Event Organizer Supernet Media Sets To Turn Any Event In Malaysia Into A Great celebration
Supernet Media is a media and event management specialist that provides planning, consulting, and supervision for both corporate and social events which includes gala dinner, roadshows, product launch, seminars and more.
Selangor, Malaysia, August 18, 2017 /PRWIRE.asia/ -- More and more companies are seeking to hire professionals who have expertise and ‘attention to detail’ to ensure a successful company event being achieved and enjoyed by all participants and attendees. If hip-hop stars have hype men to get the crowd engaged and drive attention toward the artist, then think about events as a brilliant way to increase the hype around your company. This is the big idea that Supernet Media have in mind – to use disruptive methods to connect your brand to the right audience.
“If you’re not creating the right kind of feeling or sending the right message about your brand or company, then you leave the door open to all kinds of messages, not all of them positive. Our event team works hand in hand with clients to ensure that when people leave your events, they leave with the right impression in mind”, said Emily Wong, Director, Supernet Media.
DB Schenker’s 40th Anniversary Dinner
“Supernet Media has come up with ideas beyond our imagination for DB Schenker’s 40th Year Anniversary gala dinner. Because of their determination and countless hours put into organizing this spectacular event, I heard nothing but praises from the attendees. They definitely have set a new standard for event organizers” said Mark Khoo, General Manager of DB Schenker.
“We want to provide our clients with magnificent events through creativity and uniqueness based on their individual tastes and preferences. We focus on every aspect of the guest experience. Whether the event is corporate or social, Supernet Media incorporates themes, décor, music and lighting with the goal of making your event a most elegant and memorable experience”, said Emily Wong, Director, Supernet Media.
The company has carefully nurtured its client base over the course of the last 24 months and is now providing media and event management services to companies including Bausch + Lomb Malaysia and VIVO Malaysia. With many exciting projects lined up, Supernet Media has big plans to continue establishing itself as a unique creative agency that creates evolved and savvy campaigns for its client base. “Times are changing and businesses are becoming increasingly crafty about how they should be spending their marketing budgets to achieve the best results. We are energetic and ambitious – we don’t want to hide behind marketing or PR jargon, or tie clients into expensive retainers that aren’t flexible enough to accommodate their event needs” says Emily Wong, Director, Supernet Media.
About Supernet Media:
Supernet Media is a media and event management specialist that provides planning, consulting, and supervision for both corporate and social events which includes gala dinner, roadshows, product launch or seminars. To ensure that your event reaches your target audience, Supernet Media has a broad range of media advertising/marketing products and services which includes out-of-home, media planning, buying, video production and digital marketing.
Contact Information:
Name: Nicole Sim
Organization: Supernet Media Sdn Bhd
Website: www.facebook.com/supernet.media
Phone Number: 012-6227777
Email: nicole@supernetmedia.com
Address: A-09-01, Tower A Complex Atria Damansara Jalan SS 22/23 Damansara Jaya 47400, Petaling Jaya Selangor Darul Ehsan
CO3, Probably South East Asia’s Coolest Office Launched in Malaysia
Selangor, Malaysia, July 28, 2017 /PRWIRE.asia/ -- Malaysia based co-working space startup CO3 Social Office officially launched their first office location in Puchong, Malaysia today. The opening of the Puchong office marks the completion of the first out of five offices the company had planned.
Early this year, the startup revealed their ideology in Connexion at Nexus, Bangsar South. During the 1,500 people event, the team from CO3 presented their plan to deliver the “coolest office in Malaysia” by June 2017. In the same event, they had also announced the plan to open 5 offices in 12 months.
“We have said it, now we have done it”, said Yong Chen Hui, Founder & CEO of CO3 Social Office. “The journey wasn’t easy but our aspiration took us here.”
“We have said it, now we have done it”, said Yong, CEO of CO3
In celebration of the first workspace opening, the team organised a weeklong celebration including two housewarmings, a grand opening ceremony, and an exclusive social gathering with Bruneian artist Goh Kiat Chun or better known as Wu Chun. Now a full-time entrepreneur, the ex-singer Wu Chun is the non-executive director of the newly launched co-working space. As part of the weeklong celebration, the 44-year-old entrepreneur shared his rich experiences in entrepreneurship with a group of young influencers.
