Gobi Partners and MDEC announce RM15 mil funding for SuperSeed II winners

KUALA LUMPUR : Pan-Asian venture capital firm Gobi partners and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (mdec) have announced funding of up to RM15 million to be made available to winning startups in the SuperSeed II Championship, a pitching competition.

SuperSeed II Championship is a pitching competition for Malaysian startups where the winning companies will get the opportunity to secure equity investment, as well as become a potential MDEC grant recipient.

In a joint statement, Gobi managing director for Malaysia Jamaludin Bujang said startups want to solve the country's problems in new and innovative ways, and this will be one way for them to realise their aspirations.

“We, as a venture capital firm, also believe that we need to keep investing as the world goes through these kinds of cycles. In order for the ecosystem to survive, the show must go on,” he said.

Meanwhile, MDEC chief executive officer Surina Shukri said the SuperSeed II Championship resonates with MDEC's #DIGITAL versus COVID movement, which aims to harness digital technologies to help people, entrepreneurs and businesses surmount economic challenges caused by the pandemic.

“We will passionately support the successful startups in this competition with their tech endeavours, giving them an edge as choice prospects of our MDEC grants if all requirements are met,” she said.

Aside from capital, the winners will also be automatically eligible to attend a suitable entrepreneurship program organised by the Alibaba Business School, while finalists will be placed in a priority channel to be selected for the programme.

The event will be held in Hangzhou in 2021 and provides startups with first-hand exposure to e-commerce and digital innovations, access to business leaders across Alibaba and China, as well as an opportunity to connect with like-minded, leading entrepreneurs in the region.

Sunway Group will be offering the top three finalists of the competition a wild card to enter their iLabs Accelerator programme, which is in collaboration with Gobi partners.

Evan Cheah, executive vice-president of President's Office, Sunway Group said this means startups will have a wide market as a potential test bed, access to Sunway University's labs, researchers and potential interns.

The startups, which will be considered for the competition, are from retail and enterprise, fintech, smart cities, circular economy, as well as Taqwatech.

Interested startups can visit https://www.gobi.vc/news/superseedii/ with the deadline for entries at 12am on June 16, 2020.