Mosti announces seven local startups as winners of MYHackathon 2024 Cohort 1 

• Programme received over 500 entries throughout Malaysia
• Winners will receive grants up to US$58,000 & 12 months of mentorship

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) and its agency, Cradle Fund Sdn. Bhd., have announced the seven winners of the MYHackathon 2024 Cohort 1 programme. The announcement was made during the closing ceremony held at the AICB Centre of Excellence in Kuala Lumpur.

The event was officiated by Chang Lih Kang, minister of science, technology, and innovation, who stated that the winners of Cohort 1 will receive conditional grants of up to US$58,000 (RM250,000) to develop their pilot projects, along with one-to-one project implementation mentorship for the next 12 months. All winners will also collaborate with respective problem statement owners to refine their solution implementation plans.

In his keynote address, Chang remarked, “MYHackathon is not just a platform to test capabilities, but also an arena to discover new talents and generate innovative solutions for challenges faced by the government and related agencies. I am impressed with the quality of the solutions presented by the participants. These ideas are not only practical but also innovative, aligning with Malaysia’s commitment to becoming a leading economy in Asia and the Madani economic vision.”

“This is in line with efforts to strengthen talent development and empower the science, technology, innovation, and economy ecosystem in the country,” he added.

“The MYHackathon 2024 programme directly supports the aspiration of Malaysia Madani, which emphasises values of renewal and innovation in achieving people-centred development. I believe some of these solutions have the potential to be commercialised and expanded on a larger scale in the future,” Chang said.

Launched on 23 September 2024, under the theme ‘Hackathon Nasional untuk Malaysia MADANI’, the MYHackathon 2024 Cohort 1 highlighted seven problem statements submitted by various ministries and government agencies. The programme attracted over 500 entries from registered groups and companies across Malaysia, including Sabah and Sarawak. All participants underwent a two-week boot camp and one-to-one mentoring sessions from mentors before 23 finalists were selected for the 'Final Demo' presentation session.

“The MYHackathon programme provides an opportunity for tech talents in Malaysia to seek solutions to various national challenges through creative and innovative approaches, aligning with the main goal of the programme to drive transformation and adapt digitisation in Government services in Malaysia,” said Norman Matthieu Vanhaecke (pic), group CEO of Cradle.

“As the implementing agency for the MYHackathon 2024 programme, Cradle believes that initiatives like this can elevate the national innovation development agenda by strengthening collaboration across ministries and related agencies within the country’s technology ecosystem, thus enhancing digital infrastructure and governance systems that prioritise the people,” he added.

According to Cradle, since its launch in 2020, the MYHackathon programme, held every two years, has nurtured new talents among Malaysians and has become a platform to foster cooperation, entrepreneurship, and critical thinking among participants.

Among the successful solutions developed under this programme are the Artemis Robot from A2Tech Sdn Bhd, which develops robotic technology products with artificial intelligence integration for early reconnaissance activities in search and rescue operations, and the Anti Drone Detection System from FlyBots Technology, which presents solutions to control drone intrusions intended for smuggling or unauthorised surveillance in areas with restricted access.