KUALA LUMPUR: Sarawak Shell and Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Bumiputera Sarawak (Tegas) have selected the winners of the fifth edition Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE, during the final virtual judging session.
The 2020 winners were Moses Lejau Vinsien (EdaBeran, an online platform to promote and market cultural fashion brands from Borneo), Mohammad Hisham Khairul Nasir (WeGo, an online platform and mobile app for deliveries, services and online purchases), Fitriah Rahbi (KunProduct, focusing on dried fruits or jeruk produced from local fruits such as guava, terung asam and rambutan), Mohammad Hajib Ali (Farm4All, digitalizing agriproduction for local farmers), and Sara Nadia Suib (Mariadra Beauty, manufacturing beauty care products made from locally sourced materials).
Each of them received a seed grant of RM6,000, as well as mentoring and coaching support from Shell LiveWIRE facilitators for the next nine months to assist and give them the confidence in transforming their ideas to full-fledged businesses - which will also be considered to enter the Shell Malaysia value chain.
"We are ecstatic to partner with Shell for the Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme for five consecutive years, and work towards creating an inclusive start-up ecosystem in Sarawak. We believe through our partnership, we can accelerate the growth of local start-ups and elevate them to the next level," said Tegas chairman Datuk Len Talif Salleh.
Shell LiveWIRE is an entrepreneurial programme that seeks to unveil potential young start-up entrepreneurs while inspiring them to innovate and produce real business solutions that meets today's socio-economic needs.
The programme has seen a total of 356 participants since its inception in 2016, with 20 entrepreneurs receiving startup grants as of today.
A total of 30 entrepreneurs from various locations in Sarawak had participated in the 2020 Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme, beginning their journey with a series of entrepreneurship webinars since September last year.
Upon completion of the 10-module webinar, the entrepreneurs were invited to submit a business idea proposal, where only top ten business ideas were selected as finalists to pitch via video submission.
"The entrepreneurs were a good mix of food-based and technology-based businesses, which really made it challenging to determine who the winners would be. I'm glad that the Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme is equipping our local entrepreneurs with the skills they need to affect change and that the programme affords them the opportunity to grow their businesses by potentially entering the Shell Malaysia value chain," said Jasmine Dadi of Tegas, who was one of the judges.
The other two judges were Sarawak Shell Senior Contracting and Procurement manager Yip Yoke Hwa and Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation Innovation and Entrepreneurship head Hazwan Razak.
The virtual programme which featured multiple sessions specifically held to introduce the processes of entering the energy industry to the 30 entrepreneurs was conducted entirely virtual due to the Covid-19 pandemic movement restrictions. This included a joint session with the Sabah LiveWIRE participants on Shell contracting and procurement requirements to build confidence among the entrepreneurs to be a part of the Shell Malaysia value chain.
"This year's Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme utilised virtual platforms to assist participants who are impacted by movement restrictions within the State due to the pandemic. Despite this, we continue to show care and support to our local entrepreneurs by providing them the needed assistance to develop their businesses," said Shell Malaysia chairman and upstream vice president Ivan Tan.
"We want them to be empowered to propel their businesses to the next level by taking advantage of opportunities to connect with other entrepreneurs, locally and globally, through the LiveWIRE ecosystem," he added.
Winner Moses Lenjau Vinsien said the programme has provided him an avenue to gain much insights and he is really looking forward to the support from the facilitators of the LiveWIRE programme to propel his business idea further to add value to Sarawak's economy.
"Although the programme was conducted entirely virtual, the facilitators made it fun and simple to understand the key things we needed to know to expand our business. It essentially gave us a fast track to navigate some of the problems that could potentially challenge our expansion in the future," he added.
"Not only has the Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme given us the skills we need to operate our business, it's also instilled the confidence in us that with this support, we will be able to realise our business' goals and objectives," said Sara Nadia.