During the height of the pandemic in March 2020, 1337 Ventures digitized their award-winning Alpha Startups™ programme, ready to open the purse strings of funding while other companies tightened their bellies.
The inaugural Alpha Startups™Digital Accelerator received 250 applications, of which 156 teams were accepted for participation in the programme. Following 5 weeks of learning, coaching and mentoring, the top 15 teams pitched to potential investors, with Blueduck (property tech) and Nanobar (hardware as a service) emerging as the winners and receiving funding of RM 20,000 each.
UPPING THE ANTE IN 2021
“Alpha Startups™Digital Accelerator will take you through ideation, validation, marketing, building a working prototype, and creating a fundraising pitch deck whilst giving you access to more than USD 15,000 worth of support systems. At the end of it, you will get an opportunity to present your idea to an investor panel, where the top two teams will receive funding of up to RM 50,000 each. The success of the programme last year has resulted in us upping the ante and more than doubling the funding available” says Bikesh Lakhmichand, CEO of 1337 Ventures.
All participating teams will receive up to USD 5,000 in credits and access to experienced mentors. In addition, top teams can expect a 6-month mentorship, office space, access to go-to-market partners, and further funding to take their idea to the next level.
The programme is currently open for registration, and is scheduled to commence on the 13th of April 2021. Participants are expected to commit two days a week for up to five weeks, culminating in a public virtual demo day on the 22nd of May 2021.
The programme will be delivered fully virtual via live webinars, mentor office hours, self-paced learning modules and collaborative tools. Additionally, there will be optional physical networking events in the Klang Valley. Alpha Startups™ Digital Accelerator will be run in English, but has a Bahasa Malaysia track for those who are more comfortable using the national language.
The 5-week free program consists of 1337 Ventures’ award-winning methodologies that bagged them the ASEAN Rice Bowl Award for Best Accelerator Programme in 2019. The results speak for themselves, as startups that have emerged from the Alpha Startups™ programme include Parkeasy, Eatcaketoday, Gigfairy, Funding Societies, Senang Insurance, MaidEasy and more.
Whilst all stages of startups and entrepreneurs are encouraged to apply, eligibility criteria include:
(i) startups must have at least one Malaysian co-founder; OR
(ii) be based and registered in Malaysia; OR
(ii) serve the Malaysian market and economy.
“We’re just looking for great people with ideas. Already have a product or service? Even better. We’re ready to fund you, so hurry up and register”, says Bikesh, challenging Malaysians to rise up and innovate.
Alpha Startups™ Digital Accelerator is organized by 1337 Ventures and is powered by Leet Academy, its education arm. Sponsors include Amanz Media main partner, with iTrain Asia, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Airtable as supporting partners.
Whatever your idea or startup stage, ASDA 2021 has a place for you. Applications close on Sunday, April 11th, and the program will commence on the 15th of April. Register now at www.1337accelerator.com/digital/ or email [email protected] for more information.
About 1337 Ventures
Established in 2012, 1337 Ventures is Malaysia’s first accelerator programme and early-stage accelerator. Pioneering the Design Thinking Methodology and Design Sprints in Malaysia, 1337 Ventures has utilised its learning to accelerate the growth of over 700 startups from 6 different countries. 1337 Ventures has launched accelerators for MNCs and GLCs such as Bank Negara Malaysia, Khazanah Nasional, Telekom, Digi, MDEC, CIMB and Maybank, to name a few. More recently, 1337 Ventures is proud to be one of the three new recipients of the Equity Crowdfunding license from the Securities Commission.
To find out more about 1337 Ventures, please visit www.1337.ventures.
