MIRI: Aspiring social entrepreneurs, working professionals and students participated in a Techstars Startup Weekend Social Impact Miri (SWSIM) programme here from June 17-19.
Organised by Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Sarawak (TEGAS) and Curtin Univesity Malaysia, the programme is a part of the Sarawak Digital Month activities in conjunction with the International Digital Economy Conference Sarawak (IDECS) 2022.
Startup Weekend is an action-packed three-day programme where aspiring entrepreneurs get to experience the highs, lows, fun and pressure that make up life at a startup in just 54 hours.
It serves as a platform to connect with passionate people driven to build something new and make new friends, colleagues, mentors co-founders and investors.
TEGAS programmes and partnership executive cum SWSIM lead facilitator Hamzah Hamizan said the programme began with open mic pitches on Friday where participants bring their best ideas and inspire others to join their team.
“Over Saturday and Sunday, the teams focus on customer development, validating their ideas, practicing lean startup methodologies and building a minimal viable product.
“On Sunday evening, teams demonstrate their prototypes and receive valuable feedback from a panel of judges,” he said.
Among the speakers and mentors for SWSIM were associate professor from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UITM) Shah Alam Dr Soo Wincci, associate dean from Curtin University Malaysia, Tiong Ying Ying, board member from Avast Foundation Youth Leadership Board Kesevan Veloo and co-founder of All Abroad Young Leaders Centre Zairustina Putit.
Meanwhile, another co-founder of All Abroad Young Leaders Centre Haslina Malek explained that it is inspiring to see the potential of youth given the right platform and the opportunity to express themselves.
“Startup weekend social impact Miri is one such avenue and provides the learning opportunity to structure their ideas into an impact-focused business. We look forward to supporting more social entrepreneurship programmes run by TEGAS and Curtin in the future,” she said.
Eight impact-focused business ideas were pitched during the final day of SWSIM and participants received perks and benefits from MYStartup which include up to $150,000 USD of free Azure cloud for two years (starting at $1000 USD), plus one year subscription for Office 365 Business Apps, Power Automate, Dynamics 365 Customer Service Enterprise, Dynamics 365 Sales Enterprise, Dynamics 365 Team Member and Dynamics Professional Direct Support.
Apart from that, the participants went home with 30 per cent off on any web design services by Amhere and from global sponsors such as $300 in cloud platform credit (Google for Startups), one year free of Miro Team Plan and GoDaddy domains, voucher codes from The Brew Crew Sdn Bhd and 3-month access to TDIH in Kuching, Bintulu and Miri.
Funded by the Sarawak government, TEGAS Digital Village serves as a platform to support startup growth and facilitate technology transfer and commercialisation, in line with the Sarawak Digital Economy Strategy 2018-2022 and Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030.