Wu Zun, one of CO3 co-founders having a sharing session with Malaysia's top social media influencers
When asked about the differentiating factors that set CO3 apart from the existing co-working offices in the region, Yong brought up an interesting point. The “heartware” he said. He explained that besides the hardware (the facilities) and the software (the mentor supports and business networks) which almost every co-working office provides, CO3 social office is promoting an intangible spirit called the “heartware”.
It’s made up of 3 key elements namely freedom, dignity, and trust. “We allow ideas to travel freely within this space, we promote the concept of same rank where everyone has their own space, and we want to build trust within the members,” he added.
The spirit of CO3 is to allow free travel of ideas between the members
Further embodying the spirit of “heartware”, this co-working space allows flexible leasing for as short as a month and an adopted honor system for the food and beverages in the workspace. Additionally, all the net proceeds from the honor system will be donated to charitable causes.
Built upon CO3’s honor system, members pay for their food and beverages without any supervision.
With millennials slowly taking over the workforce, talent attraction and retention is more challenging than ever. Hence the company is confident that augmenting the importance of human-centric “heartware” will be an alternative solution to talent retention.
Yong giving a speech on the importance of "Heartware".
CO3 Social Office also positioned itself as a unique concept that can be implemented in existing corporate environments and real-estate locations, improving their appeal to the new generation of white collar professionals, on top of optimising the utilisation of their existing assets.
Jeff Ong, Executive Director of CO3 explained that many offices have unutilised real estates like meeting rooms or under-utilised real estates like manager rooms. Co-working space helps companies to turn these real estate cost into revenue.
CO3 maximizes the value of real estates by having shared meeting rooms, brainstorm area, and other facilities among the members.
On the day of the launch, Yong also revealed that the 22,000 sq feet working space has achieved more than 80% occupancy, with 200 members from various professions including the legal, corporate secretary, production house, event, media, and tech startup industries. CO3 Social Office is not just the coolest office in Malaysia, but it’s also the largest of its kind in the region. Believing in the concept of constant growth, the team had planned to outdo their current accomplishment. Yong stated that this first office is built to prove the concept of co-working area in Malaysia. Ready to achieve their next goal, they are eyeing their second location which will take up 80,000 sq feet in a 5 storey building. The location is 4 times larger than its predecessor and is said to be along Jalan Semangat. When asked about the remaining 3 locations, Yong explained that scouting process is ongoing. Though the exact locations are not finalised, the team is looking to complete these locations by Q2 2018.
More shots of CO3 Social Office:
A bright red plane in the middle of the office to usher the members TO FLY.
CO3 comes with an assortment of entertainment & relaxation facilites.
No short of good foods & beverages in the premise.
For more information, please visit http://co3.co
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A special report by PRWIRE Asia.
The Importance of Understanding Digital Users Behavior to Increase Online Revenue
User behavior is the biggest indication of success in online marketing and at the same time, it’s the most informative tool to help you pave your roadmap to success.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, July 17, 2017 /PRWIRE.asia/ -- There has to be a purpose when you devise a marketing plan or marketing strategies for your brand. For example, boosting the intention of purchase by the consumer, sharing of their personal information, downloading of an E-book or an app, or other types of engagement.
However, you should ensure that your users who visited your site walk away with a positive impression regardless of the engagement in increasing the chances of their return or referring your brand positively to their friends where you could create a higher chance of a future engagement from their friends.
Research has shown that 85% of the consumers choose to use the Internet in helping them to make buying decisions about goods and services that are related to their children, 75% for healthcare products and service decisions, and 68% on money matters. The internet is also the most common platform that people go to for advice and information, even before consulting their friends and family members.
Consumers nowadays become more demanding in getting value for everything they purchase. They’ve become more biased towards certain brand or product that has a better offer when making a purchase. The number of consumers using smartphone technology and mobile searches to look for information and shopping experience has been increasing day by day. People always want to get fast and instant information. Digital users won’t spend too much time on scrolling their smartphones, instead, they will search for the things they want.
Consumers’ purchasing decision does not only depends on the price itself. There are still various factors that come into play before they make up their mind on whether to buy instantly or the other day. However, here are some of the factors that will influence consumers’ buying decision:
・Social Influence (roles, social groups, family)
・Psychological factors (perception, experience, beliefs)
・Cultural Elements (social class, culture difference)
・Personal preferences (personality, lifestyle, age, occupation)
However, always make your marketing efforts more distinctive by continuously updating consumer with the relevant information through your website, landing pages, brochures, social media sites and others. By doing so, you will give your customer a good impression and keep them in contact as well as securing your revenue.
