PIKOM partners with GreenPro and SEATech to search for potential unicorns
by AZALEA AZUAR
THE National Tech Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) will be working together with GreenPro Capital Group (GreenPro) and SEATech Ventures Corp (SEATech) to identify potential technology startups that would qualify for the ADAQ SEA Dragon program, where they would run its pitching sessions between March to July 2022.
Only 15 selected companies would be given the opportunity to participate at the World Congress on IT (WCIT) 2022 Malaysia which would be held from September 13 to 15 next year where they would be put through an intensive training program to equip them for the final pitch.
PIKOM hopes that they would be able to present their five to ten aspiring unicorns in the closing ceremony.
The ADAQ SEA Dragon program aims to connect tech and scale up companies with global venture capitalists, corporate investors and high net-worth individuals.
PIKOM chairman Dr Sean Seah said the companies that they identify will work on getting the much-needed funding to take them to the next level.
“We look forward to seeing these tech start-ups bloom to reach their full potential once they clinched the right investors,” he said during the launch yesterday.
The ADAQ Sea Dragon is supported by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), ATA Plus and SME Association of Malaysia and it is in line with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) call to produce five unicorns by 2025, including 5,000 companies.
“PIKOM has laid down a series of programs to identify and grow Malaysian tech companies and produce Malaysian unicorns.
“We already have the right ecosystem in place involving funding, training and mentoring mechanisms for the tech companies,” said Seah.
He also commented that the Southeast Asian region has a great potential of forming startups.
“If you look at Southeast Asia, it’s a 660 million population and this is a huge market, half of China. If we look the other way, it is double size America,” he said.
PIKOM is also set to launch the Space Tech Malaysia initiative next month as there is a huge potential in this area since the space technology market is expected to be worth USD 10 trillion in the next 10 years.
“This initiative will put the government companies together as members, and also the relevant interested parties.
“We want to improve the Malaysian companies, because we will start about 20 to 35 companies, which they have vowed to invest into this space, space tech industries,” he said.
Space technology company Angkasa-X Group CFO Dr William Lim explained that they have been building Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites in order to bring a wider Internet access for communities staying in remote areas.
“I think Malaysia is the only country in Southeast Asia that has a low orbit satellite company that does this,” said Seah.
He quoted that under the ASEAN declaration, 350 million in Asia are living in the islands and jungles where there is no access to terrestrial fibre as it would cost billions to install it.
“So these are the things that’s why we encourage our members to find out where their pain points are and come up with solutions to address the pain points,” Seah added.
Greenpro CEO Dr CK Lee said he is proud to partner with PIKOM and SEATech in realising the goal to produce five unicorns by 2025.
SeaTech CEO Chin Chee Seong said they are one of the companies that is undergoing the ADAQ “Asia NASDAQ” methodology and they are already beginning to see early results.
“By working with PIKOM and Greenpro, more startups and companies can accelerate their path towards listing in the world’s largest capital market,” he said.
Source from: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2021/11/30/pikom-partners-with-greenpro-and-seatech-to-search-for-potential-unicorns/