The demo day winner will receive a company incorporation package, mentoring session for three months, and access to MaGIC’s co-working space for three months

Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) today announced the launch of a pre-accelerator bootcamp that aims to help women entrepreneurs validate their business ideas, develop a working prototype, and create a focused go-to-market strategy.

The two-week bootcamp  — MaGIC’s Pre-Accelerator Bootcamp: Female Founders Edition — is specially curated for startups with female co-founders and will provide them with the opportunity to gain practical skills and capabilities, mentorship from key industry players, and valuable insights from Malaysia’s leading womenpreneurs.

Shortlisted participants will be exposed to training on topics such as idea and market validation, business fundamentals and modelling, go-to-market strategies and product development as well as gaining pitching and demo day experience. Accommodation for the participants are free.

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Ashran Dato’ Ghazi, CEO of MaGIC, said: “Women are often under-represented among the entrepreneur population. To address this gender gap, we need to ensure that we understand the specific challenges which exist for womenpreneurs and that in trying to overcome these challenges we are doing our best to open up market access and provide more targeted support for women.”

“This is why we are proud to launch MaGIC’s Pre-Accelerator Bootcamp: Female Founders Edition, our new pre-accelerator bootcamp dedicated to womenpreneurs, as MaGIC seeks to empower women within the entrepreneur ecosystem and provide them with a platform to turn their business ideas into a reality. We welcome womenpreneurs from Malaysia and Southeast Asia to apply to Female Founders and take the next step in their upcoming and exciting entrepreneurship journey,” he added.

Applications open today and run through 21 May 2018.

The programme will announce the top 25 participants, who qualify for the two-week programme in mid-June. Shortlisted participants will then be narrowed down further to 15 womenpreneurs, who will participate in the Demo Day, where they can pitch their refined ideas to a room full of investors.

The winner of the Demo Day will receive a company incorporation package, post-programme mentoring session for three months, and access to MaGIC’s co-working space at its campus for three months.

As per a report, to forge sustainable and inclusive economic growth, it is important for a nation to ensure that women have equal access to the Three Es: Education, Employment, and Entrepreneurship. Even though there are policies in place to improve women’s access to education and jobs market, more active steps must be taken to encourage their participation in entrepreneurship.

In Malaysia alone, the number of Malaysian womenpreneurs has increased over the years. Today womenpreneurs account for about 20 per cent of registered SMEs, according to the SME Association of Malaysia. Even so, these womenpreneurs are often unable to realise their true potential due to issues such as societal perception, lack of equal opportunities and smaller funding size available among others.

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