There is always a reason why a consumer comes to your business instead of others, and it’s all up to you to show them more reasons to stay with us. You have to maintain their interest to stay with your services or products and pulling them away from your competitors. It all boils down to the fact of good purchasing experience that consumer feels, adding value for the consumer, interact with the customers, providing solutions yet never overselling your product or services.
Post-purchase service which is also known as follow-up service is very important but also often being neglected. Engaging with your customer is never a one-time thing. If you think that servicing a customer is completed after the purchasing process, you have to rethink again. Customer interaction and customer service are two of the key points in generating your revenue. They also act as your secret weapon towards a long-term brand loyalty from your customers. The mistakes of neglecting or forgetting the consumers after purchasing will only serve as a loophole for your competitors to pry away your source of revenue.
Post-purchase interaction is a crucial step to take as it will generate the feeling of appreciation towards the customer, they will think that they’re still a priority to you. Stay connected with your customer, if you know how to take care of your existing and new customers, they will most probably stay loyal to your brand and secure your revenue.
The importance of understanding the users’ human behavior before generating any marketing strategy and plans is very important. A good marketing plan is the one that fulfills consumers’ needs and wants and understands about their buying behavior as well as their buying intention.
“My experience in leading the highest day of international sales in Amazon history is far beyond just to understand e-commerce platforms, it is more towards about how to build a digital business and make an impact in the market.” – said JJ Delgado, the former Amazon Head of Marketing.
JJ Delgado is recognized as one of the World’s Top 50 Human Behavior Expert in 2017. He has been selected as the Most Talented Spanish Marketer and awarded as the Best Speaker in Today is Marketing in 2015 as well.
JJ Delgado says that there are no secret recipes in Marketing. There are a lot of knowledge information which can be discovered and learned in the Market. Behind all these growth and achievements, there are multiple techniques that allow a team to grow at such a great rate. JJ also added that it is important to orchestrate a clear strategy or tactics of how to obtain the traffic with your priority products to win over customers and lifetime customer value as well as transferring traffic from the priority products to the strategic products.
JJ Delgado is invited by Webist Solutions Sdn Bhd to Malaysia for his 1-Day Master Class at Sunway Putra Hotel on the 2nd of August 2017 to share his knowledge in digital marketing areas. He will be presenting innovative digital marketing strategies and fantastic networking opportunities for all the participants! This is his very first Asia tour! Grab your chance now to learn from the expert in this master class!
Contact Information:
Name: Chris Teng
Organization: Webist Solutions Sdn Bhd
Website: webist.com.my
Phone Number: 0165574650
Email: chris@webist.com.my
Address: B-1-3A, Kuchai Exchange, Jalan Kuchai Maju 13, Off Jalan Kuchai Lama, 58200 Kuala Lumpur.
Havson Group Puts VR On The SEA Map With Funding From 500 Startups
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, June 22, 2017 /PRWIRE.asia/ -- VR entertainment technology startup Havson Group has closed funding from Silicon Valley-based venture capital seed fund and accelerator, 500 Startups. Producing unique VR content and using advanced VR technology that solves problems of motion sickness and latency, Havson Group has recognised the booming virtual reality industry in Southeast Asia and generated early interest from global players.
Pioneering the introduction of VR in the region, Havson Group recently launched EXA Outpost, a first of its kind hyper-reality development studio based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where players leave reality behind and immerse themselves in a first-person experience that puts players in the middle of a dimension exploration.
EXA Outpost 1 located at SetiaWalk Puchong
EXA Outpost: Mission Room
EXA Outpost: Angkas Zone
Backed by a team that has deep-seated knowledge of the industry, Havson Group has been no stranger to the world of gaming. Starting off as Mediasoft, the team has developed some of the top mobile games in the world including the badminton game Jump Smash and the world’s first sepak takraw game Roll Spike that saw more than 10 million downloads.
The founders of Havson Group of companies (Left) Rayson Wong; (Right) Havene Liew
Cementing its track record to date, Havson Group participated and subsequently won the Alibaba CACSC competition held in Singapore in August 2016 emerging as a Champion against 12 other startups from the region. And becomes Merit winner of global final in Hangzhou, China. Havson Group’s unique advantage comes from its VR solution enabling players to move freely in a large space without motion sickness.
