Future Sabah change-makers in the making
KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah leg of the Youth Co:Lab Malaysia celebrated its conclusion yesterday with 21 teams comprising over 80 participants going head-to-head to pitch their social impact solution at the University College Sabah Foundation (UCSF).
Youth Co:Lab is a UNDP Asia-Pacific youth entrepreneurship initiative to position young people front and centre in order to solve the region’s most pressing challenges.
Co-led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Citi Foundation, and powered by Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC), the collaboration aims to instigate, catalyse and sustain youth innovation by supporting the region’s youth-led startups and social enterprises through Youth Co:Lab Malaysia.
Youth Co:Lab Malaysia is being executed in three locations across Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Sabah) between September and October 2018 and is envisioned to connect young innovators with subject matter experts, leaders and businesses in order to develop their ideas and business models for social impact within their communities.
With UNDP’s commitment to leave no one behind, ensuring sustainability and upholding human rights, the themes for the Youth Co:Lab Malaysia are centred around three that are based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and are designed to explore viable solutions for the three following issues: Income Generation for Undocumented Persons; Energy Efficiency and Environmental Sustainability and Financial Inclusion for Marginalised Communities.
The three themes were selected due to their interconnected impact on the marginalised communities in Malaysia.
The three-day bootcamp started on October 12 with 82 aspiring entrepreneurs keen on refining their impact solutions. The participants were put through an intensive syllabus designed to pilot their potential innovative solutions, build prototypes, solidify their impact delivery models and refine their pitching for demo day through creative entrepreneurship strategies.
The final demo day kicked off with a pitching session by the qualifying groups. Each group was given three minutes to pitch their refined social impact solution to the panel of judges which consisted of Jun Jabar, Inclusive Development and Growth Programme Manager at UNDP Malaysia, Gurpreet Singh Dhillon, cofounder of Biji-Biji Initiative and Ashran Dato’ Ghazi, CEO of MaGIC, with an additional minutes for questions, answers as well as feedback.
During the closing ceremony, Asfaazam Kasbani, UNDP Assistant Resident Representative of Malaysia shared:
“UNDP supports youth as the driving force for innovation for the SDGs. The Youth Co:Lab is a prime example of how when provided the correct space and guidance, they are able to create innovative solutions for economic or social empowerment in Malaysia. Partnerships is key to the achievement of the SDGs. Government, private sector, civil society and the public must work together. By also connecting those partnerships with ongoing national level initiatives, a more inclusive society will emerge.”
MaGIC’s CEO, Ashran Dato’ Ghazi in his closing remarks said: “The innovative and impactful ideas that these youth pitched today is evidence that there are high-potential groundbreaking solutions in Sabah alone that are able to address some of today’s social and environmental existing pain-points. Malaysia, similar to the world around us, faces many societal and environmental challenges - from poverty to educational gaps, pollution, unemployment and more. The youth and their potential solutions can help address some of these challenges.”
“To all the participants, I applaud you for embarking on this journey to turn your ideas into reality. To the winners, congratulations. I urge all of you to continue refining, tuning and nurturing your idea into an impact driven enterprise that positively impacts the nation and play a pivotal role in accelerating Malaysia’s journey towards achieving the SDGs. I would also like to thank GASpace, GRAB, TM One and UCSF, our programme partners who have supported us,” Ashran added.
Jannie Lasimbang, the Assistant Law and Native Affairs Minister, was also present to deliver her speech as well as to present the prizes to the winners.
“The themes of the Youth Co:Lab are very dear to me simply because they encompass some of the most pressing issues that we have right here in Sabah. It is sad but it is a challenge we must face together. I am so happy to see all of you young individuals passionate about making a difference for Sabah, coming together and spending your weekend to fine tune your ideas. I am keeping my arms open to any of you here today who have pitched your ideas, for collaborative opportunities with me. I would love to work with young, passionate individuals like yourselves to create a better future for Sabah,” said Lasimbang in her speech.
The three winners were selected based on four criteria: Viability, Business Model, Innovation and Impact and Quality of Pitch.
After careful deliberation by the judges, From Plastic with Love with their solution to provide a source of income for undocumented persons through the collection and recycling of plastic waste into clean energy, B.Y.O who aims to encourage people to carry their own F&B utensils and cutlery through a loyalty programme to conserve the environment and RHS ENT with an online platform to connect undocumented mothers with short term jobs, emerged as the winners.
Among the other solutions pitched during the demo day include:
GINAWO Kitchen - Aims to empower undocumented persons in Sabah through a sustainable food delivery and catering business.
Pome - A social impact idea that turns palm oil mill effluent into green energy.
Baby Shark - Aims to help local fishermen through cooperatives.
Tanpa Sampah - Intends to champion a circular economy for waste through innovative strategies.
Youth Co:Lab Cyberjaya concluded mid last month with over 110 participants forming 23 teams. The three winners for Youth Co:Lab Cyberjaya were:
Infinity - Aims to provide energy for rural villages by utilising kinetic energy from rivers.
WasteToPower - A solution that transforms wastewater to energy.
Lifebox - An idea that turns waste into fresh produce.
The top three winners from each state, selected from each theme will receive a co-working space hot desk to further refine their solution as well as access to mentorship opportunities.
Applications for UNDP Youth Co: Lab Penang are open from now until 23 October 2018. For more information on and to submit an application, visit: https://mymagic.my/youth-colab/