Malaysia-based conglomerate Sunway Group’s innovation arm, Sunway Innovation Labs (Sunway iLabs), has announced the top five startups from its one month pre-accelerator phase of the 2021 Sunway iLabs Super Accelerator program.
The accelerator program, kicked off together with Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai-based venture capital firm Gobi Partners last month, was completed with 23 startups in a pitch competition to a panel of judges.
The top five startups of this third cohort come from various industries, specifically Agrifoodtech, Fintech, Proptech and Travel & Hospitality Tech.
They are:
- Loop Foods: An Agrifoodtech startup operating as a multi-brand F&B, developing unique access to real and healthy food. Loop Foods currently has Spargo Eats, a farm-to-fork healthy meal delivery service, as one of its brands operating since March 2021.
- Rent Guard: A Proptech startup that automates property management for property managers, individual landlords, and homeowners with a platform connecting tenants.
- Singular: A FinTech startup is an investment management mobile app, which aims democratized active and sophisticated wealth management for the mass affluent.
- Trabble: This Singapore-based Travel & Hospitality Tech startup is a guest engagement SaaS platform that empowers travel and hospitality businesses in adapting to return to post-COVID tourism.
- Wise Crafters: An Agrifoodtech startup that wants to make healthy eating easy through personalized meal plans and kits for customers.
“We’re excited to work closely with the selected top five startups, which show great growth potential as well as alignment with our Sunway business divisions and ESG goals. One of the key criteria we adopted in selecting the top startups included social impact and sustainability, which we continue to measure as a metric of success,” Sunway Group Chief Innovation Officer and Sunway iLabs Director Matt Van Leeuwen said.
“We look forward to supporting these founders in their entrepreneurial journey to grow their company through the mentors, market access, and funding as part of our iLabs Super Accelerator Program,” he added.
In the next three months of the Super Accelerator program, Sunway iLabs will help the selected top five startup founders connect with Sunway’s global network of partners, industry experts, mentors, and investors.
The startups will work closely with the Sunway iLabs team to run a pilot project to validate the product with one of Sunway’s business divisions and tap into Sunway’s regional market access of SMEs, residents, students, and employees, among others, Sunway iLabs said.
The startup founders will also continue to receive mentorship and guidance from industry and technical experts. At the end of the three-month Super Accelerator program, the startups will present their innovations and traction to potential investors through a final Demo Day.
“Gobi is looking forward to supporting their growth for the next three months and beyond!” Gobi Founding Partner and Chairman Thomas G. Tsao said.
Launched in 2017, Sunway iLabs is structured as a unique, non-profit, smart partnership between Sunway Group, Sunway Ventures, Sun SEA Capital, and Sunway University.
Gobi Partners is one of the longest-standing venture capital firms with a Pan-Asian presence across North Asia, South Asia, and ASEAN with over $1.1 billion in assets under management (AUM).
The firm, headquartered in Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai, supports entrepreneurs from the early to growth stages and focuses on emerging and underserved markets.
Founded in 2002, Gobi has raised 13 funds to date, invested in over 270 startups, and has grown to 13 locations, across Bangkok, Beijing, Dubai, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Karachi, Kuala Lumpur, Lahore, Manila, Riyadh, Shanghai, and Singapore.