The Malaysia Rice Bowl Conference & National Awards Ceremony Organised by myNEF Kicks-Off the First Leg of ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards 2019

KUALA LUMPUR,Malaysia,Oct. 14,2019 -- The New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF) successfully organised its first Malaysia Rice Bowl Conference on the 10th October and kicked off ASEAN technopreneur ecosystem's most awaited awards,the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards. These momentous events were officiated by Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof,Minister of Entrepreneur Development.

Malaysia Rice Bowl Startup Awards Winners 2019 with YB Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof,Minister of Entrepreneurs Development (MED) at the national leg of the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards 2019

The inaugural conference included panel discussions on startup fundraising,perspectives from investors and quite distinctively a panel discussion on the role of government agencies in Malaysia startup ecosystem which was participated by government agencies' heads namely Dzuleira Abu Bakar (MaGIC),Surina Shukri (Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) and Azmi Said (SME Corp).

Running in its 5th year,the Rice Bowl Startup Awards which aim is to connect and empower the ASEAN Economic Community to power up their local economies with startups and scaleups,are also known as the official Southeast Asian circuit of the Global Startup Awards. This award celebrates the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Southeast Asian startup.

Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof shared,"This award today is in line with the Ministry's own aspirations for Malaysia to become an outstanding entrepreneurial nation in 2030. Under the National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030 (DKN 2030),launched on 11 July 2019,we seek to foster a stronger entrepreneurship culture across all segments of Malaysian Society. I am confident that awards such as this will help in building a critical mass of entrepreneurs by publicly recognizing entrepreneurship role models. For the economy to grow,we must ensure the presence of more startups,capital,talent and markets."

Hamdi Mokhtar,Chairman of ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards and myNEF said,"To those who wonder why Rice Bowl Awards are called as such,it is because "rice" is a staple diet in Asian countries. Not only that,it is also a symbol of wealth and resources throughout the region,making the rice bowl an enduring symbol of livelihood and sustenance. Startups have always been that rice bowl that sustains and grows the Southeast Asian economy,and we believe they will continue to provide for ASEAN for generations to come. We honor and celebrate these startups for their innovation and entrepreneurial spirit especially for their courage,determination,hard work and perseverance that helps power the region's economy and wealth."

"We received more than 3,000 nomination this year from across South East Asia and it is a 60% increase from the previous year. These startups comes from diverse industries and backgrounds,who are hungry to drive the success of their company. These are the risk-takers who inspires and thrive the startup community with their hard work," added Hamdi.

Among the notable winners from Malaysia for previous year who are making waves are Carsome,Dropee,JomParking,and iflix.

Following are the winners for Malaysia Rice Bowl Startup Awards 2019:

Best E-commerce & Supply Chain Startup

EASYPARCEL - http://easyparcel.com/

Best Life Helper

MEDKAD - www.medkad.com

Best Foodtech/Agritech Startup

STIXFRESH - Stixfresh.com

Best IoT Startup

FAVORIOT - http://www.favoriot.com

Best AI & Machine Learning Startup

ENGAGE - https://www.engageblink.com/

Best Fintech Startup

CURLEC - www.curlec.com

Best Accelerator or Incubator Program

1337 VENTURES - http://www.1337accelerator.com/

Best Coworking Space

COMMON GROUND - www.commonground.work

Investor of The Year

GOBI PARTNERS - http://www.gobivc.com/

People's Choice

GA SPACE - https://ga.com.my

Best Newcomer

RUNCLOUD - www.runcloud.io

Founder of The Year

JEEVAN KUMAR (ZOOM) - www.zoomitnow.co

Startup of The year

RUNCLOUD - www.runcloud.io

The top 3 categories with the most number of nominations in Malaysia are Best Life Helper,Best e-commerce & Supply Chain and Best Newcomer.

Nominations are open to all companies established no more than 5 years in an ASEAN country. The nomination period is between 27 May 2019 till 9 August 2019. It is followed by a round of judging by our industry-expert. The winners of each country will be announced in multiple National events in schedule on October and November 2019 in respective countries.

Malaysia is the first country to announce its Rice Bowl Winners for 2019 and each Winners for Malaysia Rice Bowl will receive an exclusive PR Strategy Advisory Services from Suppagood worth RM15,000 each.

Each National Winners will get to participate in the regional finale,a cross-regional program designed for entrepreneurs. At the finale,winners will be able to meet and leverage the vast ASEAN startup community network. partner-up regionally,vertically,or cross-commercially to accelerate market expansion.

This year,the regional grand finale of the awards will be held in Kuala Lumpur in January 2020 in Kuala Lumpur.

PR Newswire is the news distribution partner of Malaysia Rice Bowl Conference.

ABOUT myNEF

The New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF) is a non-profit organization established by Industry Players in Malaysia. This organization is a platform that supports the development of the ICT and Creative Industry in Malaysia through various strategic programs that is expected to boost the development of ICT businesses in the country. The New Entrepreneurs Foundation plays an instrumental role in bridging industry players and the Government. Working closely with agencies and various Government related companies,this concerted effort is crucial in supporting existing,and upcoming programs.

ABOUT Rice Bowl

The ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards (Rice Bowl) seeks to connect and empower the ASEAN Economic Community to power up their local economies with startups and scaleups. The program has been organised by the New Entrepreneurs Foundation (myNEF) since 2015. Rice Bowl has been the official Southeast Asian circuit of the Global Startup Awards since 2016 and is now in its fifth year. Rice Bowl rewards innovation,excellence,and best practice in startups and ecosystem players across ASEAN. We also celebrate the ASEAN community's spirit of diversity in entrepreneurship to solve national-level rice bowl issues and the potential for solutions to be replicated across borders.

For media enquiries,kindly contact:

Azuin Abu Bakar - +6010 405 3979,azuin@mynef.com

Safwan Zahari - +6019 480 3132,safwan@mynef.com

Yan Lim - +6016 323 0482,yan.lim@ioli.com.my

Photo - /20191014/2609744-1?lang=0