Ten entrepreneurs get RM20K start-up funding

KOTA KINABALU: Ten entrepreneurs proved their business plans worthy in the State-wide 2019 PitchBorneo business pitching competition. They were each awarded start-up funding of RM20,000.

Of the 10 from Ranau, Kota Marudu, Tawau, Sipitang, Keningau and Kota Kinabalu, four of the business grants were bagged by entrepreneurs from Ranau.

They are FKAE (Anchovies Grading Machine), Siti Suherni Pindik Nor Athirah Hamzah (Sambalding or Cassava Floss), Hanteh Ginsos (Arabica Coffee Farmstay) and Muhammad Fadhil (High Quality Low Cost Dedak).

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Two winners were from Tawau, whereas the remaining four were from Kota Marudu, Sipitang, Kota Kinabalu and Keningau respectively.

They are Zazila Roslan (Plastic Wood), Muhammad Zulkarnain Mursan (Ayam Cheesy Berserunding Liposu), Ayub Durasin (Innovative Recycling), Gerald Thomas Wong (Food Waste Management) and Irene Mositol (Dumo Herba).

State Education and Innovation Minister Datuk Dr Yusof Yacob officiated the closing ceremony and presented the RM20,000 grants in the form of mock cheques to all winners, here. There were 30 finalists.

Yusof said entrepreneurs should not only focus on coming up with innovative products, but also emphasise other aspects of running a successful business.

“Innovation in business, is not solely about the product itself, but involves many aspects, including packaging, marketing, shipping, purchasing and so on.

“In the future, we want to see more highly competent Sabah-born entrepreneurs elevate to higher levels.

“The Ministry hopes that the winners of this fund will take advantage of this opportunity to further develop their business ideas,” he said in his speech.

Earlier, Sabah Techpreneur Association (Sata) President Saverinus P Kitingan said that an entrepreneur’s success is reliant on one’s grit in advancing their business and personal development.

“It is this character that enabled Jubair Juhinin to generate RM300,000 in revenue in 2017 with his Arnab Village Homestay (AVH) idea, after winning the RM20,000 business grant during the 2016 Pitchborneo competition.

“Last year, AVH celebrated RM1 million in revenue,” he said.

Saverinus added that the PitchBorneo workshops are the basic forms of training to build up new entrepreneurs.

“PitchBorneo’s workshops are high impact with very limited participation (up to 30 people only in every district).

“However, Sata is yet to have the capacity to mentor entrepreneurs every step of the way until they become millionaires. But we are able to give them basic training which they can take and still go far with,” he said.

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PitchBorneo is a platform set up by Sata since 2011 for entrepreneurs to generate, refine and pitch their business ideas. It is also a community project to help local startups realise their business.

Funded by the Education and Innovation Ministry, it is organised annually in four districts, however another two districts were added to the lineup this year.

Try 1 month for RM 18.00

Try 1 month for RM 18.00

Try 1 month for RM 18.00