![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/KELLEE-KAM-ALLIANCE-BANK-MALAYSIA-BHD-2-LYY-theedgemalaysia-20250626222844-theedgemalaysia_202506262.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nAccording to Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd CEO Kelle Kam, the 2024 edition of the BizSmart\u00ae Challenge received a record 593 submissions, which were narrowed to a final 13 following an intense competition. (Photo by Low Yen Yeing\/The Edge)<\/p>\n
Produced in collaboration with local creative agency Ampersand Advisory, the film aims to highlight the realities of entrepreneurship while providing greater visibility to early-stage companies. The film will premiere on iQIYI on July 18.<\/p>\n
According to Kam, the 2024 edition of the BizSmart\u00ae Challenge received a record 593 submissions, which were narrowed to a final 13 following an intense competition.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe only planned to select 10, but three wildcard entries were too promising to ignore,\u201d Kam said, adding that even among the judges, \u201cit [the wildcards] sparked debate \u2014 a sign of just how strong the field was this year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The top three winners in 2024 \u2014 BioLoop, Gula Cakery, and HiiVolt \u2014 shared RM550,000 in cash prizes, while all the finalists received mentorship and access to funding networks, including 1337 Ventures, 5X Capital, Cradle\u2019s MYStartup, and Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia (CGC).<\/p>\n
On the upcoming conference, Kam said the event will feature over 35 speakers, including founders, investors, and alumni of the BizSmart\u00ae Challenge, such as Colony CEO Timothy Tiah, A Cut Above founder Winnie Loo, HYGR co-founders Ivor and Meng, and the three most recent winners \u2014 BioLoop, Gula Cakery, and HiiVolt.<\/p>\n
Discussion themes will span topics from cross-border growth and digital disruption, to brand-building under pressure and navigating volatility in SME’s operating environments.<\/p>\n
Since its inception in 2013, notable names who have emerged from the BizSmart\u00ae Challenge include Christy Ng, myBurger Lab, BloomThis, and Signature Market. According to Alliance Bank’s group chief strategy and transformation officer, several alumni are making pre-listing preparations as they plan their initial public offerings, with the bank\u2019s support.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur support for SMEs doesn\u2019t end after the final pitch,\u201d Sum said. \u201cWe have hundreds of alumni in our network, and some of them \u2014 like Amazing Grace and Christy Ng \u2014 have expanded regionally. We now work with some of them on IPO readiness and capital-raising strategies.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unlocking capital for SMEs<\/p>\n
Separately, Bikesh Lakhmichand, founding partner of venture capital firm 1337 Ventures, highlighted BizSmart\u00ae Challenge’s continued role as a deal discovery platform for venture capital and private equity players.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve written actual cheques to some of the past participants, and we continue to mentor and groom them for capital access. This programme gives us access to deals that otherwise would be off-radar.\u201d<\/p>\n
He estimated that about RM2 billion in private capital is deployable within Malaysia\u2019s VC and PE ecosystem \u2014 capital that programmes like BizSmart\u00ae Challenge help unlock by improving founder visibility, investor readiness, and business structure.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe issue is not capital \u2014 it\u2019s awareness. Most founders don\u2019t even know this funding exists. We use this platform to help them learn how to pitch, structure their business, and get seen,\u201d Bikesh said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KUALA LUMPUR (June 26): Alliance Bank Malaysia Bhd (KL:AMBM) announced two new SME-focused initiatives on Thursday under its…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[64,607,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-18341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-entrepreneurship","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114753888890523699","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}