MyFintech Week 2022 Demo Day saw the selection of the top 10 startups with all three in the ranking receiving RM150,000 funding from 1337 Ventures to take their ideas and innovation to the next level. Initially only reserved for the top 2, the venture capital firm surprised by the talents decided to add the third startup into its investment pool.
Among the selected were, Blueduck, a zero-deposit finance solution for tenants bagged first place, followed by Swipey, a corporate card and total expense management solution for SMEs in second, while personal finance and credit card management app, Finory, came in third as a surprise winner. Each of them will also receive a cash prize worth RM25,000, RM15,000 and RM10,000 respectively from Bank Negara Malaysia the organiser of MyFintech Week 2022.
Together with the other eight (Adam, Alfie Tech, Bricknshare, du-it, Koha Digital, Marion, Products2U) of the top 10 teams, they each delivered good presentations to judges Datin Arlina Ariff, BNM’s Director of Development Finance and Inclusion, Suhaimi Ali, BNM’s Director of Financial Development and Innovation, and the Head of Malaysia Digital Hubs and Corporate Innovation from supporting partner MDEC, Yvonne Yong. CEO & Founding Partner of 1337 Ventures, Bikesh Lakhmichand, was also a moderating judge.
The Alpha Startup accelerator programme was one of the main highlights of MyFW 2022, the flagship fintech event held by BNM in late January. The finalists were shortlisted based on their commitment to solving real-world problems under MyFW 2022’s theme “Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in a post-pandemic era, particularly in the areas of Financial Health, Inclusion and SME Digitalisation”.
First place winner, Earnest Wong, Founder of BlueDuck said, “Winning Alpha Startups™️ MyFintech Week 2022 has proven viability in both our business module and impact in financial inclusion. As well as standing out against 24 other great startups, the programme has helped us create a benchmark to compete with ourselves.”
“Swipey received an avenue to share the challenges it was solving, which in turn gained us, supporters, who are now our customers. BNM’s recognition truly supports a Malaysian Fintech with regional ambitions”, chimed in Swipey‘s Co-Founder and Chief Financial Officer, Rouvin Thiruchelvam.
Co-Founder of Finory, Kee Hui Jiang said, “The programme provided us an opportunity to network with relevant industry professionals which were really helpful.” When asked what he would do with his boon, he said, “The funding received will be mainly be used on marketing to grow our userbase.”
