Cradle TV launches, aiming to be media hub for entrepreneurs

By Lum Ka Kay May 25, 2016

To bridge the gap between startups and investors
Aims to reach 100,000 views by end-2016

Cradle TV launches, aiming to be media hub for entrepreneurs

EARLY stage grant provider Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd, an agency under Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance, has officially launched its own startup-focused online channel, Cradle TV.

Cradle TV was established to help bridge the gap between startups and investors, as well as to educate startups on the ecosystem, according to Cradle Fund chief financial officer Kamal Zainul.

“We are aiming to be the media hub for the latest entrepreneurial happenings in the region,” he told Digital News Asia (DNA) after the launch, which was held in conjunction with Cradle’s Open Day in Cyberjaya on May 24.

Kamal said the idea of Cradle TV came from his chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan, who when he visited Canada, noticed government grants and assistance for startups were publicised through television.

“So we want to bring the same concept to Malaysia by pulling resources from the ecosystem,” said Kamal.

“Members of the public are not aware of what is going within the ecosystem, especially in terms of funding,” he added.

Cradle TV brand head Shamsul Nashriq said Cradle hopes to educate the public on startup jargon and funding resources.

“Before this, Cradle [did not] have a resource centre for entrepreneurs to go to,” he said.

“There are many workshops and events targeted at up-and-coming entrepreneurs, but there wasn’t a platform that consolidated all the content and distributed it to entrepreneurs.

“So through Cradle TV, we want to produce content that can be engaging and informative, educational as well as inspiring to entrepreneurs,” added Shamsul, who is also the managing director of Motiofixo Sdn Bhd, a Malaysian creative agency.

Among others, Cradle TV will broadcast what he described as a “fun and wacky” business-related talk show titled Start It Up, hosted by Razif Hashim.

There are 13 episodes of the first season, and each 30-min episode will be released on a weekly basis via Cradle TV.

Each episode is divided into three segments: The show will begin with a sketch to educate audience about startup jargon, followed by interviews with two entrepreneurs, and then end with a gameshow.

When asked if Cradle TV would tie up with mainstream broadcasters to air the show on television, Kamal said Cradle is in talks with video-on-demand startup iflix, Telekom Malaysia’s HyppTV, and Media Prima Group’s Media Prime Labs (MPLabs).

“We are in talks with them to explore the possibility to have Cradle TV’s IP (intellectual property) on their belt.

“That would be our start – to have a segment on their belt and as we generate more content, we may have our own full-fledged TV channel,” he said, adding that Cradle TV will come up with more shows and content in the near future.

Gaining traction already

Meanwhile, Shamsul said Cradle TV managed to attract 35,000 eyeballs when it covered the launch of Bahtera: Bumipreneurs of Tomorrow, a bumiputera-focused initiative under the Ministry of Finance.

“Based on this number, we see that there is a huge demand for a channel like Cradle TV,” he declared.

Shamsul said that he hopes Cradle TV would hit at least 100,000 eyeballs in 2016.

“In terms of quality, we want to be positioned as the media hub for entrepreneurs in the region when it comes to delivering edutainment info to our audience,” he added.

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