SIMANGGANG: Koperasi Opah Sri Aman Berhad emerged among the top five winners at the Shell LiveWIRE Pre-Accelerator Bootcamp Sarawak 2024.
Nur Izzati Zalaluddin and her partner Muhammad Farid Anuar were delighted that their Polydactylus ‘Lupar’ensis fish project brought them success.
The other winners were Toclan Agrotech Company, Zinsolar Engineering Sdn. Bhd., Benang Studio and 4X4 Quest Sdn. Bhd.
They were selected from ten startups participating in the demo day session.
Since 2017, Shell LiveWIRE, in collaboration with Tegas, has been Shell’s premier enterprise development programme dedicated to empowering local entrepreneurs in Sarawak.
According to Izzati, Shell LiveWIRE is about continuous idea support.
“This means they support from the early stages of the business to the international level.
“Therefore, for anyone who participates, their business must have beneficiaries… for example, the fish project we highlight, the beneficiaries are the fishermen.
“Through the fish project, the fishermen’s income increases. This means the impact of our project is socially beneficial to the fishermen as well as the tourism and economic sectors of the Sri Aman community,” she said yesterday.
She explained that this competition is for new ideas and innovations, especially from those who are just starting a business.
“When a business is new, it must have impacts such as social, environmental, and others, aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) initiative,” she said.
Izzati said from about 100 entries 30 best groups were selected to attend the six-day demo day.
“We learned to refine ideas, present, and show the judges the impact of the projects.
From the 30, the top 10 were selected, and the top five winners received RM15,000 each to start or expand their businesses.
“For me, the prize will be used to expand the business, specifically the fish project, with the hope that the fish will become known worldwide, thereby elevating the name of Sri Aman,” she added.
Next, the top five groups will represent Sarawak to compete with five each from Sabah and Peninsular Malaysia, forming the top 15 at the national level.
“The top five at the national level will bring home a prize of RM50,000.
“This means the organizers want to see how each entrepreneur expands their business.
“Finally, there will be the selection of the Top 10 Innovator Programme – an international level competition offering more lucrative prizes,” she said.
The awards ceremony, held at the Tegas Digital Innovation Hub in Miri, was officiated by Datuk Dennis Ngau.
Tegas CEO Udin Bujang and Shell Malaysia Gas General Manager Choong Yen Li presented prizes to the winners.
