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As Malaysia pushes towards innovation-led growth, this interview with Group Chief Executive Officer of Cradle, Norman Matthieu Vanhaecke explores how The BIG Programme addresses one of the country’s biggest challenges, translating innovation into real operational and economic impact.
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00:00Hello and welcome back to Niagawani and today we take a closer look at one of
00:12the Malaysia's biggest challenges in innovation which is turning great ideas
00:16into real measurable impact and joining us now is Norman Matthew van Hecke the
00:21Group CEO of Gretel Fund at the agency that's powering Malaysia's early stage
00:25startup ecosystem and he oversees major national efforts from my start-up to
00:30start-up ASEAN and now a renewed push to help corporates adopt technology faster
00:35and more effectively so Norman thanks for being with us in the studio thank you
00:41I hope you're doing well and we want to talk about why innovation education has
00:46been such a challenge and how big the program the Benkeel Innovasi GLC is
00:51designed to fix it so to start our discussion today when we talk about the
00:56big program right the Benkeel Innovasi GLC what is the real problem that it is
01:00trying to solve in Malaysia's corporate innovation landscape as a whole
01:03thank you well as we I think we've heard a lot of this about Malaysia's innovation
01:10research there are pretty much stuck in the laboratories or stuck with new
01:16startups who can't really penetrate the larger market the corporate market right
01:22here in Malaysia so the big program is to address that just very specific gap that
01:29execution gap on how we bring lab to the larger market so how we do this is that I
01:37mean Malaysia already has all the ideas the talent the research technology and
01:41everything right so what we do is try to match what the corporates are looking for
01:48with what the early stage innovators are already having so by combining this then
01:54we can come up with new solutions that not only propel the GLCs or the
01:59corporates innovation forward but also gives that opportunity for innovators to sell
02:06their ideas and hopefully in the future come up with new ideas that can further
02:10propel even corporate innovation so the big program is there to catalyze
02:16corporate innovation within Malaysia that's the main idea but looking at the
02:21allocation like there's 15 million ringgit which is tied to this program the big
02:25program so how is this amount how is this money meant to be used and why is this
02:30approach actually significant for ensuring real outcomes that we can anticipate in
02:36the future yeah in some perspective you know in a world of innovation people
02:40would probably look at 15 million ringgit or if we were to divide it into US
02:44dollars probably even less so right doesn't look like much but let me tell
02:49you this even from the first inception that we did last year the 1.0 the
02:56commitment from the corporates is actually double what the government has put in now
03:02that is very very encouraging and it shows the trust and the belief from this
03:08GLCs as to what we are trying to aim for which is that to catalyze the larger
03:15corporate innovation within Malaysia so this is just the first cohort we're gonna go
03:19into the second cohort and hopefully more and more corporate innovation will then
03:24sprout out throughout the whole of Malaysia that is the impact that we're looking for that
03:30small seed investment into this area can hopefully bring out a larger and more
03:37vibrant activity of innovation throughout all levels in Malaysia I want to go back to
03:42your previous answer if you don't mind answering on because you mentioned about
03:46gaps right so even through awareness funding also talent pipelines so why do you think
03:51Malaysia still faces this persistent gap I think it's more towards knowing what we are all
03:57capable of it's that awareness part I think and because we and those who are in the area will know
04:05that okay this is what we're good at you know like ourselves cradle we've been around for 20 years we know
04:10we've been involved with a lot of startups right and we know what they are capable of and from the
04:15corporate perspective and they know what they're good at they know what they need to go further and beyond
04:19so it's all about just bringing the two together I think so I myself was from the corporate world as well
04:25so I know that there's not a lot of interaction with the early stage startups or the innovators in
04:31Malaysia but there's such a treasure trove that we have actually that is like pretty much kept well hidden
04:39you know and if we can just like activate that and imagine the wonders that we can build and even from
04:45this first cohort that we had in 2025 the impact that can be created goes far beyond even the initial
04:53problem statement that were laid out by the eight GLCs that were selected actually so this program big
04:58program comes into play to actually help to collaborate the government whether between GLCs PLCs or the
05:04companies under MKD that's the this year's version amazing okay so we've seen innovative programs come and go
05:10over the years so what makes this version of this big different from previous previous versions well that's the
05:17thing I mean there's always the that first time you're doing things so you learn a lot from that
05:23experience so not just the GLCs but we ourselves cradle as a project execution agency as well learn a lot on how to
