Government Establishes Digital Investment Office Involving MIDA And MDEC

The government has established the Digital Investment Office (DIO), which will coordinate and facilitate all digital investments in Malaysia. Accordingly, the DIO will be a collaborative effort between the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).

With an eye on making Malaysia a preferred digital hub in ASEAN, the platform is intended to promote awareness on digital investments in the country as well as strengthen coordination between all Investment Promotion Agencies (IPAs).

“The setting up of this DIO is indeed timely in line with the evolution of the investment landscape in the region towards digitalisation and Industry 4.0, as it will create a unique value proposition for the upcoming digital investments,” said Senior Minister and Minister of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Azmin Ali.

MIDA, an agency under MITI, said it looked forward to working closely with MDEC to accelerate the growth of digital investments. MDEC, for its part, called the DIO a “game changer as it will be the single point of contact for investors in our digital economy,” combining MIDA’s global infrastructure and MDEC’s subject matter expertise in the digital economy ecosystem.

The government said that the DIO’s role is consistent with its MyDIGITAL Blueprint and National Investment Aspirations.

MDEC Launches The 2021 Edition of Alternative Funding Program For Malaysian Startups

Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has launched its Alternative Funding Program for the year 2021. In this year’s edition, MDEC once again linking arms with crowdfunding operators to help entrepreneurs raise funds for their tech startups amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“While initiatives like the Dana Penjana Nasional have done much to address the funding gaps for startups in Malaysia, it is in the best interest of MDEC for them to have more options to ensure sustainable cash flow. Backed by the strong outcomes from last year’s program, I believe equity crowdfunding (ECF) and peer-to-peer (P2P) platform are great fundraising avenues for startups to consider,” said MDEC CEO Surina Shukri.

When compared to the 2020’s edition, this year’s program also see the increase of participating crowdfunding operators from 7 to 11. Last year, the program helped raise a total of RM19.89 million for 16 companies.

For the 2021 edition, a total of five ECF companies have joined the program including ATA Plus, CrowdPlus.asia, Eurecca, Leet Capital, and pitchIN. As for the six P2P platforms, they are B2B Finpal, CapBay, Funding Societies, microLEAP, MoneySave, and QuicKash.

MDEC also added that it would offer priority assessment to all applicants by expediting the eligibility screening process before submitting the profiles to the applicants’ choice of ECF/P2P operator.

“To further encourage entrepreneurs to leverage on ECF and P2P platforms, our division will also engage the founders of MSC-status companies and other high-net-worth-individuals to pay-it-forward as investors on these digital financing platforms,” said Gopi Ganesalingam, vice president of MDEC’s Digitally Powered Business Division.

So, entrepreneurs that interested in alternative financing option can learn more about MDEC’s Alternative Funding Program 2021 through MDEC’s official website right here. They also may submit their applications from now till 31 March 2021 via the same website.