How to get funded for Malaysian startup entrepreneurs

Posted by Tengku Zahasman on April 29th, 2007 filed in Entrepreneurship, Financing/funding

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Internet startups in the Silicon Valley are used to getting funded by the many Venture Capitals and Angel Investors they have over there. That’s why Internet Startup companies in Silicon Valley blooms up like mushrooms after a rain. Unfortunately, we don’t have the same luxury here in Malaysia. You can’t easily find a VC to fund your startup… and most of our parents or friends are still pretty clueless/critical about Internet ventures to be your angel investor. But fret not, the Malaysian government does have allocation for the Malaysian Internet startups to get initial capital and start their businesses to boost the ICT industry in Malaysia. And there are also Malaysian companies that does businesses in Venture Capitals.

1. Technopreneur Pre-Seed Fund Programme

This fund is introduced by MDEC (Multimedia Development Corporation, Malaysia). In this programme, your startup business can get a conditional fund of up to RM150,000 that you can use to develop your IT business plan into commercial projects. The good news is that apart from the money, you will also get the benefit of their mentoring services and use their MSC status shared lab facilities.

Take note that ONLY INDIVIDUALS are eligible to apply. You can’t apply under a business name. In other words, you’re not eligible apply this fund if your business already has an established Sdn Bhd company name. You may read more information about this on their website.

- Download Guidelines and Application Form
- Download FAQ

2. Cradle Investment Programme

Cradle Investment Programme This programme offers RM50,000 of fund that you may use for the development of your project’s prototype, proof of concept or business plan. Same like the pre-seed programme above, this fund is also only for individuals, not companies. Their focus is to give entrepreneurs a headstart in realizing their unique ideas (sounds a lot like you?). You can make application online. Visit their website for more thorough and detailed explanation on this fund.

- Read Application Guide here

Before making an application to any of these funding options, be sure to have a strong business plan document to present them and to get their attention, besides avoiding yourself from looking foolish. Be confident of your project. Also be sure to do enough research about a certain funding programme so that you know what you’re dealing with. The question is… should you apply? Do you really need them? I’ll talk about that sometime later