Malaysia Debt Ventures Berhad (“MDV”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Minister of Finance Inc. launched its 12-month nurturing programme initiative today, as part of its Corporate Entrepreneur Responsibility exercise. The programme will see MDV selecting 20 companies to be mentored and coached from a pool of at least 8,000 existing technology-based young companies in the current entrepreneurship community in Malaysia.
The launch of “Elevate” was officiated by Tan Sri Dr. Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, Secretary General of Treasury, together with Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, MDV Chairman, and Datuk Zubir Ansori Yahaya, MDV Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer. The launch was held in conjunction with the ICafe Latte, a quarterly marketing initiative by MDV to introduce its financing facilities and products to prospective customers in the technology sector.
The launch also saw the exchange of documents between MDV and its partner agencies to widen coverage and accessibility. Through Elevate, selected participants will be groomed, coached and mentored by MDV within a 12-month timeframe with the objective of strengthening financial and project management capabilities in order to increase their ability to secure financing from MDV or other financial institutions. They are also expected to benefit from MDV’s extensive resources in terms of experienced skillsets, market access and links to key industry participants and partners in the technology and financial ecosystem. MDV will also provide selected participants with financial assistance in the form of subsidised legal or documentation fees.
Speaking at the launch, Tan Sri Zarinah Anwar, MDV Chairman, said, “The Elevate Programme is not meant to compete with other existing nurturing and coaching programmes, but rather to complement the entire entrepreneur funding ecosystem. Our unique value proposition is that we will apply our credit infrastructure to assess candidates, identify gaps and develop measures to strengthen key areas of credit management and financial capabilities. We will use our own combined years of experience in the business to elevate the credit quality of the selected companies.”
“In addition, Elevate will also provide a pre-approved financing facility of up to RM2 million to the top graduates of the programme. This funding will enable these promising technopreneurs to implement their business plans and achieve their corporate objectives and goals”, she further added.
Companies interested and eligible to enroll in this programme will need to undergo two levels of assessments by MDV: a desktop assessment based on MDV’s proprietary credit scoring framework and a pitching session to MDV’s senior management. The final 20 companies to be selected for this programme will then be chosen based on the capability of their management and technical team, potential of products or services and growth prospects.
That said, Elevate is not only meant to benefit those who were selected; it also intends to extend its assistance to other applicants by providing them with advisory services and access to MDV’s ecosystem of partners and industry players.
Elevate signifies MDV’s effort to mentor and nurture technopreneurs and young technology companies through the use of proven methodologies and framework, as well as a more systematic way in helping them to succeed. MDV believes that initiatives such as Elevate will ensure a more holistic environment for the technology sector and assist in the drive towards the nation becoming a high income and knowledge driven country.
