KUALA LUMPUR. 15 July, 2010: The higher standard and greater diversity of business pitches from SMEs at the MSC Malaysia InnoTech – OpenWebAsia South East Asia 2010 Summit shows Malaysia has more investment potential, say venture capitalists at the summit.

20 local and regional venture capitalists heard business pitches from 25 ICT and non-ICT SMEs with diverse interests, including technology, manufacturing, alternative energy and waste management.

  “The quality of business models presented at the summit has improved,” says Bob Chua.

“Ten minutes – this is all the time needed to size up an entrepreneur and his/her business plan,” says Bob Chua, a venture capitalist based in Kuala Lumpur, and CEO of Pulse, a digital research agency with offices around the world.

Chua notes that different venture capitalists look for different things in a start-up. Some may target the financials of the business model, while others focus on the individual who will lead the implementation of the idea.

The pitching sessions were the highlight of the two-day KL summit, which was a joint effort between the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) and the OpenWebAsia Workgroup.

  “Let’s work on cross-border investments,” says Prof Wong Poh Kam.

According to Prof Wong Poh Kam, Chairman of Business Angels Network SEA (BANSEA), ASEAN countries need to start looking at cross-border investments.

“BANSEA will be happy to work with Malaysia to set up an Angels network here, in order to improve the growth and market potential of local start-ups, and tap into investor resources from around the region,” says Prof Wong.

The summit, themed Web Innovation in Asia, also featured a line-up of notable speakers and panelists that included experts from Google, Yahoo, Amazon.com, JobStreet, ITrain and Open Ocean Investment.

  “Innovation happens all around the world,”says Google’s Cloud Developer Relations Team Manager Patrick Chanezon.

According to Patrick Chanezon, Google’s Cloud Developer Relations Team Manager, no country or company has a monopoly over innovative ideas and creative developers. “Innovation happens all around the world and creative developers are everywhere,” says Chanezon, who shared Google’s plans to foster innovation through collaboration with third-party developers on Google Apps.

  “Creative copying is not wrong,”says Chang W. Kim, co-founder of OpenWebAsia

Chang W. Kim, co-founder of OpenWebAsia, says that Malaysia and Singapore’s high English proficiency gives us an advantage over other countries in the region in the development of web services. “Local entrepreneurs should come up with an idea that solves a unique problem in the local market and try to globalise it,” says Chang, sharing his thoughts on how Asian web innovations can achieve global success. He also believes that creative copying is not wrong. “Copying a successful global idea and adjusting it for use in a local market is a good approach for web entrepreneurs.”

The summit saw the world’s leading web technology experts sharing their ideas on venture capital and funding; cloud computing and location-based services; mobile applications; iPhone and Android development platforms; real-time and augmented reality technology; and social media and social gaming.

  “Venture capital companies are looking for local companies with services in English,” says Dr Serkan Toto.

Despite our mid-size population and relatively low Internet penetration, Malaysia’s rapidly increasing mobile usage has the potential to create a large market for web-based services, says Dr Serkan Toto, editor of TechCrunch in Japan.

Toto, the first and only Asia-based writer for the biggest technology blog in the world, encourages local start-ups to get themselves noticed by major blogs, journalists and venture capitalists.  

“If you have a crazy idea, just go forward and forge a path,” says Brian Wong, youth entrepreneur.

 Another speaker, Brian Wong, says that youth entrepreneurs play a crucial role in developing new web ideas and applications, as the youth are trend-setters who are the quickest to consume new technologies and have the power to influence the success of web innovations.

Nineteen-year-old Wong, who is the founder and CEO of Kiip, a new mobile advertising platform based in the United States, encourages young innovators not to be afraid to venture into a start-up.“You are the greatest force in your life. If you have a crazy idea, just go forward and forge a path. If you need help, ask for it. If you don’t know something, learn it!” says Wong.The top web trends in Asia are mobile web, online gaming, virtual goods, the convergence of hardware and web, and advanced mobile and Internet infrastructure.

Participants at this summit included more than 300 of Malaysia’s and Asia’s hottest ICT and non-ICT SMEs, venture capitalists, web developers and designers, government agencies and representatives from universities.

About MSC Malaysia

MSC Malaysia is the national Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiative spearheaded by the Malaysian Government to develop and promote the ICT industry. A test-bed for the global ICT industry, MSC Malaysia provides a conducive enabling environment designed to facilitate companies to harness their full potential.

With its ideal business environment coupled with availability of talent resources, MSC Malaysia has attracted participation from major global ICT companies to develop and host their leading-edge technologies in the designated MSC Malaysia Cybercities. MSC Malaysia also provides the ideal growth environment for Malaysian ICT SMEs to transform themselves into world-class companies.

Steering the development of this initiative is Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), a government implementation agency set up as a company to drive the MSC Malaysia vision of an innovation-led, knowledge-rich and progressive society and nation.

For more information, please go to www.mscmalaysia.my

By Asia Pacific Correspondent : Rani Wemel
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