PetDag, Common Ground join forces to boost Malaysia’s startup ecosystem
KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Dagangan Bhd ( PetDag) and Common Ground, Malaysia’s largest leading coworking space, yesterday announced its partnership to spur the growth of Malaysia’s existing startup ecosystem through providing the community a conducive platform to network and co- create revolutionary ideas.
As part of the partnership, PetDag and Common Ground will also be curating a collaborative program that focuses on guiding and mentoring startups to enable the corporations to innovate solutions that are relevant to PetDag’s business.
The programs will be carried out at Common Ground Ampang, its seventh venue to date, covering a space of 22,285 square feet and equipped with a large event space and ten meeting rooms.
The incorporation of Common Ground into Petronas Station Jalan Kolam Air Lama marks the cornerstone of PetDag’s plan to transform the station into an innovation hub, which is now known as The Place, Ampang.
It will also further aid Common Ground by diversifying its community offering by creating an ecosystem around growth and progression. With Common Ground having the largest number of coworking space venues and a thriving community of businesses, the partnership between the two companies is ideal for fostering innovation amongst startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
“The Place AT Ampang is one of PDB’s long-term strategies to reinvent our retail business, focusing on creating innovative solutions to enhance our customer experience.
“While we have some exciting ideas brewing, we are open to receiving new ones as we look to encourage the growth of the local startup industry.
“This fits in well with our continuous effort in supporting local SMEs and vendors to be part of our business eco-system. We want to reach out to more and this is where Common Ground will play a central role in connecting us with the rest of the startup community out there, to further explore and create greater innovations,” said PetDag’s managing director and chief executive officer, Datuk Sri Syed Zainal Abidin.
Some of the initiatives to be developed among others include increasing station maintenance efficiency and creating a more premium and convenient fueling experience for customers.
To enable the ventures, which are aimed at enhancing the overall customer experience, PDB will be opening up doors for Common Ground’s network of startup community to participate at The Place @ Ampang.
Juhn Teo, co-founder of Common Ground, said, “We are incredibly excited to partner with PDB. With our core values focused on community building, Common Ground Ampang is geared to create a collaborative ecosystem between startups and SMEs, and Petronas as a whole.
“We are certain that with Petronas’ expertise, we’ll be able to provide the startup community with the guidance, mentorship and connections needed to take the next step in their business’ growth.
“As a Malaysian startup ourselves, we understand the challenges faced by other Malaysian startups. What we’ve found to be most important and valuable, is being entrenched in a holistic support system throughout our journey.
“Above all, we believe in humanizing the startup process, encouraging inclusivity and diversity, and connecting people to one another. This is what we plan to provide through this collaboration with PDB.”
Common Ground Ampang houses an in-house café, event space, board rooms, several smaller meeting rooms, quiet lounges, and three formats of workspace – hot desking, fixed desking and private offices – some of which will be occupied by the PDB team, in its effort to provide the startup community easy access to Petronas’ group of companies through PDB.
In addition to Common Ground, The Place at Ampang also houses an innovation lab called The Sandbox, where it will serve to facilitate the design thinking process from ideation to testing for the startup community.
Furthermore, there will also be a Customer Excellence Area focused on gathering customer feedback and insights that will aid the ideas, research and prototype building process.