MMU brings the Alpha Startups pre-accelerator to campus

By Digital News Asia April 15, 2016

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MMU brings the Alpha Startups pre-accelerator to campus

SOUTH-East Asian accelerator and early-stage investor 1337 Ventures has partnered Multimedia University (MMU) to bring its Alpha Startups pre-accelerator programme to the latter’s campus.

The inaugural batch has already started with students enrolled for the ‘BEN2010 Introduction to Cyberpreneurship’ course, 1337 Ventures said in a statement.

Alpha Startups is an idea validation bootcamp with the mission of nurturing startups with viable business models, with an emphasis on turning ideas into prototypes as quickly as possible.

According to 1337 Ventures, the programme has already welcomed over 200 startups from previous camps held in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines – of which more than 30 have received funding from angel investors, accelerators, venture capital firms and government funds.

The campus version of this programme will have students attend weekly lessons with 1337 Ventures that take them on a hands-on approach. At the end of the programme, the students will get to pitch and showcase their idea in a ‘demo day.’

The top three teams will receive a micro-investment from the university, which has put together the MMU Start-Up Scheme to invest in current students as well as alumni.

“This has been something we’ve been working on launching for the past year,” said 1337 Ventures chief executive officer Bikesh Lakhmichand.

“We have Alpha Startups already positioned for corporates and working adults, and the Leet Academy is a spin-off of Alpha Startups for recent graduates.

“This would be our final piece in going further back and ensuring students are instilled with entrepreneurial skills before they graduate,” he added.

Bikesh said the company is also looking to launch similar initiatives with more universities in Malaysia this year, along with pilots in Indonesia and Vietnam.

1337 Ventures and MMU are also working together to build the next level of content for growth-stage companies, with a joint programme called Beta Business.

Universities interested in becoming part of Alpha Startups campus programme or early-stage investors interested to attend the students’ demo day can find out more here.