05:32better make sure that the projects that go through these programs are actually meeting all the targets and
05:40creating that larger impact that we're looking for so things like you know how do we better approach the
05:46corporates on because we need to understand how they do things as well they are operating structure
05:51their governance are slightly different than how startups are like so to marry the two ecosystems
05:58together I think that was one of the bigger challenges for for last year but I'm pretty sure that this will
06:03further advance in 2026 so we'll make it better and actually more impactful even in 2026 hence why we are
06:10actually extending the participation not just for GLCs but for private listed companies as well and other
06:16MKD owned companies for 2026 and there's this recent stats where Kuala Lumpur recently climbed into top 20
06:23emerging startup ecosystem systems globally with ranking 18th and early stage funding jump over 40% of us
06:292.5 years to 1.5 billion ringgit so with this momentum why aren't more corporates aggressively
06:37collaborating startups and how does this program this big program address this disconnection that is
06:43actually before now the interest has gone up okay what we're seeing so far we haven't even launched 2026
06:51and already the request of interest for this program for the 2026 version has already outpacing last
06:58years so I think that interest is building up so more and more that will be coming yeah so when big works
07:05the way it's intended right uh what concrete changes or the kind of impact that should we see on the ground
07:11especially within participating organizations and also industries together yeah three three main things that
07:17we're looking for obviously the first one is for the corporates right so what does it mean for the corporates
07:22it means that you know so that they don't get left behind the world of technology advancements are moving
07:27really really quickly AI the robotics the text and everything's moving really quickly so we can't have our
07:35the heartbeat of Malaysia's economy our big big corporates you know uh being left behind from an
07:41innovation perspective so we need to ensure that they stay at the sharp end of that and by being
07:48innovative by really catalyzing and strengthening innovation processes within the corporates itself that's
07:54one of the the number one aim that we're looking for yes last year where we opened it up to just the
08:00clc but the bigger impact that we want to see is actually the whole of corporate Malaysia getting into that
08:08bandwagon to start to innovate to start to work with researchers to start to work with startups
08:14and we drive corporate innovation forward number two for the startups in Malaysia for the researchers in
08:21Malaysia this provides an avenue of market access a large market access base not just a small one you
08:29know whether before it's tough to really penetrate the corporate side of Malaysia but now it's opening up
08:35so hence it not just provides a platform for them to do proof of concept but also a place where they
08:42can try out new ideas and get new feedback from the corporates on how to make new innovations in the future
08:49and that leads to the third part now the third part is about really strengthening Malaysia's value
08:56innovation value chain so that value chain stemming all the way from researchers to the innovators to the
09:04startups to the corporates to the public listed company that chain needs to be strengthened and
09:10really we need to make it more vibrant and it goes around so whatever solution that comes from the lab
09:17goes to the market and then the new ideas new requirement comes back into the lab to research the new
09:24technologies new innovations are going to come there's going to be in demand in the future and that
09:28completes that cycle of the innovation value chain and overall it will then impact the country right
09:35become a more innovation-led economy but coming and moving towards that outcome there's often a gap
09:43between policy ambition also actual delivery so who is responsible for making sure the big program
09:49translate into real execution rather than just remaining a high level policy initiative well i think the way big is
09:57structured is actually very strong because at its very top it is driven by two ministries ministry of
10:04science energy innovation mostly as well as ministry of finance so two ministries are very much involved
10:11in this and are very very interested to really push this forward and we're getting a lot of support
10:16in terms of executing this actually and then it also supports the wider gear up initiative by the government as
10:22well which focuses on strengthening uh the role of glcs and glics in driving high value investments
10:30under the economy madani concept and then of course cradle being the execution agency we have our track record
10:37of you know um we've done open innovation programs with my hackathon national level hackathons and other
10:44innovation programs so we've dealt with a lot of startups we have a big base of startups right now we're
10:49tracking more than 5 000 malaysian startups and even 10 000 uh asian-based startups as well under our
10:56startup asian mandate so we do have a lot of that and then when we marry that with the strength of the
11:01corporates to ensure that this program can really go in and really be impactful as it is intended to be
11:11i understand that this is not for every company and i mean not every company can participate so what are you
