(From left) iQIYI head of brand partnerships (APAC & Middle East) Evangeline Song, Alliance Bank Group CEO Kellee Kam, 1337 Ventures CEO Bikesh Lakhmichand, 5X Capital partner Natalie Tan, and Advisory Ampersand CEO Sandeep Joseph at the launch of \u2018The Ultimate Elevator Pitch\u2019.
\nKUALA LUMPUR: Alliance Bank Bhd today launched \u201cThe Ultimate Elevator Pitch\u201d \u2013 Malaysia\u2019s first feature-length SME business pitch film, a movie focused on SME entrepreneurship offering a behind-the-scenes view of Alliance Bank\u2019s BizSmart Challenge.<\/p>\n
A collaboration between Alliance Bank and multi-awarded local agency Ampersand Advisory, the film saw its red-carpet premiere at Velvet Cinemas by GSC here on June 26.<\/p>\n
Screening exclusively on streaming platform iQIYI from July 18, \u201cThe Ultimate Elevator Pitch\u201d shows the grit, vulnerability, and determination behind the nation\u2019s SME founders.<\/p>\n
(From left) Alliance Bank group chief strategy and transformation officer Aaron Sum, Sandeep Joseph, Bikesh Lakhmichand, Kellee Kam, Natalie Tan, Evangeline Song, and Alliance Bank group chief business and transaction banking officer Raymond Chui during a press conference at the launch of \u2018The Ultimate Elevator Pitch\u2019.<\/p>\n
The BizSmart Challenge is Alliance Bank\u2019s flagship SME development programme, created to empower local entrepreneurs with access to funding, mentorship, and market exposure.<\/p>\n
The programme celebrated its 10th year last year with its \u201cAccelerator Edition\u201d, a months-long programme that saw finalists go through, among others, a four-day Accelerator Programme, business coaching, a five-minute business pitch, 60-second elevator pitch and the final three-minute pitch to a panel of industry leaders.<\/p>\n
Speaking at the premiere, Alliance Bank Group CEO Kellee Kam said June 27 would mark World MSME Day, a day that \u201cshines a light on the dreamers and doers\u201d \u2013 micro, small and medium entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere at Alliance Bank, we don\u2019t want to just mark this as another day on the calendar. We want to elevate, celebrate and bring it to life, because we understand that when small businesses grow, our country thrives.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why back in 2013, we launched the BizSmart Challenge \u2013 not just to hand out funds or offer mentorship, but to ignite the belief that bold ideas deserve a stage, no matter how small they start,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The premiere was also attended by 1337 Ventures CEO Bikesh Lakhmichand and 5X Capital partner Natalie Tan, whose mentorship during the programme is captured in the film, as well as Ampersand Advisory co-founder and CEO Sandeep Joseph, who directed it.<\/p>\n
Sandeep described the journey of making the documentary as \u201cvery long, but exciting\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe enjoyed meeting entrepreneurs and understanding them. I think the real heroes of this movie are the entrepreneurs themselves. You\u2019ll see the unguarded moments, real emotions, investor debates, and mentorship that shape growth. It\u2019s raw, relatable and relevant,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
When asked why iQIYI had decided to partner with Alliance Bank, the platform\u2019s head of brand partnerships (Apac & Middle East) Evangeline Song said they were drawn to its boldness as an SME pitch film that showcases the \u201creal grit that goes beyond the boardroom\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis story hit all the right notes: entrepreneurship, resilience, and impact. We\u2019re excited to bring such authentic, homegrown stories to a wider audience through this collaboration,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Separately, Alliance Bank group chief strategy and transformation officer Aaron Sum said the BizSmart Challenge had helped SMEs grow through funding, mentorship, \u201cand now, national exposure through this film\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt shows that Alliance Bank is more than a bank \u2013 we\u2019re a long-term partner in their journey,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The launch of \u201cThe Ultimate Elevator Pitch\u201d serves as a prelude to the upcoming BizSmart Business Conference on Oct 7. The conference will feature over 35 speakers, including industry leaders such as Colony CEO Timothy Tiah, A Cut Above founder Winnie Loo, and the three most recent BizSmart Challenge winners: BioLoop, Gula Cakery, and HiiVolt.<\/p>\n
To mark World MSME Day, a special early bird ticket price of RM88 is available until July 3.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(From left) iQIYI head of brand partnerships (APAC & Middle East) Evangeline Song, Alliance Bank Group CEO Kellee…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":18487,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[17578,17579,64,607,17580,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-18486","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entrepreneurship","8":"tag-alliance-bank","9":"tag-bizsmart-challenge","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-entrepreneurship","12":"tag-the-ultimate-elevator-pitch","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114754187721421642","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18486","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=18486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18486\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}