If you haven’t heard yet, Nextupasia, the largest Malaysian entrepreneurship group on Facebook with over 138k members, is hosting its inaugural event called Startup Week Malaysia.
Happening from December 1 to December 9, 2023, there will be a lineup of exciting events for entrepreneurs. All with the shared goal of educating, inspiring, and connecting entrepreneurs across the nation.
That’s right, it won’t only be set in the Klang Valley. There will also be programmes hosted in other states, including Penang, Johor, Melaka, Sabah, and Sarawak.
Startup Week Malaysia is organised in collaboration with other active industry players, namely:
- Cradle Fund, Malaysia’s early-stage startup influencer with a focus on tech startups, incorporated under the Ministry of Finance (MOF) in 2003
- Asia School of Business, one of the most prestigious and selective business schools in Malaysia
- Female Founders in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, a Facebook group that’s for the empowerment of female entrepreneurs
With such a partnership, you can expect to be a part of multiple engaging and educational programmes. There will be 30+ events to choose from, but here’s a peek into 10 events that we think you’ll enjoy:
1. Lorong Belakang Bukit Bintang
First located at Shaftsbury Square, Cyberjaya, Lorong Belakang is a community street market managed by Youth Ventures. Unlike your usual pasar malam, the majority of the vendors are youngsters and it’s fully run by youth volunteers. Most of them are university students around the area, including MMU, Cyberjaya University, and Universiti Koperasi Polis.
With the support of Think City and GMBB, the brand is expanding and launching its second outlet in Bukit Bintang. There, visitors can expect to find over 50 vendors ranging from F&B, arts, and thrifts.
This will be happening on December 2, 2023 at Lorong Belakang, GMBB Mall, Kuala Lumpur from 11AM to 10PM.
2. Startup School Malaysia
As the name suggests, Startup School Malaysia is a programme for founders to build up their skills and knowledge. As a full-day event happening on December 4, 2023, there will be two sessions—Founder Focus in the morning and Social Enterprise Focus in the afternoon.
Both of them will feature talks by experts in their respective industries and successful entrepreneurs. Topics that will be covered include product development, fundraising, and building impactful and sustainable impact driven businesses.
The speaker lineup consists of notable names like:
- Richard Ker, founder of RK Digital (a creative marketing agency)
- Mike Smith, Managing Partner at 1337 Ventures (a venture capital firm that invests in early-stage Malaysian startups)
- Tunku Omar Asraf, Principal at Artem Ventures (a venture capital firm based in Malaysia)
- Nuraizah Shamsul Baharin, co-founder of MADCash (a fintech ecosystem builder that funds micro women entrepreneurs)
- Wan Dazriq, founder of PurpoSE Malaysia (a venture building firm focusing on social entrepreneurship development)
You can choose to join one session for RM80 or both sessions for RM120. Startup School Malaysia will be held at Asia School of Business.
3. Social Enterprise in Spotlight: Impact Driven Startups & Ventures
Ever wondered what being a social enterprise actually entails? At Social Enterprise in Spotlight: Impact Driven Startups & Ventures, you’ll get to meet up-and-coming organisations in the scene.
Co-hosted by PurpoSE Malaysia and SEEd.Lab, this event will namely be highlighting social enterprises like:
- Accelerate Global, an enterprise tackling youth unemployment issues worldwide
- Rootin, a digital platform providing support to autistic children and their caretakers
- Semart, an organisation providing street vendors with business insights to improve operations
Through this, you’ll be able to learn more about their business, motivations, and the positive social impact of their work. At the same time, you can explore ways to support their efforts and make a positive change.
This free event is happening on December 4, 2023 from 5PM to 7PM at Asia School of Business.
4. Pitch@ASB
Organised by ASB, Pitch@ASB is a monthly pitching clinic to empower startups by honing their pitching skills. Through this programme, entrepreneurs would be equipped with the necessary skills for fundraising endeavours.
Before stepping into an actual high-stage pitching session, startups can use this as a training ground to later pitch their ideas to grant givers and/or investors.
How it works is startups are given five minutes to pitch their ideas, then have a 20-minute Q&A and feedback sessions with panellists. You will be judged based on the quality of the pitch and business potential by a panel of investors:
- Bikesh Lakhmichand, CEO at 1337 Ventures
- Jake Thui, Vice President of Investment at Ignite Asia
- Fuad Omran, Associate at Ikhlas Capital
- Shibu Vadaketh, Technology Fellow for Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center at ASB
Pitch@ASB is still looking for startups to try their hand at impressing the judges, so if you’re keen to join, you can sign up here, no presentation slides needed!
Happening on December 5, 2023 from 2PM to 5PM at Asia School of Business, this free pitching clinic would be a useful platform to brush up your skills.
5. Dining with CEO: ZUS Coffee
Probably best known for their Spanish Latte, ZUS Coffee is a local chain that started in 2019. Since then, they’ve grown to become one of the nation’s largest coffee chains.