Havson Group – Champion of Singapore Division, CACSC 2016
“Through the Alibaba CACSC competition, we managed to prove to the world that we are an emerging global tech company solving real gaming problems.” said Kee Saik Meng, Founding Partner of Havson Group.
Havson Group – Merit Winner of Global Final, CACSC 2016
Havson Group was also the first Malaysian startup showcasing their VR content at the Silicon Valley VR Expo in San Jose.
Even though well known on the international gaming scene, the problems Havson Group sought to address with their tech solutions were more regional. Bringing the VR industry to Southeast Asia, Havson Group saw its many advantages for the market including drawing traffic to dying malls.
“Our VR Parks provides a solution for mall operators wanting to attract footfall, especially from millennials, and provides a gaming experience unlike any other VR multiplayer has done.” said Havene Liew, Founder of Havson Group.
A burning passion for improving and growing the Malaysian games industry drove former film director and game design lecturer Havene to initially kickstart Mediasoft Entertainment in 2012 together with another founder Rayson Wong. During his time as a lecturer, Havene saw numerous young talented individuals leaving the country to seek opportunities overseas or quit the gaming industry altogether due to a lack of opportunities.
Taking matters into their own hands, Havene and Rayson wanted to create those very opportunities, develop those talents and contribute back to the local gaming ecosystem. This passion for talent development saw Mediasoft winning the best employer award in 2015 awarded by KWSP Malaysia.
No stranger to virtual worlds, Kee who has extensive experience in film and games, elaborates on Havson’s insights, “We see this market growing very rapidly in the next few quarters. Besides the growing consumer demand for richer VR experience via malls, we see Hollywood studios and big game companies with IPs entering this space, and, naturally, they are looking for strategic partners to work with.”
This market demand sees Havson Group joining other major competitive players around the world in capturing the global market share. These competitors include The Void, a Hyper-Reality experience gaming centre based in Utah, New York and Dubai. Zero Latency is another immersive VR studio based in Melbourne, Australia which received a total of USD9.5M to date in seed and venture funding from Carthona Capital.
Other players include Dreamscape Immersive which plans to open a VR Multiplex in Los Angeles later this year. Dreamscape has raised USD11M in funding in a round led by Bold Capital. Imax too, has said it plans to open six VR centers in partnership with AMC Theaters and Regal Entertainment, and additional centers planned for Britain and China as well as projects in Japan, the Middle East and Western Europe.
With competition mounting globally in the US, Australia and other parts of Asia, Havson Group’s years of gaming experience and understanding of the Southeast Asian and other regional markets is what they see as their first movers competitive edge.
Others have seen it too with demands for partnerships increasing. Havson Group has already signed partnerships in Pakistan and ShenZhen, China and are currently in discussion with numerous major theme parks and resorts across the region. With interest in VR mounting, Havson Group plans to cement its hold within the region, ahead of the competition.
Managing Partner of 500 Startups, Khailee Ng said that investing in Havson Group was not only in line with their goal to recognize promising startups in Southeast Asia and assist them in growing on a global level, Khailee injects that Havson Group is one of the corporations that has the potential of fast pace growth with the help of technology.
“Having invested in 1,700 Startups in over 60 countries, we’ve built an international platform for startups like Havson to rapidly enter multiple markets at speed. Their business model involves malls paying upfront for rollouts, and generates ongoing profit share. It’s a very capital efficient way to build a global business. Just the kind of business we like!” said Khailee.
With future plans involving Southeast Asia, China and the US, Havson Group of companies is strongly focused on the booming VR market.
“We have the right talented individuals who are brave for new challenges, we can have the right technology along with the skilled software to create a product on par, we have the resources that can push us far, it is undeniable that Havson has the track record that can create another new height,” added Rayson Wong, Founding Partner of Havson Group.
About Havson Group: Havson Group builds VR contents and provides VR tech solutions to FEC, theme parks and shopping malls.
Southeast Asia: The Next Major Market in Asia for Founders and Investors
When Garena, Southeast Asia’s most valuable startup picked Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to lead a planned initial public offering in the United States, it made an optimistic statement about the future of startups in Southeast Asia. The initial public offering, if completed, would record the...
