Malaysia’s Digi Telecommunications announced it would inject more than US$62,000 into three local startups that have graduated from its accelerator program Digi Accelerate.
GrabGas, Local Usher, and Vase were among the teams that pitched to 65 venture capitalists in Digi Accelerate’s recent demo day held in Bangkok. Teams from Myanmar and Thailand also participated in the event.
GrabGas is an on-demand cooking gas delivery service, while Local Usher is a platform for discovering and booking unique recreational activities in Malaysia. Vase is a portal for conducting surveys and providing actionable insights for clients.
“They have done a lot of work in the past four months to validate their business models, and now the real challenge is to be single-minded on building a repeatable, scalable, and sustainable business beyond borders. The ambition should be to build traction and generate revenue in the first year,” Digi chief digital officer Praveen Rajan said in a statement. Praveen also heads Digi-X, the telco’s innovation lab that’s running Digi Accelerate and exploring new digital services for Digi’s 12.3 million customers.
Praveen said that Digi-X will continue to provide funding and hands-on support for the companies. The support includes opportunities to tap into Digi’s and its parent Telenor’s customers globally.
Digi-X also runs a pre-accelerator program, Digi Incub8. Recently, it launched an ideation lab with MaGIC and Uber to help Southeast Asian entrepreneurs make their business ideas happen.
Converted from Malaysian ringgit. Rate US$1 = RM 4.03.
Editing by Malavika Velayanikal
(And yes, we’re serious about ethics and transparency. More information here.)
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
