SalesCandy emerges as winner of inaugural HLB LauncHPad programme

• Three-month mentorship programme developed to nurture tech savvy startups
• SalesCandy’s system automatically updates lead status with the actions of salespeople

HONG Leong Bank Bhd (HLB) has announced SalesCandy, an action-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, as the winning team for its recently concluded inaugural HLB LaunchPad programme.

HLB LaunchPad is a three-month mentorship programme developed to nurture tech savvy start-ups in reinventing the financial services industry. It is Malaysia’s first public-private partnership between HLB, Cradle and Malaysian Business Angel Network (MBAN).

The programme specifically focuses on transforming the bank in three areas: Simplifying Banking Today, Digitising Customer Journeys & Experience; and Re-Imagining Banking for Tomorrow.

SalesCandy was among the five finalists at the finals, known as ‘Demo Day’, pitching a system that automatically updates lead status with actions taken by the salespeople.

“We are impressed by the fact that the top management of HLB was highly involved in our development. Our product was tested within HLB’s systems, which benefitted us tremendously in terms of validating our business model. It is truly a unique opportunity,” said SalesCandy chief executive officer Stanley Chee.

“The success of the programme is a testament to our belief that working with start-ups is the way forward.  They have taught us to be more agile, nimble and adaptive to the current market needs. We look forward to seeing a thriving community of start-ups working with us in the future,” said HLB group managing director and chief executive officer Domenic Fuda.

Overwhelming applications were received for the programme, and of the 18 shortlisted startups, only five made it to the finals – SalesCandy, Kakitangan.com, PropSocial, CapitalBay and Blinkware Technology.

A key proposition of the programme is the hands-on engagement and mentorship provided by HLB’s senior management.

This opportunity afforded the finalists first-hand exposure to the knowledge, experience, and expertise of key people driving product, business, and infrastructure development.

MBAN president Dr Sivapalan Vivekarajah also complimented HLB on its commitment in nurturing startups.

“Hong Leong Bank is one-of-a-kind in its sincere and ongoing commitment to engage and grow these startups to their full potential,” he said.

“HLB Launchpad continues to prove Hong Leong Bank’s commitment in creating a vibrant entrepreneurial community together with Cradle and MBAN. The programme illustrates the effectiveness of our collaboration in bringing value-add to start-up communities and also in helping them to grow to the next level,” said Cradle group chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan.

While the inaugural programme has successfully concluded for 2017, the startups’ journey has just started.

Selected startups have started discussions with HLB to implement their pilot projects, while some have initiated talks with Cradle for equity funding as well as funding from its CIP300 grant programme.