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Meneroka landskap start-up Malaysia pada tahun 2026, Bolehkah hab inovasi di luar Klang Valley berkembang? Ahmad Azuar Zainuddin berkongsi pandangan tentang inklusi, pembiayaan dan reka bentuk ekosistem.
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00:00All right, the country's innovation landscape is buzzing as Lerita's corporate and challenges and university innovation centers are multiplying.
00:09And also more local startups are securing funding, entering regional markets and as well as winning competitions.
00:15But beyond the headlines, there are deeper questions. How inclusive is this growth?
00:20Why does most of the momentum remain concentrated in Klang Valley? And what will it take to unlock opportunities for founders in smaller cities and rural areas?
00:32Joining us to unpack these issues is Ahmad Azwar Zanuddin, CEO of Satu Creative.
00:37Good morning, Azwar. Thank you so much for joining us.
00:40First of all, congratulations on your appointment as the new regional advisory committee and members of NDIS and Southeast Asia.
00:46Let's talk about the topic. It's very crucial and important.
00:49How would you describe the maturity of Malaysia's startup ecosystem entering 2026 and particularly beyond the Klang Valley?
00:58Good morning, Najib. Good morning, viewers of Negawani.
01:01If you look at the momentum that the Malaysian startup ecosystem had in 2025, it is amazing.
01:08We see more accelerators. We've seen more parties involved from universities to corporates.
01:14Of course, the government are always there. So we see that the ecosystem is very much maturing.
01:20And we are no longer focused on just, for example, chasing to be the unicorn, but more impact driven, more inclusivity.
01:28So that's something that's positive when we look at the ecosystem.
01:31However, what is still true beyond the headline and the soundbites is the opportunities are still very much locked in the economic center, particularly in Klang Valley.
01:41So from there, there are gaps.
01:45It's something that we can look forward to improving in 2026 in terms of providing more capital, more network, more support beyond Klang Valley into other parts of Malaysia, Penang, Sarawak, Sabah, Johor, and so on.
01:56And also what signals, you know, tell us that regional innovation hubs are rising and where are we seeing basically the strongest momentum?
02:06We see, of course, traditionally, states like Johor, like Penang, for example, Penang, the folks in digital Penang are doing amazing job.
02:16You see how they differentiate what are the value proposition compared to Klang Valley, offering more, for instance, hard tech, deep tech programs.
02:25We also see Sarawak with the government aggressively pushing for digital economy, the green economy.
02:31We see concentrated programs that are being run.
02:37And most positively as well, we see collaboration between the federal government, state government, local government, as well as corporates and MNCs that are coming forward to support these important initiatives.
02:50And also, which structural, you know, gaps still prevents equitable access to support, you know, for founders outside major cities, basically?
03:01Okay, slow question, Najib.
03:03This is a conversation that I had recently with one of the state government lead where when they look at programs, a lot of programs favors groups that are already advantaged.
03:15For example, coming from a strong economic background, a strong education.
03:20However, when we look at that as a current state, we see that there are gaps because Malaysians are very talented.
03:27It's just that they are locked out from opportunities.
03:30So, and this is just not economic.
03:32Sometimes it is also other barriers.
03:35For example, I mean, for example, women entrepreneurs, for example, have need to, if they want to venture into entrepreneurship, they have a lot of responsibility.
03:44I think we see that 70% of unpaid work is actually done by the FerrisX.
03:51So, looking at that, we need to remove these barriers to entry.
03:55For example, if entrepreneurs that are not so fortunate, they have to build their startup, they want to de-risk their startup, they need capital.
04:03So, how do we design programs that caters to these needs?
04:07I think this is something that I would call, rather than having a one-size-fits-all or a copy-and-paste program, it is very important that we be very intentional in how we design programs.
04:17And it's also very important that when we run programs, the objective is not just to count the head, for instance, or how much money is being disbursed.
04:26But more importantly, how is the startup growing?
04:28How is it giving impact to the local economy?
04:31And this is so much more important when we look at the gap between urban and rural, for example, primary, secondary, and tertiary cities,
04:38where we need to be a bit more intentional, as I mentioned, in how we design our programs.
04:46And Azul, how does the concentration of funding and acceleration programs in the Klang Valley shape, basically, national innovation outcomes?
04:53And how can we further expand these programs?
05:00I mean, kudos to all parties involved.
