1337 Ventures’ pre-accelerator program opens to Malaysian startups

Malaysian venture capital firm 1337 Ventures is set to run its month-long Alpha Startups pre-accelerator program, which will conclude with a demo day in June.

The demo day will be held during MyFintech Week 2019, a collaboration event between 1337 Ventures and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), Malaysia’s central bank. It will run from June 17 to June 21.

Startups interested in joining the program may apply here until April 29.

The 1337 Ventures team / Photo credit: 1337 Ventures

The top three teams will receive US$36,000 in funding, a chance to participate in a six-month accelerator program, and benefits worth over US$121,000 – including US$100,000 worth of cloud credits from Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. BNM will also support selected startups through its fintech regulatory sandbox if needed.

In 2017, 1337 Ventures invested in three Malaysian startups selected through the pre-accelerator program, including e-wallet provider Bayar, home-cooked food ordering and delivery platform Hometaste, and mobile locker laundry collection service Dobybox.

Aside from Alpha Startups’ demo day, MyFintech Week will also feature BNM’s The Financial Innovation Lab Challenge, a program the central bank created in collaboration with the UN Capital Development Fund. The program helps startups build and develop solutions to address financial inclusion needs in the country.