Open For Business

Global Psytech consists of professionals that specialise in offering cutting-edge and scalable profiling and analytic solutions for a range of sectors. Experts from a variety of scientific fields, including artificial intelligence, machine learning, behavioural sciences, computer science, statistics, and psychometrics, make up their team. For research, development, and commercialisation reasons, t...

A Little Thing provides gift curation with a variety of gift boxes to choose from, but they have integrated AI into their operations. But how are they differentiating themselves in the competitive gift curation landscape? Yeo Lee Ching, Director of A Little Thing unwraps the details.   Photo Credits: Freepik | Racool_studio See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Founded in 2020, Kapitani is an early-stage firm that promotes itself as an agri-fintech company that focuses on empowering smallholder farmers through digital and financial inclusion. Their name is an abbreviation for "capital for farmers," which reflects their goals. We are here with Nazrul Hazeri Nazirmuddin, Co-founder and CEO of Kapitani to know more about the platform. Photo Credits: Freepik...

While a zero waste business may be sustainable for the earth, is it enough to sustain the bottomline? This is a question that has come up following NUDE: The Zero Waste Store’s announcement that it was closed until further notice. We explore the closure with co-founders of the store, Cheryl Anne Low & Abhishek Bhattacharjee, getting into the reason they entered the zero waste business, whether...

ShopBack, founded in 2014, enables users to earn cashback each time they perform online shopping transactions through its website or app. The cashback earned can be withdrawn to the users’ bank account of choice. Since its inception, ShopBack has given out more than RM150 million in cashback and rewards to its users in Malaysia. ShopBack recently launched the PayLater, a Buy Now, Pay Later payment...

Bila Bila Mart, a modern concept of kedai runcit, opened their first outlet in a Mont Kiara mall on March 16, 2020, 2 days before the first MCO was announced. The story "BilaBila" was inspired by the pride Malaysians take in their heritage, cuisine, and culture. Think as a Kedai Runcit recreated in a fresh and modern image, while being passionate champions of locally produced Malaysian businesses....

How did they manage to get involved with grocery outlets within a year? And why is their manufacturer based in Korea? Co-founders Vicole Lim and Yeann Tan started their company, MATES and their sole product is known as Oatler, a meal replacement shake. They wanted to change the landscape of the food options that we have in Malaysia to promote a better and healthier diet. They talk about how they m...

A technology startup founded in 2009, Bitsmedia is known for developing and publishing the world's most popular Muslim lifestyle app – MuslimPro. Bitsmedia is one of the portfolios of Captii Ventures. What started as the intention of providing the most accurate prayer times for Muslims wherever they are, MuslimPro has come a long way. We catch up with Nik on his journey so far. Photo Credits: Free...

Most mums buy toys. Some mums take their kids to Disneyland. But this mum? She built a theme park in the city for her children. And not just any theme park, either — an educational one that grows alongside them. NEXTGEN Theme Park is a comprehensive and innovative one-stop cross-generational edutainment park. It is Malaysia’s largest indoor edutainment theme park, spanning 45,000 sq ft of play spa...

iMotorbike is Southeast Asia’s pioneering eCommerce platform for buying and selling pre-loved motorcycles. They market themselves as a fast, secure, and hassle-free online experience with other key features to make it a one-stop shop for the preloved motorbike ecosystem. After a solid 2022, they’re looking to grow sales 8X to hit $20 million in 2023. Roshan Kanesan spoke to iMotorbike’s Founder an...

The appropriate shoes can say a lot. Make a good first impression, increase your self-assurance, safeguard your feet, get you through muddy conditions, or even provide you with the extra edge you need to win a race. Dato’ Lewre Lew has been in the shoe business since 1987 and started Lewré Bespoke in 1997 and has received numerous accolades and prizes over the years for its outstanding designs, sk...

Having a comfortable and visually appealing house is what most people are looking for. But everyone knows hiring an interior designer is costly. How are The Makeover Guys trying to bridge this gap while differentiating themselves in this expensive industry? We speak to Gavin Liew, the co-founder of The Makeover Guys to get their take on interior designing for properties in Malaysia. See omnystudio...

