The country is the first ASEAN nation to host the contest, which was held at the 4th Malaysia Digital Hub.
Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), together with Alibaba Cloud, has announced the establishment of WORQ as the 4th Malaysia Digital Hub.
WORQ is the first digital hub launched under the Electronic World Trade Platform (eWTP), and will play a key role in incubating startups of Malaysia and other ASEAN nations to accelerate the digital transformation of the region. It is a productivity community and large-scale co-working space located in Klang Valley.
As technology partner for the hub, Alibaba Cloud, the cloud-computing arm of Alibaba Group, will roll out a series of programmes and services to help small businesses scale rapidly and smoothly. These programmes include the Alibaba Cloud Certified Professional certification, one-on-one consulting services, and customised technology solutions designed by Alibaba Cloud architects.
Create@Alibaba Cloud Startup Contest
First held in 2015, Create@Alibaba Cloud Startup (CACSC) consists of a series of contests for global entrepreneurs in the technology field. It is sponsored by Alibaba Innovation Center (AIC), in collaboration with media outlets, venture capital investors, and top-level partners worldwide.
This year marks the first of the ASEAN division of CACSC, wherein 15 tech entrepreneurs from across Asia presented their ideas and competed in an intensive pitch contest.
“This is our third Create@Alibaba Cloud Startup Contest and we are proud of what it has become. It is now a platform for tech startups to showcase their ideas and receive support to turn their ideas into reality. Growing the tech entrepreneur community cannot be done alone. We are glad to forge a strong partnership with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and WORQ who share the same vision of creating an ecosystem for entrepreneurs”
-Raymond Ma, Head of ANZ & ASEAN, Alibaba Cloud
CXS Analytics, a Malaysia-based big data and analytics platform focussing on education and workforce, and Oceo Water<, a Singapore-based IOT enabled smart water purifier, were announced regional winners.
The winners were awarded the equivalent of US$50,000 and US10,000 respectively, as well as the chance to compete with winner of 12 other international divisions in the global championship to be held in Shanghai, China in October 2017.
The winner of the World Championship will be included in the Alibaba Innovation Center’s global strategic customer support programme, and will be invited to the 2018 Computing Conference – Hangzhou Summit.
The thirteen other startups that pitched are:
Bildeco (Indonesia) – an e-commerce platform for building materials
Cloudzen (Singapore) – a cloud mobile entertainment platform
Castko – (Malaysia) – online platform for Korean entertainment news
Insightz Survey (Malaysia) – online marketplace connecting users to suppliers of market research
HooWork Services< (Malaysia)- marketplace that connects borrowers and lenders of anything from gadgets, travel equipment, home equipment, and even physical space
SelfDrvn Enterprise (Malaysia) – a digital workplace SaaS with multichannel gamification tools for employee performance, learning, innovations, sales, and marketing
Towbago Services (Malaysia) – towing- and roadside assistance booking app
AgromeIQ (Brunei) – agricultural business intelligence and analytics platform that creates customised solutions and real-time monitoring to increase farm productivity
Zoinla – an IOT community platform for neighborhood security
Tadley Asia (Hong Kong) – a data-driven software development company focussing on creating solutions for education, finance, and insurance
Heycoins (Hong Kong) – a kiosk network that collects coins and converts them into digital currency
Billsettl (Malaysia) – dining booking and payment app
Empowering Malaysian and ASEAN startups
In May, Alibaba Cloud announced that it would establish a data center in Malaysia within this year that is set to become the first global public cloud platform available in the country. Through this, Alibaba Cloud will empower local entrepreneurs from different industries and of all sizes to migrate their IT infrastructure unto a powerful, reliable and secure platform.
“Alibaba Cloud and MDEC’s partnership was established on one common ground and that is, our commitment towards developing the tech entrepreneur ecosystem. This synergy has connected the Malaysian tech entrepreneurs to bigger opportunities and the Create@Alibaba Cloud Startup Contest ASEAN Division is a perfect example of that. Through this contest, Malaysian entrepreneurs had the chance to present their ideas to industry experts and gain the experience”
– Dato’ Wan Peng, COO of MDEC
WORQ and CACSC are the latest in a series of collaborative initiatives between Alibaba Cloud and MDEC that supports the eWTP’s vision, demonstrating the many opportunities to grow the digital economy through the platform.
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Disclosure: This article was produced by the e27 content marketing team, sponsored by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC)
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Source: e27
