Malaysia, 1 April 2022- Joy and jubilation were witnessed by over 5,000 virtual attendees during the recent Alpha Startups™ MyFintech Week 2022 (MyFW 2022) Demo Day when it was suddenly announced that instead of just two teams receiving RM 150,000 in funding, a surprise third team would also be receiving RM 150,000 in funding. This was courtesy of Malaysian venture capital firm, 1337 Ventures.
Blueduck, a zero-deposit finance solution for tenants bagged first place, followed by Swipey, a corporate card and total expense management solution for SMEs in second, while personal finance and credit card management app, Finory, came in third as a surprise winner. Each of them will also receive a cash prize worth RM25,000, RM15,000 and RM10,000 respectively from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
Together with the other eight (Adam, Alfie Tech, Bricknshare, du-it, Koha Digital, Marion, Products2U) of the top 10 teams, they each delivered good presentations to judges Datin Arlina Ariff, BNM’s Director of Development Finance and Inclusion, Suhaimi Ali, BNM’s Director of Financial Development and Innovation, and the Head of Malaysia Digital Hubs and Corporate Innovation from supporting partner MDEC, Yvonne Yong. CEO & Founding Partner of 1337 Ventures, Bikesh Lakhmichand, was also a moderating judge.
The accelerator programme was one of the main highlights of MyFW 2022, the flagshipfintech event held by BNM in late January. The finalists were shortlisted based on their commitment to solving real-world problems under MyFW 2022’s theme “Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in a post-pandemic era, particularly in the areas of Financial Health, Inclusion and SME Digitalisation”.
First place winner, Earnest Wong, Founder of BlueDuck said, “Winning Alpha Startups™️ MyFintech Week 2022 has proven viability in both our business module and impact in financial inclusion. As well as standing out against 24 other great startups, the programme has helped us create a benchmark to compete with ourselves.”
“Swipey received an avenue to share the challenges it was solving, which in turn gained us, supporters, who are now our customers. BNM’s recognition truly supports a Malaysian Fintech with regional ambitions”, chimed in Swipey's Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer, Rouvin Thiruchelvam.
Co-Founder of Finory, Kee Hui Jiang said, “The programme provided us an opportunity to network with relevant industry professionals which were really helpful.” When asked what he would do with his boon, he said, “The funding received will be mainly be used on marketing to grow our userbase.”
Inspired to be 1337 Ventures’ next funded startup? Pitch to us at Pitch Tuesday, https://1337.ventures/pitch-tuesday .
