We are a seedbed for

human centered entrepreneurship

Purpose
Startup Malaysia

Our Purpose

We are inspired by the notion that “all humans are entrepreneurs not because they should start companies but because the will to create and take control of our destiny is encoded in human DNA - and creation is the essence of entrepreneurship.”
- Reid Hoffman, Founder, LinkedIn
Our purpose is to help people live with dignity and self-sufficiency by helping to close the gap between poverty and wealth.
We believe we can do this through entrepreneurship. Human centered entrepreneurship.
The inspiration

Our Philosophy


Based on this worldview, we believe everyone has a shot at a good life and to shape their future life if they are given the tools and the know-how.

We believe Entrepreneurship can be a force for good and it can be learnt by anyone. Its not in the gene or a gift. Its part of the human DNA to be venturesome.
why us

Our Methodology


The methodology we use to Enable Entrepreneurship is known as Effectuation or The Entrepreneurial Method.

The method was created by Prof. Dr Saras Sarasvathy of the Darden Business School; University of Virginia based on her 20-year research of how expert and experienced entrepreneurs build ventures that become successful.

Effectuation or The Entrepreneurial Method can be used by anyone who wants to start any project or venture.

The method can also be used by someone who is new to entrepreneurship, a grassroots entrepreneur wanting to start a small business with limited resources or a tech entrepreneur wanting to launch a startup.

The core of the effectual approach is to just start - with your means.
What We Do

Our Work


We work with grassroots communities to help them transform their lives and livelihood through entrepreneurship.

Our intervention begins with a conversation with the community, creating a communal bond and from there work with them to help them think through various opportunities which they can build a business on.

We then work to help create pathways to help them succeed in their respective ventures.
Initiatives

Our Initiatives

01

Enabling Youth Transformation

What does it take to transform a marginalized young person with little or no formal education to start believing in themselves and to take positive action? For more than a decade we have worked extensively with youth throughout Malaysia and other ASEAN countries to help see the world as opportunity rich as opposed to it being unfair to them. IN 3 months, we can help make the transformation happen - through our immersion programs to help them launch ventures, coaching and building pathways for their sustained success. We help anti-fragile youth who become entrepreneurs with endurance.
02

To Spur Rural Entrepreneurship

“Economic growth springs from better recipes, not just from more cooking.” - Paul Romer, Stanford Economist. Entrepreneurship must be inclusive for sustained economic growth of a nation. It should include necessity entrepreneurs and reluctant entrepreneurs - people who have to start a business for their livelihood.
03

Stakeholder Engagement to Bring Down Barriers to Entrepreneurship

We constantly work with multiple stakeholders to help bring down barriers to entrepreneurship. Some of the stakeholders we work with are: Government agencies Non-Government-Organizations Not-For-Profit companies Large business entities Small & Medium Enterprises Micro-SMEs Universities Schools We are also looking forward to engaging with more organizations to enable entrepreneurship to a wider audience.
team
Who We Are

Our Team

Our Story

Startup Malaysia was launched in in 2011 with a mission to help catalyze the startup culture and help build the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Malaysia.

At that time, we were one of the earliest fire-starters in the startup and entrepreneurship ecosystem in Malaysia and the region.

We played a significant role in bringing awareness, energy and a lot of excitement around entrepreneurship - both as a culture, a way of life and as a force for good. entrepreneurship as a global force was taking shape;

We helped make the Malaysian startup ecosystem visible to the global entrepreneurship community through some of our world-beating programs such as Silicon Valley Comes to Malaysia, The D-Code Bootcamps and the Global Startup Youth (GSY) programs.

Together with our international partners, we also brought many programs and bootcamps to help the young of Malaysia experience the journey of building a startup in a rapid-fire way. We have many of the tech entrepreneurs and initiatives in the startup ecosystem we see today.