PETALING JAYA, Nov 27 — The inaugural Pitch@Selangor competition has kicked-off yesterday as part of the Selangor state government’s effort to promote digital entrepreneurship and innovation, which would contribute towards the Smart Selangor initiative through the advancement of businesses and commercial ecosystem.
The business pitching event, organised by the Selangor Information Technology & E-Commerce Council (SITEC), provides a platform for early businesses to connect with potential supporters including angel investors, mentors, and business partners.
Selangor local government, public transportation, and new village development committee chairman Ng Sze Han said Pitch@Selangor provided entrepreneurs and business startups with an opportunity to validate their business proposals as well as for the state government to recognise the best business concept and model.
“Entrepreneurship and technology innovations have always remained in the heart of the Selangor government. SITEC was established in 2015 to develop Selangor as the regional trading hub for e-commerce and to uplift the startup ecosystem.
“To achieve the smart state agenda, Selangor needs to promote digital entrepreneurship and innovation that will drive technology investment, nurture local tech champion and create high-value jobs and business opportunities,” Ng said in his opening speech of the launch of Pitch@Selangor held at One World Hotel, here yesterday.
Also present were SITEC chief executive officer Yong Kai Ping and Entrepreneur Development deputy minister Datuk Dr Mohd Hatta Md Ramli.
Ng said SITEC had launched various initiatives, such as E-Commerce Education and Online 100, Apps 100 programme, and Selangor Accelerator Programme (SAP), which had nurtured over 575 merchants and mentored 60 startups in the past four and a half years.
He said the 16 contestants in the Pitch@Selangor competition, which had contested under the two small and medium enterprise (SME) and social enterprise categories, were shortlisted from hundreds of local startups, in which many have been alumni to SAP.
The champions of Pitch@Selangor won a trip to Silicon Valley, home to many start-ups and global technology companies, in California, US, as well as the RM10,000 prize.
Second and third placing took home the RM8,000 and RM6,000 prize respectively. All winners were awarded a trophy and certificate.
The top three winners from the two categories were as follow:
SME category –
First prize – Dropee: A technology company aimed to address the SME market
Second prize – Biztory: A cloud accounting system designed for small businesses and startups
Third prize – NakRide: A local-based company providing a platform for peer-to-peer motorbike sharing
Social enterprise –
First prize – Petotum: A tech enabler startup to empower pet care industry
Second prize – Langit: An impact-driven social enterprise aspires to bridge urban and rural economies
Third prize – Biji-Biji Initiative: Aims to tackle the plastic waste problem through innovative and self-sustaining solution for underserved communities