April 27, 2017 /PRWIRE.asia/ -- When Garena, Southeast Asia’s most valuable startup picked Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to lead a planned initial public offering in the United States, it made an optimistic statement about the future of startups in Southeast Asia. The initial public offering, if completed, would record the largest share of IPO proceeds from Southeast Asia at US$3.75 billion.
“This is an extremely significant deal,” said Vishal Harnal, a partner at 500 Startups in Singapore. “Once you have a success story coming out of the region, it becomes easier for others to emulate. An IPO of this magnitude will galvanize and serve as a beacon to all the startups in Southeast Asia.”
Founded in 2008 by Forrest Li, Garena is a Singaporean unicorn currently valued at US$3.75 billion.
SEA – the Next Rising Star in Asia
Like China a decade ago, Southeast Asia is now an emerging market on the verge of something big. The region has raked in a cumulative funding of US$2.6 billion in 2016, increasing over 60 percent from its previous year of US$1.6 billion. It has even been touted as the most attractive emerging market for private equity investment in Asia, according to Global Lead Insights.
“Southeast Asia for the next 10 years is going to be one of the most exciting regions to invest in. If you think about it, it’s kind of situated between the two giants – China and India – and then if you look at it – Silicon Valley companies who missed out on China and India are looking at where are the last big markets that are left. And Southeast Asia it is,” said Thomas Tsao, the Founding Partner of Malaysia-headquartered Gobi Partners.
But it is not just the market opportunities that have drawn entrepreneurs from around the globe to places like Singapore, Thailand or Malaysia.
The Catalyst to The Rise of SEA
There is a host of factors contributing to the surge of interests in startups outside the established hotbeds for technology and innovation. Southeast Asia’s growing digital connectivity for one, has made the population addressable. With over 300 million smartphone users in the region as compared to the United States which has only 225 million – this brings about a greater consumer demand and purchasing power.
On the other hand, business-friendly initiatives have also further supported the investments in Southeast Asia. For example, the Malaysian government runs Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGic), a startup entrepreneurship program that has provided many benefits for startups to find fertile ground in Malaysia.
Programs to help startups like the MaGIC Accelerator Program is readily available across many SEA countries.
Most importantly, the market in Southeast Asia has a lesser competition intensity for startup founders and investors alike which provide a rational entry valuation.
Even Timor-Leste, a country located beneath Indonesia (for those who have never heard of the country) has a proportionately large number of startups despite having the requirements for entrepreneurs to deposit 260 percent of their average income in a bank. This is considerably a huge amount of capital to raise up front in comparison to the global average amount which is just 9 percent.
Non-SEA Investors Dominates Market Sphere
Statistics have also shown that non-Southeast Asia investors are dominating the SEA market sphere. As the region has drawn attention from neighboring countries including Japan, China, and India as well as accumulating substantial capital from major global venture capital firms like Northstar, IMJ and Sequoia Capital.
500 Startups, a United States-based venture capital firm, is also heavily involved in Southeast Asia – having helped startups work on specific growth goals. Just last year, it added another US$50 million into 500 Durians, a micro-fund focused on investing Southeast Asian startups. Its active involvement has even made it SEA’s most active early stage investor.
Another notable investor interested in the region is Jack Ma, extending his influence in the region as he acquired Malaysia’s eCommerce platform Lazada in April 2016 for a total US$1 billion. For Alibaba, this is a big wager on the region as the enterprise competes against Amazon to dominate the eCommerce sphere.
Besides, the Chinese mogul has also been very active in the region’s political scene, associating with the head of states from Thailand, Singapore, and Indonesia, in addition to becoming the economic advisor for Malaysia. The same goes for the Chinese government as it invests heavily in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar to transform them into bigger destinations for export.
Alibaba founder, Jack Ma has agreed to act as an advisor to the Malaysian Government on its digital economy
This is an interesting moment in time for Southeast Asia. It is essentially because investors are now realizing that Southeast Asia is the only large market left to grow.
Amidst the positive outlook, ASEAN own startups which are valued at more than US$1 billion, from ride-hailing leader Grab to e-commerce operator Tokopedia, are also coming to age. With this, it is only expected that Southeast Asia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem will receive a tremendous boost in the near future.
And Garena’s IPO is just the beginning.
