Basic HTML Version
FireFlyz | 15
By the end of next year, about 6.4billion devices– frommicrowaves and kettles to cars
andother electronic equipment–will be connected to the internet, according toanalyst
Gartner.ThegrowingInternetofThings(IoT)willsupporttotalservicesspendingofUS$235
billion in 2016, up 22% from2015, the analyst predicts. Understanding themagnitude of
thispotential totheMalaysianstartupecosystem–MultimediaDevelopmentCorporation
(MDeC) is spearheading efforts in the country to encouragemore startup companies to
plunge into the IoT segment.
STARTUP
legacy knowhow in silicon and electronics
development to begin making the next
generation of IoT devices in this region.
“It’s early days, which comes with
both the risk and reward that you’d expect
from any investment. We have seen the
amazing enthusiasm and support from
various areas acrossMalaysia, which gives
us confidence in its ability to tip into a
sustainable ecosystem.
Malaysia has some of the best minds
working on this and with a lot of hard
work and a little bit of luck we could re-
ally create something special in Malaysia.
We encourage more people to come to
the startup events across the country to
learn about how they can start, join, or
support this budding area for Malaysia”.
McLaughlin said.
In The Brinc Of A New Era
N
eu+
created a loca-
tion and time-based
wearable that enables
individuals to share
their achievement,
identity and stories of
inspiration to others.
Equipped on participants’ waist, it has
the ability to turn any sports event into
a social platform. She Yong (CEO, Co-
founder) and Jacky Chan Sooi Loong (Co-
founder) founded Neu+ to revolutionise
the way people interact with each other
at sporting events.
The JOURNEYOF Neu+
From attending a one-to-one mentoring
session with Brinc – a global IoT accelera-
tor based out of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and
Guangzhou with venture partners around
the world – just to get input on their
ventures, the next thing they knew they
were on their way to Hong Kong, learning
from the best IoT mentors and experts.
“The whole journey was definitely an
eye-opener for Nue+,” Jacky Chan said.
The people we met and the things we
learnt there will accompany us through
the rest of our journey in Neu+ and all
our future ventures.
She Yong believes that Brinc did a great
job in sharing with and guiding them
on how to build and refine a robust IoT
business plan, overall product strategy
and financial model. He added: “We have
just secured a pre-seed fund; we are now
focusing on product validation whilst at
the same time planning for a test run.”
Bay McLaughlin, the co-founder of
Brinc, said Neu+ is a great example of
the excitement and appetite for IoT in
Malaysia.
“These guys are hungry formentorship,
work tirelessly, and want to make the
world a better place. The potential for
new technologies in the running space is
huge, but it isn’t easy as the Neu+ team
found out in our first module on business
viability. They have a long road ahead,
but we believe in them and their ability to
find space to tackle and add value to the
running community.”
The potential for IoT startup
ecosystem inMalaysia
Malaysia is ready for a lot of great growth
areas and Brinc knows that IoT can be
one of them. “It’s still early days, but it’s
been exciting to work alongside all the
great government and private entities
that believe in Malaysia’s opportunity to
leapfrog into the future using technology
as their catalyst”.
Brinc firmly believes they can help
support the growing interest in software
entrepreneurship and pair that with the
I oT Acce l erator L i te powered MDeC i s happen i ng NOW i n Penang .
The programme i s co-organ i sed by MDeC together wi th Khazanah & TE4P and wi l l be run by Br i nc .
Check
ht tp : //te4p . net/ i ot l i te2015/
for more i nfo .
Co-founders of Neu+, She Yong (L)
and Jacky Chan (R)