the VC radar 

Launched in 2019, ScaleUp Malaysia has announced investments in 21 companies in the last 18 months, claiming to be one of the most active investors in the region.

According to a press release, the startups participating in ScaleUp Malaysia need to meet the requirement of a minimum previous 12-month revenue at US$72,400 (RM300,000).

The top 20 companies will undergo an intensive 4-month process to help identify and address gaps in their business models and strategies.

“We selected these companies based on their ability to develop solutions for the new normal and the founders’ capabilities to execute their business plans during the pandemic,” said Andre Sequerah, managing partner at ScaleUp Malaysia.

The programme claims its Cohort 3 attracted 200 applications not just from Malaysia but also from the US, Indonesia, Singapore, Japan and Egypt.

Besides the two VCs, ScaleUp Malaysia has also collaborated with the Malaysian Global Creativity and Innovation Centre (MaGIC) and Technology Park Malaysia to develop the nation’s startup ecosystem via a public-private partnership.

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Image Credit:  ScaleUp Malaysia

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