Contact Information:
Name: VCNewsNetwork
Organization: VCNewsNetwork
Website: http://www.vcnewsnetwork.com/
Email: info@vcnewsnetwork.com
CRADLE ANNOUNCES NEW INVESTMENT PRODUCT TO AUGMENT SUPPORT FOR MALAYSIAN TECH START-UPS’ GROWTH
Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle) the early stage start-up influencer, today announced its new investment product called DEQ800, following its investment portfolio expansion effective February 2017. DEQ800 is the abbreviation for Direct Equity 800, a form of equity investment that offers capital injection of between...
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA, April 27, 2017 /PRWIRE.asia/ -- Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle) the early stage start-up influencer, today announced its new investment product called DEQ800, following its investment portfolio expansion effective February 2017. DEQ800 is the abbreviation for Direct Equity 800, a form of equity investment that offers capital injection of between RM 300,000 to RM 800,000 for local early stage tech start-ups.
DEQ800 comes as the next phase of product offering after Cradle’s co-investment programme that was first introduced in 2014. The launch marks Cradle’s new direction in supporting tech start-ups, particularly those at early stage.
According to Nazrin Hassan, Group CEO of Cradle, the new direction is in line with the government’s intent to wean the market off grants in funding early stage start-up noting that half of Cradle’s total allocation in 2017 given by the Ministry of Finance, is in the form of equity funding as the agency gradually evolves from its grant funding model to equity investment model.
He further viewed the new direction and launch of DEQ800 as a testament to Cradle’s continuous commitment to fund start-ups with strong growth potential and elevate Malaysian start-up ecosystem to greater heights.
‘‘The launch of our new product clearly demonstrates our relentless passion and tenacity to build great Malaysian start-ups and fortify the nation’s start-up ecosystem, ultimately. We believe DEQ800 will serve as a crisp avenue for start-ups with clear growth and good exit potentials at pre-seed and seed stages to raise capital for their businesses and help achieve these objectives,’’ he said.
Focused investment sectors under this initiative include areas within the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) such as Financial Services; Tourism; Business Service; Electrical & Electronics; Wholesale and Retail; Education; Healthcare; Communications Content and Infrastructure; Oil, Gas and Energy; and Agriculture. In addition, Cradle shall also include ICT and Non-ICT sectors under its radar.
Meanwhile, targeted and potential investee companies are start-ups with tech-based products or services.
Nazrin later shared that Cradle’s DEQ800 brings more value to the table than capital injection alone.
“Our strong entrepreneurial heritage and extensive experience in pre-seed and seed stages will give us the upper hand in catering to the start-ups’ needs for growth. Rather than just putting money in their ventures, the product, through various subject matter experts, will help build them through various value-added services such as in the areas of mentoring, commercialisation support and many others,’’ he explained.
Additionally, Nazrin said having the access to ecosystem players is also amongst the key benefits start-ups get to enjoy when they receive investment under DEQ800.
He added, ‘‘one major advantage of getting seed funded by Cradle is that our start-ups can look forward to leverage our ecosystem of diversified investor groups which can add value to their knowledge and experience as they strive to scale beyond their home market.’’
With regard to the product outcome, Nazrin hoped that DEQ800 could serve as an alternative to stimulate the growth of high-potential Malaysian tech start-ups and make the early stage funding ecosystem in Malaysia, more robust, albeit the current economic downturn and government’s stance on reducing dependence on grants.
Additionally, he wished to look forward to the day where DEQ800 could close the funding gap in the nation’s seed stage where there are very few players that invest below RM 800,000.
On a strategic side, Cradle plans to invest in up to 10 start-ups under direct equity and close 3 co-investment deals in 2017.
Prior to this, Cradle’s equity investment was practised via one-to-one partnership. However, following the portfolio expansion, the co-investment initiative will see a significant change with the introduction of two-to-one ratio. This means Cradle will double every matching contribution with its partners on their co-investment deals.
In relation to this, the ticket size for co-investment also sees a little rise to RM 800,000 from RM 500,000 from previous years.
About Cradle:
Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle), an agency under the Ministry of Finance Malaysia (MOF) is the organisation that manages the Cradle Investment Programme. The MOF had allocated RM100 million to Cradle for this programme since it began in 2003.
