Bpifrance, PlaTCOM seal collaboration

KUALA LUMPUR: The FrenchMalaysia Innovation Challenge 2017 will be launched on April 19 to promote collaboration among startups of both countries.

The call for proposal is one of the initiatives under a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed yesterday between Bpifrance and PlaTCOM Ventures Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM).

“The goal of this challenge is to coordinate financing in such a way that companies from Malaysia and France can work collaboratively and, upon successful matching through an online platform, submit joint applications.

“This would be reviewed by Bpifrance and PlaTCOM Ventures in a coordinated, but independent manner. The collaborative projects should include elements of development of innovative processes, products or services,” said AIM in a statement.

PlaTCOM Ventures chief executive officer Dr Viraj Perera said both parties would drive and facilitate innovation in their respective economies.

“As the national technology commercialisation platform of Malaysia under the purview of the AIM Governance Council, PlaTCOM Ventures is wellpositioned to take up this national level initiative together with Bpifrance — a major investment bank in Europe,” he added.