MaGIC Accelerator Programme kicks off second batch

• Two parallel tracks, one on the Asean ecosystem the other on social enterprise
• ‘Who’s who’ mentors include MOL, KFit, iPay88 founding team members

 
THE Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) has launched the second intake of its MaGIC Accelerator Programme (MAP), which it described as the largest accelerator programme in South-East Asia.
 
MAP is a four-month long accelerator programme with two parallel tracks – the Asean Track and the Social Enterprise Track – aiming to connect regional entrepreneurs with global mentors, industry experts, investors, and like-minded peers.
 
“MAP was designed to build and grow an Asean-based community,” said newly-appointed MaGIC chief executive officer (CEO) Ashran Ghazi (pic above).
 
“It is to provide opportunity to foster relationships as well as achieve a regional outlook, access regional resources, and [engender] peer knowledge exchange within the Asean community,” he added.
 
Over 700 applications were received for the Asean Track, with only 50 making it through the final selection, MaGIC said in a statement. These were selected based on their readiness for early-stage regional deal flows and their potential to expand into Asean and global markets.
 
Thirty-one of the startups are Malaysian, while the rest hail from Australia, China, Denmark, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, and Vietnam, the agency said.
 
Mentors and instructors for this track include KFit cofounder Yeoh Chen Chow; MOL Global founder Ganesh Kumar Bangah; iPay88 executive director Lim Kok Hing; Maybank head of innovation Amran Hassan; Lazada Malaysia CEO Hans-Peter Ressel; and Gobi Partners investment director Victor Chua.
 
Asean Track participants each receive over US$380,000 worth of benefits from Microsoft BizSpark, Amazon Web Services, Piktochart, 123RF, StockUnlimited, Designs.net, Netizen, Exabytes, EasyParcel, IBM SoftLayer, Dynatrace, Applancer, Supahands, Saltycustoms, Shopify, Nimbus Cloud Services, Holistics and GHL.
 
Meanwhile, 397 applications were received for the Social Enterprise Track, which is reserved only for Malaysians, and focuses on ideas that will help address social or environmental issues, improve lives, and build a sustainable environment.
 
Social entrepreneurs in this track will each receive RM30,000 (about US$7,500 at current rates) to pilot their ideas at the end of the programme.
 
The mentors in this track include Endeavor Malaysia managing director Zaman Ahmad; Biji-Biji Initiative cofounder Rashvin Pal Singh; and EcoKnights founder Yasmin Rasyid.
 
Asean Track Cohort 2 will run from May 4 to Aug 14 out of the MaGIC Campus in Cyberjaya, while Social Enterprise Track Cohort 2 kicked off on April 25.
 
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Asean’s largest accelerator off to a great start
 
CEO Cheryl Yeoh lays out MaGIC’s ingredients
 
Malaysia unveils social enterprise blueprint
 
 
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