By Shafinaz Salim, Head of Technology Hub Development of Cyberview
Cyberview’s inaugural InnoEx event or Innovation Expo in September was a huge success, drawing about 7,000 people throughout four days as visitors viewed and sampled innovations from SMEs, start-ups and even students from Cyberjaya.
Sessions such as the Innovation Pitching Session entitled “Craziest of the Crazies” and the InnoExpo exhibition showcased what start-ups and our homegrown heroes have developed so far, with many are in alignment to our masterplan’s focus on three tech clusters – smart mobility, smart healthcare and digital creative.
The recent InnoEx is a testament to Cyberview’s drive to continuously enrich our collaborative ecosystem. As mentioned in the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s speech, a smart city plays a crucial role in further innovating Malaysia.
Part of our efforts in fostering innovation involves nurturing Malaysian start-ups and this is in alignment with the Malaysia MADANI framework which includes a specific pillar on innovation.
Locally developed, budding businesses that started purely from an idea, need support from a holistic tech ecosystem that encourages innovation to thrive. We understand that these businesses are key in expanding our digital economy further.
Accelerating growth of homegrown start-ups
Malaysia’s digital economy is one of the fastest growing sectors in Malaysia, contributing 22.6% to the country’s GDP and is expected to rise to 25.5 by 2025. Here at Cyberview, we echo the government’s plan of pushing the digital ecosystem further.
Cyberjaya, being the Global Tech Hub, is the preferred tech investment location for Malaysia. Recent partnerships with several key data centre players from the US and a Knowledge Manufacturing company from Japan, added to the city’s appeal as a sandbox for innovation.
In keeping firm to our strong commitment in providing an ecosystem enabling research, development, and commercialisation (R&D&C), specifically to strengthen and empower the start-up scene, Cyberview, through our Living Lab Accelerator programme (CLLA), has so far pumped more than RM6 million into start-ups ensuring viable solutions are adequately supported towards commercialisation. To date, 90 start-ups have been nurtured, of which 70% are still active and growing.
Through this intensive five-month programme, Cyberview provides a cohort of start-ups with a space at Colnnov8 – Cyberview’s collaborative smart city co-working space, resources, facilities, business advisory & mentorship, networking, and market access. Cumulatively, the suite of benefits offered through the programme is valued at more than RM100,000 allocated for each participating start-up.
Upon completion of the CLLA programme, the start-ups will also gain access to piloting opportunities, immediately execute go-to-market strategies, or begin sourcing for additional funding from local, regional, or global investors, facilitated further by Cyberview.
Since its inception in 2013, the CLLA programme has helped start-ups raise over RM252 million in total investments and more than RM775 million of cumulative revenue recorded. Significantly, these start-ups have collectively impacted the economy by creating more than 1,400 jobs. These companies have also become exemplary successes worthy of note to the incoming cohorts.
In the field of smart healthcare, we are excited to see the growth of Supagene, a CLLA alumni. Launched in 2019, this start-up has taken advantage of our ecosystem in its research, development and commercialisation efforts, offering a DNA perspective towards wellness, allowing better understanding of potential disease risk as well as fitness and dietary profiling. Supagene has partnered with local panel clinics to make its DNA test kits more accessible to the public. Furthermore, the company is setting sights on regional expansions to Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Another CLLA alumni working in the space of fintech is Billplz. As a payment platform, the startup is able to organise information, automate repetitive tasks and integrate locally and internationally, among multiple payment gateways. In 2015, Billplz managed to secure investments from 500 Startups and MAVCAP. In 2020, the company doubled its gross merchandise value year-on-year, registering RM3 billion in GMV.
The latest CLLA cohort
Currently, the CLLA is supporting eight startups from its 17th Cohort in their quest towards commercialisation. Among them are Beebag, a consumer engagement platform that collects and tracks insights while offering rewards with a sustainability twist. Pro-Sales is an end-to-end integrated proptech ecosystem solutions provider that looks at digitalising the entire property value chain, from construction to sales and after-sales service.
Under the smart healthcare pillar, the developers of Happy Preggie, a maternal health support system, connects expecting parents to a panel of specialists to address their queries and concerns while allowing bookings for physical and virtual consulting sessions.
Meanwhile, SmartOptz looks at the other end of the age spectrum. It provides customers with a one-stop telehealth gateway through Bluetooth health devices to connect to a nursing dashboard. It allows remote monitoring for those in hospice care or in need of constant health monitoring.
Lekir Technologies is an app and systems developer that offers software as a service, covering everything from ESG Score Rating Apps to even Security Stamps Ordering Platform. Simplifying the Internet of Things (IoT) journey is Favoriot, which targets local councils and city halls by integrating and collecting data across siloed platforms involved in running a city into a single, simple dashboard for ease of decision-making.
We have two innovative startups in the artificial intelligence (AI) space. Ever AI Technologies aims to reduce the barriers to AI adoption among businesses through customised AI apps. In contrast, Mesolitika developed Nous, a Bahasa Malaysia ChatGPT, to enable better-automated customer interaction options for businesses. They are currently the only Malaysian company listed under the NVIDIA AI Accelerated catalogue for language-specific AI apps.
Benefits of collaboration
Due to our location and network, Cyberview offers start-ups and SMEs access to investors, government agencies, corporations, and ecosystem partners for strategic partnerships.
Through the MYStartup initiative by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), we now partner with the venture capital agency and connect start-ups with angel investors from the Malaysian Business Angel Network (MBAN) for potential funding opportunities.
Meanwhile, our wholly-owned subsidiary, Futurise Sdn Bhd, leads the National Regulatory Sandbox (NRS). Established based on the “data-driven policy intervention”, the NRS lowers the barriers by creating a controlled regulatory testing environment. This sandbox also includes testing grounds, including the Drone NRS Labs, the Drone Testing Zone, Mobile Childcare Services, and the My Autonomous Vehicle (MyAV) routes in Cyberjaya.
Earlier this year, we partnered with Leave A Nest to bolster our ecosystem. The Japanese-based company focused on science established the Center of Garage Malaysia (COGMY) in Cyberjaya in October, which will benefit start-ups by providing resources, mentorship, funding and networking opportunities. This partnership will further reinforce the rich culture of innovation in Cyberjaya.
Cyberview also provides counsel and advice on establishing and growing businesses through the Cyberjaya Investment & Services Centre (CISC), located at RekaScape.
With these advantages in mind, Cyberview is poised to support start-ups to find their footing while continuing to develop the city’s ecosystem through new partnerships.
