Webe Digital to begin housing startups
> Venture with World Startup Festival eyes tapping talents to generate ideas
PETALING JAYA: Webe Digital Sdn Bhd, which welcomes startups to its premises through its partnership with World Startup Festival (WSF), hopes to tap into them to solve some of its problems including parking.
WSF is a global non-profit organisation based in California bringing together startup ecosystems worldwide through training and mentorship, cross-border collaboration, funding, media exposure and market expansion.
It brings together entrepreneurs, government, corporations and community leaders from all regions to advance youth entrepreneurship. It has about 5,000 startups in its database.
As part of its partnership with the WSF, Webe Digital will be part of the incubating process and house the first WSF Labs in Asia, which was launched yesterday.
Webe Digital CEO Moharmustaqeem Mohammed (Mohar) said it will work together with these startups to identify friction points within its operations and business, as well as solve real customer problems.
“Over the bootcamp (held at Webe Digital from Aug 1 till 6), they were trying to figure out how to resolve parking within this area. We’ve got about 650 people and 200 bays … they’ve come in with some very innovative, very light applications,” he told reporters at the launch at its headquarters on Jalan 222 yesterday. He said these applications can be used by any corporation and will be tested internally.
“If it works, we will look for opportunities together with our partners in order for us to figure out whether there are commercial opportunities that we can explore,” he added.
The start-ups, both local and foreign, will operate for free from the seventh floor of Webe Digital’s premises here in Petaling Jaya. It aims to accommodate 20 ideas within each three-month cycle.
Mohar said partnering with WSF is a necessity, as the company works towards evolving into a full-fledged digital company. With the partnership, start-ups will engage with its customers on a daily basis to identify friction points and work out solutions.
“That is beneficial to any company, let alone a mobile company like us, who produce products and services for and on behalf of Unifi. In order for us to understand the requirements, needs and desires of households, we need start-ups to go and explore, to innovate the day-to-day chores that we have, to make their lives and businesses easier,” he said.
Mohar said the start-ups will also have access to some of its technology and data, which will lead to new opportunities to serve its customers and the society at large.