Digital News Asia
Leading accelerator, ScaleUp Malaysia, today announced that it has entered into an exclusive partnership with Quest Ventures, a Singapore-based regional venture capital firm that has committed to invest US$1 million (RM4,150,000) into scaling the regional growth of up to 12 Malaysian startups.
To qualify for the programme, scaleups must be operating on business models that have the propensity to disrupt existing markets or have solutions that are able to navigate future challenges and take advantage of opportunities brought about by the current economic climate.
24 companies that have been shortlisted from the Cohort 2 applications will begin their accelerator journey in October before presenting their solutions in front of the Investment Committee at the end of the programme. As part of the partnership, ScaleUp Malaysia Cohort 2 powered by Quest Ventures will invest at least USD$60,250 (RM250,000) in up to 12 of these companies, an increase from Cohort 1 where 10 companies received an investment of US$48,000 (RM200,000) each.
According to James Tan, Managing Partner of Quest Ventures, “Beyond the traditional investment role of VCs, we see it as our tech ecosystem duty to drive a speedier adoption of the Digital Economy. Our partnership with ScaleUp Malaysia will enable us to support the top tech talent teeming in Malaysia and provide necessary and timely support to power their disruptive businesses to break into the post-pandemic emerging Asia markets.”
“In this second cohort, we want to empower solutions that tap into the buy-in of the digital economy and prime them through our rigorous syllabus designed to take companies to the global stage. Our partnership with Quest Ventures will enable our scaleups to accelerate their growth, access adjacent markets and unlock a wealth of economic possibilities through value creation, needed now more than ever with our slowing global economy brought about by Covid-19,” said Dr V. Sivapalan, senior partner of ScaleUp Malaysia.