What started as allergic reactions resulted in Tan Yet Mee starting Ecominim, and there are more people than you think that have allergic reactions to cleaning products. With that in mind, the team decided to make it their mission to create gentle and eco-friendly products that are not just safe for the environment and skin but as effective as commercial cleaners. Photo Credits: Freepik | zinkevyc...

Comfort should be prioritised when designing the perfect home. It should be tailored to you and your family’s needs – it should inspire, relax, and reflect who you are. A home is a place to learn, to feel happy and calm. ‘Fuku‘, which has been borrowed from Japanese, roughly translates to good fortune and wellness – and this is what Fuku Studio hopes to introduce to people’s homes. We hear from co...

What happens when you take Netflix, throw in some Disney, sprinkle in some YouTube Kids, and curate it Muslim children - well you get Durioo+ - a Malaysian video streaming startup that’s gotten quite a bit of investor attention, including from the famed Y Combinator. A year after their launch, they’ve raised US$2.85 million (RM12.5 million) in a seed round led by Y Combinator and Gobi Partners and...

In 2013, Eaugene Eau and Fion Tan, a husband-and-wife duo, had an idea to help modern women feel confident by creating Shapee modern shapewear. In September 2016, they made the decision to introduce nursing and maternity items with the goal of bringing joy, innovation, and information through every motherhood journey after thoroughly understanding breastfeeding mothers. Shapee has successfully ent...

With so many languages in the world - more than seven thousand to be exact - how can we still communicate effectively? Langwords is a language service provider startup based in Penang, Malaysia, that provides language solutions in more than 50 languages. Co-founders of Langwords, Joy Ooi and Yin Ooi share what it is like to run a business housing translators and transcribers Photo Credits: Shutter...

Malaysian based venture capital firm, Ficus Capital, recently announced its intent to continue investing in Malaysian and South East Asian startups with global growth potential. With its flagship RM60 million fund, Ficus SEA, the world’s first shariah compliant venture capitalist is looking for revolutionary, sustainable and purpose-driven startups that are bringing impact to the environment, soci...

Did you know that ‘Everything, Everywhere, All At Once’ was filmed in 10 locations in California, while ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ was shot at at least 16 locations, spanning three states in Malaysia and seven buildings in Singapore. With more content producers filling the market, video production and film-making is quickly becoming mainstream. As of February 2022, there are 30.25 million active social m...

Fi Life started in 2018 after acquiring the life insurance distribution business of U For Life, Malaysia's first direct-to-consumer online life insurance service. 5 years on, Fi Life is no longer just a distributor, now building and distributing their own life, total and permanent disability, critical illness and accidental death insurance products. We speak to Fi Life Founder Malek Ali about the...

Making an Indonesian Layer Cake is no small feat, and crafting the 18 layers is, for some, a work of art. It’s also a way for some people to stay bonded to their homeland. Ambon Boenda believes in keeping with the tradition, authenticity and the continuity of layer cake recipes passed down from generation to generation. Linda Lo, the founder and director of Ambon Boenda shares the layers of love w...

Recommend.my is a platform for locating and hiring Malaysia's service experts to provide home maintenance and cleaning services on demand since 2014. We speak with Lua Jes Min, CEO and Co-Founder of Recommend.my, to know more about how they integrate technology to match service experts to their customers. Photo Credits: Shuttershock | Andrew Angelov See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Goodday recently concluded Malaysia’s biggest kid-preneur programme KidStart. The competition’s main objective is to encourage financial literacy and entrepreneurship among Malaysian children. 10-year-old Fatimah Basyeera won the programme with her stroke recovery software application, while Ong Joon Zach is the runner-up with his coconut extractor idea CocoCool. They discuss what their steps are...

Malaysians are still wasting plenty of food, despite having to fork out more money for meals nowadays. According to the Solid Waste Management and Public Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp), in 2021, Malaysians generated 17,007 tonnes of food waste per day in 2021 – enough to fill one-and-a-half Olympic-sized swimming pools. Sean Tan, CEO of Insect Feed Technologies discovered how to utilise technology...

While other areas of startup funding seem to be cooling down, like our planet, climate tech is heating up. Global policy change looks to be a big growth lever for space. Whether it’s the EU’s proposed carbon tax - the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism or the US Federal Government’s proposal to require suppliers disclose emissions or climate-related data, the bottom line here is that, knowing, acc...