One reason for that is their integration of technology and coffee with the ZUS app. Currently, the coffee brand has 320 outlets nationwide, with talks of expanding to Manila, Philippines soon.
To gather the strategies, tactics, and insights that led to the brand’s rather meteoric rise, you’re invited to dine with its COO, Venon Tian, as part of Dining with CEO: ZUS Coffee.
Happening on December 5, 2023 from 3PM to 5PM, the event will be held at Tropicana Gardens Mall outlet. For Kachi’s Dining with CEO members, tickets are priced at RM50, whereas non-members can book a seat for RM150.
6. Startup Week Malaysia Marketplace
If you’re looking for a place to showcase your innovations, creations, or to just connect, then Startup Week Malaysia Marketplace might be a good place for you.
There, you can present your innovative solutions to potential investors and gain brand visibility. At the same time, there will also be a job fair where corporate professionals and students can network.
Since it’s a free public event, attendees could also bring along others who want to browse the crafts and merchandise on sale. It’s set to happen on December 6, 2023 from 11AM to 3PM at Asia School of Business.
If you’re interested in being one of the 30 booths at the marketplace, you can sign up with this form here.
7. Startup Tigers: The Roaring Entrepreneurial Spirits of Taiwan, Korea and Malaysia
A panel session, Startup Tigers: The Roaring Entrepreneurial Spirits of Taiwan, Korea and Malaysia will be exploring the startup ecosystem of the three countries.
Its international panel consists of names like:
- James Jung, Founder of BeSuccess (a leading English-language digital newspaper group in South Korea)
- Sophie Chiu, Principal of Appworks (one of Greater Southeast Asia’s leading startup accelerators in Taiwan)
- Adlin Yusman, Managing Director of Endeavor Malaysia (a local non-profit organisation that supports and invests in Malaysia’s high-impact entrepreneurs)
The session will cover topics such as startup support infrastructures, insights, and best practices for expanding in the three countries, and the innovative companies coming out of these regions.
Attendees can look forward to gaining insider knowledge into Asia’s interconnected startup ecosystems. It’s a free event happening on December 5, 2023 from 12PM to 1PM at Asia Business School.
8. Perak Entrepreneurs Meet Up
One of several out-of-state events, Perak Entrepreneurs Meet Up was organised to help connect startup enthusiasts, seasoned business owners, and those curious about the entrepreneurial journey.
Held at Hala Evergreen, Ipoh, the two hour meetup will have four main segments:
- A panel session to dissect the complexities of startup financing
- A presentation on local entrepreneurs from Ipoh that have achieved their big dreams
- A discussion on how to future-proof your business in a rapidly evolving world
- A networking session to share experiences and create new business opportunities
Happening on December 5, 2023 from 7PM to 9PM, tickets are priced at RM15 which includes light bites and refreshments.
9. Mental Health Workshop
The awareness for mental health care has been growing locally in recent years, thereby starting conversations around it. But now that there’s awareness, the question as entrepreneurs is how to create a startup culture that’s successful in business and provides holistic health.
This is what Mental Health Workshop will be discussing. Specifically, it’ll look into understanding mental health, exploring effective ways to avoid burnout, ways to foster a supportive workplace culture, and methods of practising mindfulness.
There will also be a panel dialogue with entrepreneurs who will share their own experiences in navigating mental wellness:
- Christopher Tock, CEO of Xhale Asia
- Shavkat Aslamshoev, co-founder and Managing Director at SafeTalk
- Derek Kulasingham, founder of Focused Mind Solutions
Happening on December 8, 2023 at Asia School of Business, the free workshop will last for two hours from 10AM to 12PM.
10. How to leverage on A.I. for your marketing? Using AI Marketing for e-Commerce
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the latest buzzword in many industries, so it’s time to find out how to leverage it for your business. Whether you’re just starting out with AI or want to take it up another notch, this event caters to a diverse range of skills.
How to leverage on A.I. for your marketing? Using AI Marketing for e-Commerce is set to provide actionable insights on how to drive more traffic, increase conversion rates, and maximise revenue.
Leading the session will be Dylan Tan, the creator of Ah Beng GPT, a chatbot to practise haggling online. Previously, he also founded fintech startups like Split and Sugar.
Taking place in Asia School of Business, this free programme will be held on December 8, 2023 from 4PM to 5PM.
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Aside from these, there are other programmes to further help you build your skillset and business. For example, Founders Hike with Fave’s co-founder, Yeoh Chen Chow, and BarCamp Cyberjaya 2023, where entrepreneurs like Khailee and Joel of Grab came from, as well as Female Founder Mingle Night for female entrepreneurs to network.
To check out the full agenda for Startup Week Malaysia and each programme’s breakdown, you can check out its Peatix page.
This event runs on a first-come-first-serve basis, so if there are any events that interest you, it’s best to sign up ASAP before all the seats are taken.
Featured Image Credit: Asia School of Business
