The participants of SuperCharger Fintech Accelerator’s Malaysian inaugural program won a total of 29 contracts, proof-of-concepts (POCs) agreements and partnerships with several new POCs in Malaysia to be announced early 2018.
The program, which ended on the 15th December 2017, had a special emphasis on Islamic finance, accepting start-ups targeting the Muslim market with specialized products. These start-ups include big data analytics firm MyFinB and regtech company Capnovum.
“During the 12-week accelerator, the start-ups have explored opportunities to work with tier one financial institutions as well as enlisted Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation’s support on opening local offices and leveraging the new Tech Entrepreneur Program,” explained SuperCharger, which also revealed that participants raised US$15 million over the duration of the program and hired 15 new employees. A total of 148 new leads were generated during the last three months, with four agreements being closed locally and two new projects currently under implementation.
During the three months of the program, SuperCharger, under its Academy arm, also organized a pilot fintech training program for a selected group of 30 finance professionals, regulators and students. The five-day Fintech Graduate Training Program combined knowledge-building workshops and project-based learning; Islamic finance and fintech was a core component of the curriculum.
“As the program winds down, SuperCharger intends to continue to host public events and connecting the community. Islamic fintech and digital payments are two areas where Malaysia has room to lead in and grow, but the emergence of more local business-to-business fintech companies should signal a maturing of the market in the coming month,” it said.
The accelerator’s Kuala Lumpur program will return in the summer of 2018 while its Hong Kong cycle is now open for applications.