KUALA LUMPUR: Nine promising Malaysian tech startups had the opportunity to pitch their innovative ideas to more than 17 distinguished venture capitalists, renowned film producers, and angel investors in Washington D.C. and Silicon Valley.
Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corporation (SIDEC), in a statement today, said this is part of its third expedition to the United States, as the Malaysia Embassy in Washington D.C. played host to The Pitch Malaysia: USA Series pitching showcase and networking event.
“The Pitch Malaysia: USA Series also provided a prime opportunity for the participating Malaysian startups to showcase their innovative ideas and establish crucial connections with potential investors at the 2023 Select USA Investment Summit.
“Three out of nine Malaysian startups, which are among the 300 global participants have been selected to participate in the SelectUSA Tech Regional Pitching Session and an additional five startups exhibited in the SelectUSA Tech Pavilion,” it said.
According to the statement, the event featured pitches from the following Malaysian startups, namely Alps Global Holdings (Amanda Low), VirtualTech Frontier (Jason Low), Boxcube (Datuk Emil Rinaldi), iMotorbike (Gil Carmo), Entomal (Yanni Ching), Revenue Monster Group (Lim Kar Aik), Qmed Asia: Dr Kev Lim, Accendo Technologies (Sharma Lachu) and Pod (Nadia Ismadi).
With over 110 attendees, the event brought together a diverse audience, including startup founders from Singapore and Taiwan, the Malaysia Diaspora Community, and esteemed business and industrial leaders from the D.C. area.
A highlight of the event was the presence of special guest Diane Farrell, the Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade at the US Department of Commerce.
Selangor State Executive Councillor for Industry and Trade Datuk Teng Chang Khim, in his opening remarks at the event, extended heartfelt gratitude to the Malaysian ambassador to the United States, Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, the Malaysia Embassy staff, and the Malaysia Investment Development Authority (MIDA) office in D.C. for their support.
“It takes a village to raise a child. The tech ecosystem enabler of the federal and state governments, venture capitalists, and startups are all vital components of that village.
“By collaborating, sharing resources, building networks, nurturing talents, and incorporating new innovations such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, and the Metaverse into our daily lives, services, businesses, and industries, we can collectively contribute to the national goal of creating five unicorns by 2025,” he said.
The statement said during the three-day visits to San Francisco, the startups were honoured to engage with 17 Global Venture Capital and Angel investors, while two Malaysian startups, iMotorbike and VirtualTech Frontier, successfully secured funding from 500 Global.
“This achievement serves as a testament to the exceptional quality and potential of the startups within Malaysia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and highlights the remarkable progress being made by Malaysian entrepreneurs in the global startup scene,” it said.
SIDEC is the state government agency mandated to lead the digital transformation of Selangor as Asean’s digital hub by focusing on three key sectors of the digital economy, namely e-commerce, startups and SME digitalisation. – BERNAMA
