The first ECF Accelerator – Fundraising Bootcamp was a success.
The one-month programme aims to prepare Malaysian SMEs and growth-stage businesses to scale and grow through Equity Crowdfunding (ECF). ECF is an innovative form of alternative fundraising that allows small businesses to raise capital from the public, using online platforms like Leet Capital.
1337 Ventures partnered with Crowe, Zico Law, Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA), Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Supernewsroom for the first cohort.
During the programme, entrepreneur were exposed to five important areas related to fund raising; finance, legal, marketing, business strategy & pitching. They were also given the opportunity to connect with more than 10 venture capitalists, private equity firms and angel investor like former COO of JobStreet.com, Suresh Thiru.
We asked some of the participants of cohort 1 to describe their first-hand experience at the Fundraising Bootcamp and here are what they had to say:
Danny Ng, Director, APR Electronic Services Sdn Bhd
“I immensely benefited from Su Ching’s session. She simplified the facts which were very easy to understand, plus the real life case study was mind blowing. Very practical and a true inspiration!
And thanks to Bikesh and the entire 1337 Ventures team for hosting this ECF fundraising bootcamp for SMEs and startups in Malaysia! Currently, I am thinking about who among my circle of entrepreneurs can benefit from this journey.”
Delvin Yeoh, Founder and CEO, Reams Technology Sdn Bhd
“I discovered that leading a tech startup requires a great deal of media exposure and fundraising activities to be carried out. The ECF Accelerator has helped me to refine my pitching skills to prospective investors. It also strengthened my abilities as a brand ambassador to the public.”
Johnson Goh Han Swee, Founder CEO, Unearth Sdn Bhd
“My favourite part of the ECF Accelerator was learning from the other participants. Everyone willingly helped each other to succeed by sharing their business journey and experiences. All the workshops were great and insightful as it directed us to refine our company’s readiness for fundraising via ECF.”
Toh Yen Kee, Co-Founder and CEO, Playfit Sdn Bhd
“It was an incredible experience & opportunity for us to take a step back, relook into our value proposition, business model, strategy, operation & branding, and position them in a framework that represents our competitive advantage…and we did all this in such a short period of 30 days.
One of the biggest takeaways from working hard with other entrepreneurs is the sense of camaraderie and friendships. All of us have a common goal, and these are the times when you make friends for life and could easily tap into the network that would always support you even after the program.
Kudos to 1337 Ventures team for this well curated program with a vast network of advisors, VCs, PEs and angel investors to help young businesses like us to strive and scale faster than we could. I believe graduating from this programme will lead us to bigger life changing opportunities for us and our business.”
Application for Cohort 2 is now open and is due by 20th May 2022. Register here, https://1337.ventures/ecf-accelerator/