11:15looking for when selecting per corporates under big and what actually signals organizational readiness to
11:21you um like in all our programs we the main thing and we are very cognizant about this is because we are
11:30utilizing public funds so when we're utilizing public funds to do a program we must make sure that it is
11:35impactful right so the three things that we look for in any of the um proposal that we receive under this
11:43big program is number one is the readiness of the corporate itself to go into this journey because
11:49it is not a 10-year program it's actually about a year and a bit right and then number two commitment
11:56so we have seen some corporates who kind of like you know sometimes when you when the economy goes down
12:02and then corporates start to scramble and try to look for new things to do and then they start up an
12:07innovation department or something like that and then when the economy goes back up again and then suddenly
12:11oh it's business as usual go back to the normal business that innovation stalls so commitment is
12:15actually very important because yes it is a one-year program but the the actual journey itself is actually
12:22far longer than that right so commitment is important and lastly of course the most important thing is the
12:27impact itself okay the impact for the business itself so how is it going to drive new business areas
12:34how is it going to expand how is it going to impact of course the country and the people as well
12:39those are the three main areas that we look for in every proposal that we receive i want to look at
12:44the um the impact that you want to achieve from the file pilot phase that you've done before what has
12:50been delivered so far and any early examples that demonstrates the program's direction or potential
12:58a lot actually um eight uh glcs's were selected in the first phase uh ranging from you know the people like
13:06sanviro bank islam selcom dg uh malaysia airlines dnb sb setia simda b e.co so it ranges from uh telcos to
13:19airlines to banks and really ranges yeah very wide range so um from those eight that we've seen so far
13:29and like like you said uh it's all from various various industry but you'll be amazed that the progress that
13:34they have actually achieved so far is so close to what we have actually planned for them actually
13:41so we are very much on track and we are already past our midway point and the impact that has already
13:48been generated from the uh program thus far what has been identified not just solves the initial problem
13:55statements that were put up but actually new things are being created new areas are actually being
14:02identified as opportunities so that is the value add to the glcs that have gone into this program
14:10secondly interestingly also is the the startups that are involved so it's not just about corporates
14:17actually innovating and finding new solutions and the startups that are involved in this more
14:21than 20 startups so you remember eight glcs and now there's more than 20 startups are actually being
14:26engaged in this actually and majority of them are malaysians okay and some of them are actually
14:32cradle grand recipients okay even better in a sense so we can see this collaboration the impact not just
14:40it's not just about corporate surgery it's a far larger uh play here that we're looking at far larger
14:46impact that we are targeting but um finally for this session norman we want to look at the glcs and malaysian
14:54owned plcs that's watching us right now that tuning in right now um how can i they actually take part in
15:00this big program what can they do and what's the first step if they're serious about amending uh
15:06innovation into their operations so what's the first step well the first step of course is to email your
15:12interest okay to us so we have an email a very simple email big at cradle.com very easy big at cradle.com
15:21so if you have an idea so we do have a bit of a criteria so you might either be a glc if you are
15:28a public listed company we are looking at those that are having uh more than 500 million annual revenue
15:36and of course uh mkd owned companies as well so those are the three major categories that we're looking for
15:42for for uh big uh for 2026 uh and then of course um submit your interest and then we can you know engage
15:50and we actually do run some uh uh how to say engagement programs like workshops or something
15:56like just to refine your idea a little bit just to understand a little bit more about what the your
16:01company is looking for what kind of innovation are you looking at and i mean and then we can refine
16:06the proposal and then we submit it uh and then it will be assessed by a supervisory committee and
16:12everything and then hopefully we can announce the the first cohort very very soon so they can actually
16:17find all this info on your website yeah sure yeah or they can contact us directly amazing so norman
16:23again thank you so much for sharing those insights and as we heard uh the big program is just another
16:28innovation initiative it's a structured pathway to deliver real outcomes real deployments and real
16:33industry impacts and again for jlc and malaysian-owned plcs if you're interested in participating you can
16:39register by emailing at big at cradle.com.mi so that's all for now you can find this whole
16:46discussion on all of our social media platforms and that includes astroawani.com
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