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THE Selangor Information Technology and Digital Economy Corp (Sidec) has rebranded its coworking space from Selangor Digital Creative Centre (SDCC) to Selangor Sandbox.
The co-working space which was first established in 2015 has expanded to 14,000 sq ft (1300 sq m) and occupies a total of 40 to 60 workers and is located in i-City, Shah Alam.
It also implements environment, social and governance (ESG) elements into its design where it is equipped with a gymnasium and will be installed with solar panels.
Selangor State Executive Councillor for Industry Datuk Teng Chang Khim said these are all efforts to make Selangor as the digital hub of South-East Asia which includes an ecosystem of collaboration, networking, mentoring and resource sharing.
“For the past seven years, thousands of small and medium enterprise (SME) owners, e-commerce merchants, startup founders, and students have found a home here and we are looking forward to Selangor Sandbox scaling to greater heights in the future,” he said yesterday.
Teng has also observed the emergence of more entrepreneurs, hence, the upgrade in facilities and training materials.
The centre began as an incubator but was later upgraded into an accelerator.
“Initially, we are more focused on e-commerce and then developed it into economy-based information technology,” Teng added.
Also, during the rebranding launch, Sidec announced that it will choose 10 local tech start-ups to represent Malaysia at pitching showcases in the US.
The “Pitch Malaysia USA series” programme will enable Malaysian tech companies to pitch in Washington DC and Silicon Valley, as well as expand their business potential to the American market.
This is the third time Sidec will be leading these companies to explore their horizons in the US.
“This four-in-one pitch programme aims to highlight our promising start-ups, placing them in the spotlight of global investors to scale globally.
“The Selangor government through Sidec is dedicated to achieving the national goal of creating five unicorns by 2025,” Teng said.
Local start-ups can apply beginning Feb 20 until March 10.
The chosen start-ups are also encouraged to apply for the SelectUSA Investment Summit which will be held in the state of Maryland from May 1 to 4.
This platform is ideal to connect startups at an early phase and want to invest in the US as they are able to benefit from their strong protection of intellectual property rights laws to access a large consumer market.
“The SelectUSA programme is among the many that we will participate in to give start-ups more exposure to the investment market,” he added.
US ambassador to Malaysia Brian D McFeeters encouraged start-ups to attend the SelectUSA summit as they are able to network with 3,000 delegates from all over the world.
“Invest USA has a lot of formal programmes, but more importantly is the networking and site conversations,” he said.
Apart from having leading US companies in Malaysia, he hoped to have Malaysian companies in the US too.
Source: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2023/02/15/sidec-renames-co-working-space-to-selangor-sandbox/