MaGIC Accelerator Programme kicks off

• Aims to grow a community of Asean-focused startups
• Also aims to build a community of social enterprises

THE Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC) has kicked off its MaGIC Accelerator Programme (MAP) at its ‘campus’ in Cyberjaya.
 
A total of 77 startups – 52 startups focused on the Asean (Association of South-East Asian Nations) market and 25 Malaysian social enterprises – comprising 166 entrepreneurs will be participating in the programme over the next four months, MaGIC said in a statement.
 
Over 1,000 applications were submitted for MAP, the agency said.
 
Participants under the Asean track hail from Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the United States, Uruguay and Vietnam.
 
“In 2014, we focused on building the local startup community and ecosystem by investing in educating entrepreneurs on essential startup skills and exposing them to other markets and ecosystems in the region,” said MaGIC chief executive officer Cheryl Yeoh (pic above).
 
“This year, we expanded our programmes to cover Asean to grow more regionally-focused startups.
 
“MAP is designed to build and grow an Asean community of startups that have the opportunity to foster relationships and achieve a regional outlook, access regional resources and exchange knowledge with peers.
 
“The success of the programme will be evident when these entrepreneurs are able to grow their startup or social enterprise, and raise funding from private investors or sustain their businesses after demo day,” she added.
 
The Social Enterprise track aims to accelerate and develop new ideas that will help address social or environmental issues, improve lives, and build a sustainable environment.
 
This track focuses on developing a community of social entrepreneurs who will be the catalyst to lead the growth of the social entrepreneurship movement in the country and beyond, MaGIC said.
 
The first intake or Cohort 1 will run from July 27 to Nov 28. The programme is fully funded by the Malaysian Government and operates out of the MaGIC Campus in Cyberjaya.
 
Effective from 2016, there will be two intakes per year and the next round of applications is expected to open in December 2015.
 
MaGIC said it will take no equity in selected startups, and has also negotiated for perks worth over US$400,000 per startup from Google Developers Launchpad, Microsoft, Microsoft BizSpark, Evernote, Elance oDesk, Amazon Web Services, Piktochart, 123RF, Stock Unlimited, Billplz, Netizen Testing, Exabytes, Easyparcel, and SoftLayer for MAP participants.
 
The Asean Track also has a strong line of route-to-market partners such as Axiata, Tune Talk, Digi, Macrokiosk, Accenture, Maybank, Netccentric, Appota, Smart DevNet, Bcard, Cyberview, AIS Startup and YES (YTL’s 4G business) for startups with a strategic fit, MaGIC said.
 
The Asean track centres on building a critical mass of regionally-focused startups, to accelerate them to be investment-ready in four months.
 
The curriculum outlined in this track include various thematic and guided discussions, brainstorming and knowledge- and experience-sharing sessions that will culminate with a Demo Day to potentially 500 local, regional and global investors in the final month, it claimed.
 
While working on developing their businesses, the startups will have access to mentors, instructors and the opportunity to establish route-to-market partners, MaGIC said.
 
Over 70 exceptional mentors have committed their time to the programme including Jamaludin Bujang, chief executive officer (CEO) of Mavcap; Joel Neoh, founder of KFit; Azrul Rahim, lead developer of JomSocial; Vishen Lakhiani, founder and CEO of Mindvalley; Giulio Xiloyannis, managing director of Zalora; and Jeffrey Paine, founding partner of Golden Gate Ventures.
 
Entrepreneurs in the Social Enterprise track will have the opportunity to develop key skills to build a sustainable business model while learning how to measure the impact created, MaGIC said.
 
Each social enterprise will receive seed funding of RM30,000 (US$7,860) to pilot their ideas. At the end of the four-month programme.
 
Mentors for this track include Mark Gilmour, head of Global Brand Development, Virgin Group; Yap Mun Ching, executive director, Air Asia Foundation; Rahayu Ramli, education manager, Google; Grace Sai, cofounder and CEO, Impact Hub Singapore; and Julia Chong, CEO of the Truly Loving Company.
 
For more information on MAP, mentors and partners, go to http://accelerator.mymagic.my/en/. To download a factsheet, click here.
 
Related Stories:
 
MaGIC hits Year One with CEO Yeoh hitting her stride
 
MaGIC launches its Asean accelerator programme
 
Malaysia unveils social enterprise blueprint
 
CEO Cheryl Yeoh lays out MaGIC’s ingredients
 
 
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