Significant increase in grants for startups in 2023 — Mosti

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti) has witnessed a significant increase in the amount of early-stage grant funding for high-potential startups in 2023 through the Malaysian Startup Ecosystem Roadmap (SUPER) 2021-2030

Mosti said that as an example, Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd approved RM18.5 million of early-stage grants in 2023 compared with RM12.5 million the year before.

“Some 77 high-potential technology startups benefitted from grants offered by Cradle in 2023 compared to 49 companies in 2022,” said Mosti in a written reply to Tan Kar Hing (PH-Gopeng) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

Mosti said SUPER, which was launched in November 2023, outlined 16 interventions across five key areas comprising funding, talent, innovation, policies and regulations, and market environment, making it a comprehensive master plan to develop the country's startup ecosystem.

“Various incentives were implemented by Mosti such as financing programmes, capacity development, market access as well as initiatives to develop an integrated ecosystem,” it said.

Mosti said the government is currently implementing a comprehensive intervention to ensure high-potential startups continue to thrive through financing from the pre-seed stage until initial public offerings (IPO).

At the same time, companies that were given facilitation and financing will be involved in implementing various initiatives such as the National Technology and Innovation Sandbox (NTIS) and the Use Local R&D Product Initiative (MySTI), said the ministry.

“This will ensure the growth of market access, especially for government-financed research and development (R&D) projects,” it said.

Mosti added that since the launch of the MYStartup portal in 2022, the number of startups registered in the portal has increased by 42.7 per cent, with 3,911 startups registering in 2023 compared to 2,741 in the previous year.