Hong Leong Islamic Bank supports 5 startups in a nation-formation effort

• JumpStart will nurture and spur the innovative capacity of young entrepreneurs in Asean
• All five startups went through five weeks of workshops that were held on a one-to-one basis

AS PART of its Corporate Social Responsibility Programme, Hong Leong Islamic Bank recently partnered with the WIEF Young Leaders Network, (an initiative of the World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) Foundation) to fund a training programme for five promising entrepreneurs in Malaysia.

This mentorship programme, entitled JumpStart, is aimed at nurturing and spurring the innovative capacity of young entrepreneurs in the Asean region by helping them penetrate markets, gain market validation and branding association with Hong Leong Islamic Bank and its digital capabilities.

“We recognise that supporting entrepreneurs is key to nation building. Through the JumpStart programme, we hope to lend a hand to budding entrepreneurs to realise their dreams. We are happy to help prepare these startups on their journey to the market by providing them with access to payment solutions,” said Hong Leong Islamic Bank MD and CEO Raja Teh Maimunah Raja Abdul.

“The JumpStart mentorship programme is carefully designed to accelerate the journey of start-ups right through commercialisation. It is unlike the normal training programmes where the focus is on business theories and business modelling. What is unique is that we take the start-ups out of the classroom for a good part of the programme by engaging them directly with their target markets in our signature

“Coffee Dates”. This is where startups get to meet prospective clients and understand their target markets better,” explained WYN, WIEF Foundation executive director and head Fazil Som.

Over a three-month period, the participants of JumpStart got to learn about value proposition, minimum viable product, customer identification and segmentation, market penetration, market validation, building a customer base and how to perfect their pitch.

Fazil further explained that “the participants will have the opportunity to pitch to potential investors at our annual IdeaLab and IdeaPad, the pitching stage for startups at our annual Forum.”

“For the inaugural JumpStart programme, Hong Leong Islamic Bank and WIEF. carefully selected five start-ups with the most interesting offering that would excite the market as well as those who harboured enough passion to succeed. “

The five chosen start-ups are:

1. Appsaya: A holistic appointment booking application meant for service-based organisations such as banks, embassies, clinics, etc
2. Foodabox: A start-up producing eco-friendly food packages as an alternative to harmful styrofoam packages
3. Ombre: A free, algorithmic and personal fashion stylist in your pocket which helps determine the outfit suitable for users based on their physical traits
4. Petsodia: An application platform to link up pet owners, pet service providers and pet centres
5. TaniMac: A start-up that is developing agricultural technology to assist small- and mediumsized farmers

All five startups went through five weeks of workshops that were held every Saturday on a one-to-one basis. They each have had Coffee Dates where they met with market players as well as Hong Leong Islamic Bank’s personnel, gathered market intelligence, learnt about trends and challenges, and the pitfalls and prospects of commercialisation.
 
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