There’s a new accelerator program in town for entrepreneurs.
The Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) has recently launched their latest accelerator program called the Global Accelerator Program (GAP). This program was first announced by Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak during the inaugural Global Entrepreneurship Community (GECommunity) 2016.
Those who are familiar with MaGIC’s Accelerator Program (MAP) won’t find this one too different as it is mainly an evolution of the latter.
After seeing three successful cohorts with Malaysian and regional startups, GAP will be taking this program to a global stage to help grow the entrepreneur ecosystem more.
GAP’s first cohort will be the largest MaGIC has hosted yet with the previous three cohorts having an average of 75 startups per cohort. The program will also merge MAP’s two tracks, ASEAN and Social Enterprise into one to encourage participating startups to have a social mission and integrate social enterprise into their startup as they set out on their journey to build a sustainable business.
GAP is set to:
- Give selected local, regional and global entrepreneurs a head start
- Equip them with the necessary skills, knowledge, and network to break into Southeast Asia
- Further establish and strengthen Malaysia’s position as an ideal gateway to the region for entrepreneurs to expand their business and reach.
“This program could be a great springboard for global entrepreneurs looking to expand and grow in Southeast Asia as well as helping Malaysian entrepreneurs take their concepts out to the region, or even further afield. We hope our well-tested curriculum will help these entrepreneurs to fine-tune their ideas and bring their businesses to greater heights,” said Ashran Dato’ Ghazi, Chief Executive Officer of MaGIC in a press release.
GAP Cohort 1 will run from July 4 2017 to October 17 2017 and is run out of the MaGIC Campus in Cyberjaya, Malaysia.
Some of the exciting perks from this program will be benefits worth over USD400,000 from Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, 123 RF, PiktoChart, and many more; an opportunity to learn from world-class mentors and investors; direct access to leading route-to-market partners in Southeast Asia—such as Axiata, Digi, Maxis, Maybank, and Accenture; as well as visa, monthly stipend, return flights, accommodation, and co-working space.
Previous startups that have participated in MAP include:
- Grub Cycle, who raised a few rounds of grants and investment worth almost RM1 million and won two awards at the Alliance Bizsmart Challenge 2016.
- Katsana, who raised RM4 million for a solution which helps motor insurance companies analyse driver behaviour.
- Kakitangan.com, a free online HR software who raised over RM1 million in equity through crowdfunding in just 24 hours last year.
- RecomN, a platform that helps Malaysian and Indonesian users find service providers for projects, raised RM4.4 million in seed funding from Gobi Partners.
“After witnessing strong global interest in our ASEAN and Social Entrepreneurship accelerators last year, we decided to evolve the program and take it to the global stage. I hope the program will foster cross-border collaboration in entrepreneurship and innovation between global, regional and local entrepreneurs,” said Ashran.
How To Apply
The details are:
- Applications open on March 3 2017
- Cohort 1 will start from 4 July 2017
- A total of 80 entrepreneurs will be handpicked to participate in this four-month program
The three criteria that will determine whether participants get shortlisted are: their prospect to expand regionally and globally, potential of highly scalable products with large growth potential, and possibility of a market-ready product with some traction.
The ideal startups the program looks for would be less than three years old with diverse skill sets. Shortlisted participants will begin their four-month journey in July before presenting their refined ideas in October.
MaGIC will be holding a GAP Roadshow that will travel to the following Malaysian cities: Ipoh, Penang, Kuching, Cyberjaya and Kuala Lumpur before visiting Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, India, Sri Lanka, France, Germany and the United States.
The program is said to be built on an existing framework and curated content, with a strong Southeast Asian foundation and the entrepreneurs will have the chance to enhance their business ideas based on GAP’s nine industry verticals: biotech, education, social innovation, lifestyle, supply chain, creative, finance, healthcare, as well as smart cities.
For more information on GAP, applications and the roadshow, you can click here.
Feature Image Credit: MaGIC