Wednesday May 14, 2008
A chance for ICT firms to get seed funding
By SURAJ RAJ
KUALA LUMPUR: Local technopreneurs can look forward to potential seed-
funding op****tunities while expanding networking skills when the World
Congress on Information Technology 2008 (WCIT 2008) takes stage next
week.
According to Multimedia Development Corp Malaysia Sdn Bhd (MDeC)
technopreneurs development division head Roslan Bakri Zakaria, start-
up companies under its purview were already being mentored to develop
structured and clear business plans for presentation to both local and
foreign venture capitalists (VCs).
=93Most, if not all, of the foreign VCs that will be at WCIT 2008 are
very hands-on. They will be able to help local technopreneurs bring
their products to the market,=94 he told StarBiz recently.
He said apart from local VCs such as Malaysian Venture Capital
Management Bhd and Kumpulan Modal Perdana Sdn Bhd, there would also be
about 12 VCs from India, China, the US and the Middle East.
=93We already have 50 companies lined up to meet these VCs, which are
looking at early to mid-stage start-ups requiring investments of about
US$2mil,=94 he said.
Another area that local technopreneurs need to brush up on was
networking skills, Roslan said. =93Networking isn't part of their genes,
especially with younger technopreneurs. They are very afraid that
their ideas will be stolen or copied if they share them.
=93From a legal aspect, we advise that technopreneurs do***ent their
ideas in detail. But the more they share their ideas, the more
feedback they will get to better execute their ideas,=94 he added.
Meanwhile, MDeC industry development division general manager
Rizatuddin Ramli expects more small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to
participate in the congress due to its global business networking
op****tunities.
=93About 152 SMEs are actively participating at the moment. We have cast
the net pretty wide and I think easily another 600 to 700 SMEs will
come onboard,=94 he said.
Rizatuddin also said that it was necessary for Malaysian
technopreneurs to broaden their mindsets and take risks when going
global.
=93Local companies have proven that they can go global when they put
their hearts and confidence into something,=94 he said, citing the
Middle East, Africa, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia as markets that
offered strong information and communication technology op****tunities.
WCIT 2008, which will be held on May 18-22, is jointly organised by
MDeC and the Association of the Computer and Multimedia Industry of
Malaysia. The event is expected to attract US$100mil worth of trade
and investments to the country.
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