05:03I think you have like Meranti, Gradle, MDEC, all doing an amazing job.
05:07And we see over the years, we've been running accelerators for many, many years now,
05:12and we see the evolution of the startups that are applying and going through our program.
05:17However, what we see, there is still opportunities, because if we do not develop opportunities in rural areas,
05:25there will be place-based underinvestment.
05:27And ultimately, that will affect national outcome, especially when we're looking at raising the ceiling and raising the floor with the government.
05:34So I would call all parties involved to consider that when designing rather than having a national program,
05:43but also look at local context, local opportunity, and tap on the strength that they have in rural areas.
05:49For example, they have a lot of land, for instance, for agriculture.
05:51We have issues with food costs rising and things like that.
05:54So these are, when we design program, be a bit more intentional rather than having everything, for instance, fintech, which are amazing.
06:03But to cater more to what are the strengths.
06:06For example, if you look at Langkawi, perhaps opportunity for more tourism focus and along those lines, Najib.
06:13And also, at the same time, you, you know, emphasis on the inclusion as a strategy.
06:21What does that mean in terms of practical program design and also policy making?
06:27I think one thing that we can apply in answering the question is to use a simple eye test.
06:32How do we, how often, how do, who are joining this program?
06:36Are we seeing similar folks going through program after program?
06:39Or are we expanding to new network?
06:42And I think this requires us to play more of an ecosystem building coordination approach.
06:47That's one part of it.
06:49And making participation more possible, ensuring that no one is left behind, understanding what are the barriers.
06:55How do we design our program to make sure that people are able to attend, people are able to benefit from what the program are offering?
07:02And at the same time, when we design programs, I think at Satu Creative, we put a lot of emphasis on the mentors, for instance.
07:10Are they one size fits all?
07:12Or they are tailored to the need of, for example, go running program in Kota Kinabalu or Kuching.
07:17How does this program, how does this mentors match us and the needs of the startup that are coming through from this secondary and even rural areas?
07:27And also, what are the most, I would say, overlooked elements, ecosystem builders, you know, must consider if they truly want to expand opportunity across regions?
07:40Coordination is the name of the game here.
07:43Right.
07:44So looking at this, no one single entity can do everything alone.
07:48I think we tend to look at it like this is X program, this is Y program.
07:52But more important is this is the entrepreneur's program and how do we support them often requires resources, talents, capacities of various organizations.
08:03So in addressing this overlook element, ecosystem building is so crucial.
08:09I think the other part is there are a lot of programs that help with capacity building, with funding.
08:13But what a lot of the entrepreneurs, when I speak to them, what they need are customers.
08:17So looking at this, there are, I guess, opportunities for us to encourage more pilot opportunity.
08:25And I think this should not rest alone on the responsibility of large organization.
08:30I can imagine those SMEs, for instance, can also play a role in working together with startups to pilot solutions that in turn will validate the product and grow the business.
08:44So when do founders struggle most on the path of, you know, idea validation to real commercial attractions?
08:53What types of, you know, support or technical or be it financial or network based are most critical at the infection point?
09:04For many startups, the challenging part are the early stage.
09:08Of course, a lot of support would like to come in at later stages where it is a little bit more, if I can say this this morning, sexy, where I see that.
09:20So where the amount, the numbers that are, the headline numbers are being announced are huge, right?
09:25So with a lot of businesses, when they are growing, there is the highest, I mean, among the highest risk is at the early part where they call it the value of debt.
09:34This is where they are testing the idea, trying to build the MVP and finding the product market fit.
09:39So in this part, it cannot be a touch and go or a low touch approach.
09:44It has to be a high touch approach.
09:47Mentors need to build understanding and rapport with the businesses to understand and share the objective of what needs to happen to grow the business.
09:57I think secondly, I would love to see 2026 more commercialization opportunity for these businesses and allowing them to test the product, get real market feedback that will allow them to enhance and improve the product for them to scale.
10:13I think thirdly, rather than giving a lot of funding at early stage, we need to be more accountable.
10:19I think I believe that more, I guess, proof points need to be there with early stage funding.
10:26And I think for entrepreneurs as well, if you do not disclose your data, share your information, that will make an opaque and less transparent situation where it might affect future funders.
10:39So we need to look at this as an ecosystem play.
10:42While one startup supporting several jobs, supporting the local economy, ultimately, the result will be a better, more vibrant, sophisticated ecosystem for Malaysia.
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