The agency was awarded with an additional allocation of RM175 million for the 2011-2015 period, under the 10th Malaysia Plan. Cradle now runs the Coach and Grow Programme (CGP), a market-driven programme to train entrepreneurs and also administers the Angel Tax Incentive, which was designed for angel investors to be accorded a tax deduction of up to RM500,000.
The organisation has been expanding its capacity by venturing in co-investment partnership. Since its inception, Cradle has helped over 700 Malaysian tech start-ups and holds the highest commercialisation rate amongst government grants in the country.
Cradle Seed Ventures (CSV) is a subsidiary of the venture capital arm of Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd focusing on early stage venture fund based out of Malaysia. CSV has added strength of being able to leverage Cradle’s experience in supporting early-stage start-ups, understanding their funding and operational needs and also be by their side when they scale in their local Malaysian market and to foreign shores.
For more information on Cradle, please visit www.cradle.com.my
For media queries relating to Cradle’s DEQ800, please contact Ashraff Taharim at 019-278 9760 or email ashraff@cradle.com.my
Contact Information:
Name: Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle)
Organization: Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle)
Website: http://cradle.com.my
Email: info@cradle.com.my
Malaysian Cradle Fund unveils DEQ800 to diversify investment strategy for a maturing startup ecosystem
Malaysian early-stage tech startup catalyst Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd has announced the launch of a new investment product known as Direct Equity 800 (DEQ800) which follows an investment portfolio expansion effective February 2017. This equity investment initiative indicates a gradual shift in the firm's investment...
April 27, 2017 /PRWIRE.asia/ -- Malaysian early-stage tech startup catalyst Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd has announced the launch of a new investment product known as Direct Equity 800 (DEQ800) which follows an investment portfolio expansion effective February 2017. This equity investment initiative indicates a gradual shift in the firm’s investment strategy from grant funding model to equity investments model.
With a total funding size close to RM11 million (about US$2.47 million), Cradle plans to close 13 deals by June 2017 – investing in 10 startups via direct equities as well as co-investing in 3 startups, each writing cheques between RM300,000 to RM800,000. For the co-investment exercise, Cradle will be introducing a 2:1 ratio, whereby if one of their investment partners invests RM200,000, Cradle will invest RM400,000, doubling the matching contributions for every ringgit invested, up to a limit of RM800,000.
While Cradle has been mainly focused on tech and innovation startups, Juliana Jan, Cradle’s chief investment officer clarifies that “Cradle is not focusing on any one tech area but rather wants to provide support to areas that have good growth potential.”
Looking at DEQ800, the focused investment sectors under this initiative include areas within Malaysia’s National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) including areas of financial services, tourism, business service, electrical and electronics, wholesale and retail, education, healthcare, communications content and infrastructure, oil, gas and energy, agriculture, information and communications technology (ICT) and non-ICT sectors.
For startups interested in DEQ800, Cradle judges a startup eligibility on several criteria including:
– being a startup incorporated in Malaysia with at least 51 percent owned by Malaysian shareholders;
– ownership of all intellectual property rights, titles and interests relating to prototype, products and/or services for the purpose of commercialisation;
– an operation timeline less than five years, in addition to a total revenue of not more than MYR5 million.
Speaking on the initiative, Cradle’s CEO Nazrin Hassan is ascertained that this is the perfect time for the shift to direct equity investment as local startup ecosystem has significantly evolved and mature throughout the decade. Then again, Hassan adds, “Government- and Cradle-backed prototype grants will always be available as there is always a need for that type of risk taking, but startups still need to learn how to get private investments or they will continue relying on grants.”
Established in 2003, Cradle is a non-profit organisation under the Malaysian Ministry of Finance that manages Cradle Investment programmes. It has filled a funding gap in the area of developing ideas through its CIP150 programme, that helps develop ideas into prototypes as well as its CIP500 programme, that helps to move on to funding for prototype-to-market. The company, since its inception, has also supported more than 700 Malaysian tech start-ups, holding the highest commercialisation rate among government grants in the country.
With the introduction of its new programme, Cradle looks forward to assisting more Malaysian startups by providing them with equity investment, mentorship, as well as help in connecting them with other venture capitals and investors. Companies invested by Cradle, especially those that are looking to go global can look forward to more support and growth guidances via Cradle’s experience and network.
