UTAR wins second place at UDGP 2021

Max Capital Management Holding Ltd (MCM) organised the MCM GIC Members Week Virtual Fair, a joint digital transformation Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative, from 13 March 2021 to 20 March 2021. The MCM GIC Members Week was supported by MCM eCom Global Venture Sdn Bhd (BizPorter), Money Compass Media (M) Sdn Bhd, CoMetro Capital, EntreVestors and ulearnMONEY.com.

The virtual fair aimed to bring together various industry-driven experts to connect with mutually global influential key personnel as well as to celebrate the fifth-anniversary milestone of the MCM Global Investment Community (MCM GIC).

Themed ‘Navigating the New Norm for a Thriving Tomorrow’, the main highlight of the event was Unipreneurship Development Grant Program (UDGP) Grand Finale which was held on 20 March 2021. The event aimed to encourage the building of university students’ confidence and competency to increase their pre-seed business marketability in presenting business pitch deck presentations.

The final round of UDGP saw ten young university finalists/college entrepreneurs presenting their business pitch to a global audience during the MCM GIC Members Week Virtual Fair. The finalists came from various universities, namely University Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Taylor's University, Kolej Kemahiran Tinggi MARA Ledang (KKTM), Multimedia University (MMU), MARA Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (TAR UC) and UTAR.

Representing UTAR at the UDGP Grand Finale were Faculty of Accountancy and Management (FAM) student Kow Shuen Teng with his business proposal titled “Trivia”, and Foundation students Quennie Lim Jia Yinn and Karmughil Jaya Sangkar with their proposal titled “ValorQ” and “Cyberdocks” respectively.

The judges of UDGP Grand Finale

The judges of UDGP Grand Finale were Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MCM Adj Prof Ts Maxshangkar, CEO and General Partner of CoMetro Capital Adj Prof Chris Daniel Wong, CEO of MCM eCOM Global Venture Sdn Bhd (BizPorter) Dan Then Ikh Choo, CEO of ulearnMONEY.com Amy Seok and UTAR Head of Unovate Centre Dr Lee Sheng Chyan. The finalists were evaluated based on six criteria including presentation skills, business model, business investability, people’s choice, improvement capacity and point’s penalty. 

Prof Max expressing his gratitude to all the sponsors for their generosity

Prof Max, who is also the organising chairman for MCM GIC Members Week Virtual Fair and UDGP Grand Finale, said in his welcome speech, “Welcome to our virtual Grand Finale. I would like to congratulate the finalists as I believe all of you had put weeks of hard work into your proposal. I also would like to express a big thank you to all our sponsors for their generosity in making our young entrepreneurs’ dream come true. Our vision is to shape tomorrow’s entrepreneur today. So I would like to thank all the judges, my fellow friends and colleagues for providing training and guidance, nurturing the uniprenuers and preparing them for the real business world not just in Malaysia but also globally. I would like to extend my gratitude to universities, such as UTAR, TAR UC and UTM for providing courses as well as a training ground to prepare young universities students in becoming entrepreneurs.”

He advised, “Remember uniprenuers, it’s not just about how great your idea is, it’s about who believes in your ideas and willing to put in the first dollar to help you achieve your dream. In business, results don’t lie; when you have no action, there will be no result, so you have to prepare yourself and put in a lot of hard work. Do not be afraid to fail but be afraid of not taking any chances. When you feel like giving up, remember why you started. Change is painful but the pain is temporary, greatness last forever. Therefore, you have to push through the pain and don’t let the pain stop you; you will definitely grow into a better person.”

The winners of UDGP Grand Finale are as follows:

Champion: Nescafe UTM by Chin Chia Yuan from UTM

UTM student Chin Chia Yuan won first place and walked away with RM15,000.

 

First runner-up: ValorQ by Quennie Lim Jia Yinn from UTAR

Quennie Lim won the first runner-up and walked away with RM7,500. She also won The Best Exhibitor award and took home cash prize worth RM700. 

Second runner-up:  Creamerie Gift and Bakers by Charmian Ong Sze Mian from TAR UC

TAR UC student Charmian Ong Sze Mian won the second runner-up and took away RM3,000.

Three winners of UDGP Grand Finale will also receive three months of business coaching from MCM and a one-year personalised Mentorship Programme from CEO and General Partner of CoMetro Capital Adj Prof Chris Daniel Wong, who is also the President of Malaysia Digital Chamber of Commerce.

 

Dr Lee praising participants for their good presentations

In the closing remark, one of the judges, Dr Lee enthused, “I appreciate the participants’ efforts in preparing their pitching presentation. All of their presentations were good and I believe this work was not just an overnight job. My advice for the participants is, the next time you sell your ideas or pitch your products to the investors, remember to use your pitching time wisely because investors are usually busy. You need to be fast and precise to pick up the opportunity.”