KUCHING: Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Sarawak (Tegas) Digital Innovation Hub recently concluded its inaugural Tegas Youth Founder Mentoring Programme (YFMP) with a virtual demo.
The programme was organised in line with the Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy (2018-2022) to promote digital innovation and entrepreneurship in the state.
So far, the programme has witnessed 10 out of the 30 start-ups who participated since March earlier.
In the programme, the start-ups pitched their business ideas to a group of judges, potential early-stage investors, state and federal government and funding agencies, and Tegas ecosystem partners.
Among the top participating start-ups are WAT Academy, Achim Enterprise, Live Farm, AMHERE, The Goods, SenangStart, PharmaPlus, Sibu Mart, and Myracle Tech Solution.
WAT Academy won Best Pitch category and Achim Enterprise emerged as Most Innovative Idea’s winner whereas The Goods won Best Social Impact Idea category.
YFMP in partnership with FutureLab has also developed a six-month online mentoring programme tailored for young Sarawakian start up founders studying at institutions of higher learning as well as fresh graduates.
Chief executive officer and co-founder of FutureLab Brian Tan expressed his pride in his team’s role as part of the programme partner.
“We are proud to be a tech partner for this programme and we look forward to continuing our support to Tegas in their mission to empower local early-stage start-ups and social enterprises in Sarawak,” he said.
YFMP helps to connect these start-ups founders with experienced entrepreneur mentors from various countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore.
Through the FutureLab platform, they (start-up founders) are equipped with valuable knowledge and insights on entrepreneurship as well as provided real-time feedback on their business ideas and plans to build resilient entrepreneurs.
Most participants are students and alumni of Swinburne University Sarawak, Curtin University Malaysia, Centre of Technical Excellence (Centexs), Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), University Tunku Abdul Rahman (Utar), Universiti Malaya (UM), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), International Institute of Fashion Design (Indonesia) and Campbell University (USA).
Tegas chairman Datuk Len Talif Salleh congratulated the participants for completing the six-month programme which was held online via the FutureLab mentoring platform.
“This truly reflects the capability and potential of Sarawakian youth and shows that we are on the right track in our efforts to nurture talented youth entrepreneurs,” he said.
Len who is also Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment Assistant Minister also expressed his gratitude to the programme partners and sponsors for their continuous support during the programme.
Virtual Demo Day winners received packages which include company incorporation support worth RM4,000 from Tegas, six months post-programme mentorship support from FutureLab, three-month free co-working access to Tegas Digital Innovation Hub in Kuching, Bintulu and Miri, USD1,000 Amazon Web Service credits, access to Tegas ecosystem network and a green lane to participate in Tegas Startup Lab and Social Impact Accelerator.