By Vivian Foo, VCNewsNetwork
Contact Information:
Name: VCNewsNetwork
Organization: VCNewsNetwork
Website: http://vcnewsnetwork.com
Email: hello@vcnewsnetwork.com
Japanese Xtreme Design raises pre-Series A worth US$620k led by Freebit Investment
Japanese Xtreme Design raises its pre-Series A round worth US$620k to go beyond virtual supercomputer on-demand through UI/UX enhancement.
April 27, 2017 /PRWIRE.asia/ -- Xtreme Design, a Tokyo-based startup providing the cloud-based virtual supercomputing-on-demand service known as Xtreme DNA, has on Tuesday announced that it has fundraised 70 million yen (about US$620,000) in its pre-Series A round.
The round was led by Freebit Investment and individual investors which include the former Vice President of Japanese mobile game developer Colopl, Kotaro Chiba and the CEO of Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railway, Yasumasa Manabe.
With this funding round, it is said that there would be a probable business synergy between Xtreme Design and Freebit, the parent company of Freebit Investment which businesses involves the provision of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS).
This financing round also follows the round conducted last January and March by the firm’s founders and angel investors worth 30 million yen (about US$260,000).
Founded in February 2015, Xtreme Design is a platform development company for the democratization of supercomputing. In November 2016, the startup has presented its flagship product Xtreme DNA at the global supercomputer conference SuperComputing 2016.
Xtreme DNA is an unmanned service of operations which is capable of monitoring the dynamic changes of configuration in order for an effective system utilization of supercomputers through the deployment of virtual supercomputers on the cloud.
It is available for Microsoft Azure, supporting InfiniBand as well as applicable on AWS (Amazon Web Service). According to CEO Naoki Shibata, the functions of Xtreme DNA have been attracting a lot of attention as IaaS from enterprise users.
Despite Xtreme Design focus on back-end technologies, it appears to be switching gears for the next stage, releasing “Xtreme DNA 2.0.” in which Shibata explains is an attempt to supplement the visualization with well-designed UI/UX to Xtreme DNA.
“We plan to develop our service to be used not only in genome or simulation analysis but also in various fields such as IoT, image analysis or stock price prediction in fintech. The purpose of UI/UX implementation is to make it easier to be used by a wide range of users,” said Shibata.
Although a few startups in the United States also provide seemingly competitive services, Shibata expects that Xtreme Design can win out if a good product with UI/UX can be offered.
With a vision to dominate the global market, the brand-new Xtreme DNA is scheduled to be exhibited at the SXSW Trade Show which will be held in Austin, Texas on March 10th.
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Japanese Investment Firm NSSK Sets Up US$300 Million Second Investment Fund – NSSK II
Nippon Sangyo Suishin Kiko (NSSK) has raised US$300 million for its second investment fund which has received commitments from North American and European investors, as well as new Japanese LPs.
April 27, 2017 /PRWIRE.asia/ -- Tokyo-based NSSK, who calls itself a new source of strength for Japan’s regional economy, has raised US$300 million for its secund fund NSSK II (Intl) Investment, according to a report in Private Equity International citing sources.
While the first NSSK fund was entirely raised from Japanese investors, this second investment vehicle has instead received commitments from North American and European investors, as well as new Japanese LPs.
The fund however, is still primarily yen-denominated, and has a target size of 63 billion yen (US$539 million) according to a SEC filing in September 2016. The new fund will be used to back retail, consumer, healthcare and hospitality companies in Japan, supporting them for global expansion.
NSSK, which is short for Nippon Sangyo Suishin Kiko is an alternative-investment firm led by the former private equity company TPG Capital’s Japan head – Jun Tsusaka, who now plays the role of Managing Partner and Chief Executive Officer at NSSK.
Other founders of the firm also include Kaz Tokuyama, a former Merrill Lynch Japan Securities Co. banker, and Nobuhiko Ito, who was previously the CEO of General Electric Co.’s Japan operations.
Founded in September 2014, NSSK focuses on proprietary investments in regionally-focused firms and private companies with succession issues. Its investment strategy is to generate superior returns by applying global investment discipline, operating expertise and human capital to the attractive SME market in Japan.
The investment firm had its first investment in December 2014 when it agreed to pay an undisclosed sum for 70 percent of Mie-prefecture based US.Mart Corporation, a developer of amusement facilities.
Recently, the investment firm has acquired SC Holdings Co Ltd, a leading operator of nursing homes and assisted-living facilities for seniors with a primary presence in the Greater Kanto area of Japan.
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