Five startups win MYCentre4IR-Bursa Malaysia ESG Innovation Challenge 2024

  • Supports necessity of innovation to fulfill conservation, business goals
  • Powered by UpLink, the World Economic Forum’s available development program

Winners of the MYCentre4IR ESG Innovation Challenge 2024 alongside corporate partners and guests, including Norman Matthieu Vanhaecke, CEO of Cradle Fund; Ellina Roslan, Senior Director MYCentre4IR, MyDIGITAL Corporation; and Muhamad Umar Swift, CEO of Bursa Malaysia.

The MYCentre4IR ESG Innovation Challenge 2024 on 7 Nov saw five innovative startups winning US$ 22, 344 ( RM100, 000 ) each in bridge funding to implement their proof-of-concept with their respective corporate partners.

The Challenge is a joint initiative by the Malaysia Centre for Fourth Industrial Revolution ( MYCentre4IR ) and Bursa Malaysia Bhd, seeking to find cutting-edge digital solutions aimed at enhancing the Environmental, Social, and Governance ( ESG) efforts of five Malaysian Public Listed Companies, namely CJ Century Logistics Holdings Bhd, Globetronics Technology Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd, REDtone Digital Bhd and Sunway Innovation Labs ( representing Sunway Group ).

Launched on 1 Aug, the Challenge attracted local and international members, including from the United States, Sweden, Canada, India, Singapore and Namibia. 32 out of over 100 entries came from Malaysia.

The Challenge was powered by UpLink0, the World Economic Forum’s open technology platform, with access to a worldwide group of 80, 000 companies, owners, professionals and changemakers. Early-stage businesspeople are met by UpLink’s technology-enabled method, which creates an innovation ecosystem that causes good systemic change for both people and the planet.

]The World Economic Forum’s UpLink is an open technology program designed to connect companies, experts, and investors with the goal of tackling the world’s most pressing issues, including climate change, cultural injustice, and sustainable growth. ]

Our goal with this Challenge is to find fresh ideas and creative digital solutions to help businesses achieve zero carbon pollution or increase efficiency through approach technology, according to Adrian Marcellus, CEO of MyDIGITAL Corporation. It attracted over 100 entries from businesses across 30 nations”.

He continued,” Our problem is the first to be implemented via UpLink for the Southeast Asia area because of our affiliation with the World Economic Forum.”

Muhamad Umar Swift, CEO of Bursa Malaysia shared its part in this engagement. We are constantly looking to support innovative businesses that have the ability to record on the Exchange, which could potentially contain any of these businesses. To expand our investment market’s pipeline of diversified companies, we need to do this. Hosting this Challenge reinforces the importance of intentional efforts to engage on innovation in order to achieve a company’s conservation and business objectives, which are becoming increasingly important to investors from PLCs these times.

A board of 11 courts, which included representatives from Bursa Malaysia, MyDIGITAL Corporation, Cradle Fund, and each of the five participating PLCs, presented their innovative solutions during the Demo Day held at Bursa Malaysia as part of the final round. Five winners were chosen, with one winning option related to each of the five PLCs, as a result.

The RM100, 000 in gate funding for each success may be co-disbursed in phases by MYCentre4IR and Cradle Fund for the execution of the proof-of-concept pilot jobs. The companies will collaborate closely with their business partners, who will provide assistance and mentoring throughout the application phase of the year. The goal will be to achieve ESG outcomes and tangible process automation.