KUCHING: Timogah, a startup based in Sarawak, was among the top 100 startups chosen out of 160,000 from around the world that applied for Startup Istanbul 2019 with the opportunity to pitch in front of international angel investors, venture capitalists and various organisations at the annual event.
Timogah, founded by Heineken Laluan from Bau as its chief executive officer and his partner Elfy Hassan from Asajaya in Samarahan as its chief operating officer, aims to provide a tech-solution that will enable rural farmers to sell their produce directly to customers or retailers.
This removes the need for any middlemen and at the same time creates jobs for their delivery agents.
According to Heineken, the opportunity to attend the conference has enabled them to get a glimpse of how the global market works and what investors were looking for in a successful startup.
He said, “The conference connected us with potential investors from Saudi Arabia, Africa, Southern America and other countries. We also thank Sarawak state government through Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) which assisted us with the opportunity to attend this prestigious programme.”
Startup Istanbul is a leading startup event that gathers founders, investors and executives from around the world. This year’s event was held at Uniq Istanbul. The four-day conference from Oct 18 saw some 500 startups from 80 countries, 500 investors and an estimated 4,000 attendees in total.
Accompanying Timogah to the conference were officers from the SMA’s Digital Village Unit, Amirrul Rizwan Mohd Abd Hafiz and Khairool Adzelan Aman.
According to Khairool Adzelan, who led the Digital Village’s talent programmes, “SMA through the Digital Village Unit is committed to assist any Sarawak-based startups that have the capabilities and potential to grow and be really successful.
“Our aim is to ensure that our local startups are given the opportunity to meet with potential investors to quickly scale their businesses.”
