Five Malaysian Entrepreneurs Win a Combined RM75,000

After an intense pitch competition between 10 finalists, five Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE Malaysia entrepreneurs took home the grand prize. Shell Malaysia awarded a combined RM50,000 to the winners with an additional RM25,000 contribution from Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Bumiputera Sarawak (TEGAS).

The judges included Sarawak Shell Malaysia Senior Contracts & Procurement Manager Yoke-Hwa, Yip, Sarawak Multimedia Authority (SMA) Research and Development Head Dr. Khairul Hafiz Sharkawi, and myHarapan Youth Trust Foundation Malaysia Co-Founder and CEO Nini Daing.

The five winners had to complete a long, competitive journey to get to the prize. Beginning in a 100-person cohort in LiveWIRE Malaysia’s Bright Ideas workshop, they had to compete for a spot in the 30-person Become a Successful Owner Manager workshop. Ten were then invited to participated in the pitch competition.

“This year, the LiveWIRE programme is focused on not only providing the skills to empower our local entrepreneurs to grow their businesses,” said Jill Chieng, general manager of Sarawak Shell. “We’ve taken it a step further to instill the confidence within these entrepreneurs to participate as vendors to the energy industry. In this way, we hope to be able to provide a supportive ecosystem that will enable the startups to contribute to Malaysia’s growing energy industry.”

The winning enterprises include:

  • Ombak DevHouse: Their Cameroo device uses a smart safety dashboard camera system to improve road and vehicle safety.
  • Ahmad Tamar: They provide ready-to-eat healthy snacks for busy families.
  • Wooden Daiger: This Pie House provides health, affordable, and convenient meals for restaurants and other food outlets.
  • Moredoor Interactive: Designed for the oil, gas, manufacturing, and construction industries, their augmented reality remote maintenance module improves efficiency without compromising safety.
  • SportsHub Malaysia: This digital sports facility booking platform makes it easy for sports fans to book the spaces they need.

“The ideas that have come through the programme this year really demonstrate the maturity and the societal programs that Sarawak’s entrepreneurs aim to solve with their startups,” said Dr. Sharkawi. “I’m glad that the Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme is equipping our local entrepreneurs with the skills they need to affect change and that the programme affords them the opportunity to grow their businesses by potentially entering the Shell Malaysia value chain.”

As part of their awards, the winners will receive three years of coaching and mentorship from the Shell LiveWIRE trainers as they work to take their businesses to the next level. All five will also receive a year of co-working space from the SMA-TEGAS Digital Innovation Hub and opportunities to enter Shell Malaysia’s value chain.

Launched in 2016, the Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE Malaysia programme has trained 326 aspiring entrepreneurs with 20 receiving start-up funding. Learn more about the Shell LiveWIRE Malaysia programmes by visiting their website.