Open For Business

According to the Institute for the Future of Education, music education has become instrumental in students’ wellbeing because of the pandemic. Music education was introduced as a regular subject in all primary schools’ curriculum in Malaysia in 1983. But is music education accessible to all students or anyone in Malaysia? Kenny Ooi, the founder and CEO of The Rondo Production, a music education and social enterprise based in Penang helps us understand what impact they are trying to make in the music education market. Photo Credits: The Rondo ProductionSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The World Economic Forum reports that 400 million tonnes of plastic waste is generated annually. Current recycling efforts are ineffective due to cost and energy-intensive processes. Pamarai, a Malaysian sustainable waste management pioneer, offers a solution called The Asher. Since 2018, The Asher has used solar power for thermal degradation of solid waste, including organics, non-organics, and various types of plastic, converting them into reusable, non-harmful ash without needing fossil fuels or external energy. Pamarai sees The Asher as a solution to the global waste crisis, as it's simple enough to be operated anywhere by anyone. The company aims to remove barriers to green technology, empowering organisations to invest in a cleaner, greener future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

SPM results came out around 2 weeks ago and now over 400,000 students need to look ahead and make decisions that will set up the next phase of their lives - young adulthood. A key step for many students after SPM is pursuing higher education, which can be a daunting task considering just how many courses there are out there, the number of education institutions to consider, and the hunt for scholarships, an area where awareness can be an issue.Uni Enrol is an online platform that is trying to address these issues. Since 2018, the startup says it has successfully assisted over 3,000 applicants secure scholarships amounting to RM50 million.Today on Open for Business, we speak with co-founder and CEO Rickson Khaw about how Uni Enrol has helped streamline scholarship access and search for students, how they built this business, their plans to grow the business, and ofcourse, we’ll talk about AI.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Malaysia is on its way to becoming a “super-aged society”, by 2056, which is defined by having over 20% of the population above the age of 65. The number was around 7% in 2020. This highlights the need for more aged care facilities but also the need to focus on preventative care to help elderly adults age better so that they can maintain their mobility and independence.Driven by personal experience, this is exactly what Dr Jillian Yeoh is doing with her healthtech aged-care focused startup. She dove into Aged Care to help Malaysia’s ageing population age with grace, leading to her to starting IMM Carehub, a lifestyle rehabilitation centre which provides holistic care services that aims to cover the full range of wellness, including Physical, Mental, Nutritional and Social. We speak with Dr. Jillian on IMM Carehub’s next steps, the future of Aged Care, and the business model that keeps all this going.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Starting off as an app that wants to help homes with purchasing LPG cylinder cooking gas during the pandemic, Suthan Mookaiah soon rebranded the business to EDAR.com. EDAR is an umbrella of three divisions: EDARgas, EDARruncit and EDARsemula.Suthan Mookaiah, CEO & founder of EDAR.com discusses which is the most profitable division under EDAR's umbrella, and how he can subsidise your groceries at EDARruncit by recycling.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The world is getting busier and technology is here to help us to “do more” - our work and personal letters are all now managed with digital tools. So is traditional pen and paper stationery still relevant in today’s world?We speak to Alvin and Jason Chen, two brothers and Executive Directors, of the CzipLee Group of Companies, to talk about the biggest challenges when running a stationery business in this digital age.CzipLee is a stationery shop that has been run by the Chen family since 1968.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Having witnessed firsthand the hassles of traditional eyewear shopping, Daniel Lim decided to revolutionise the process. He founded AIRVIZIO, an artificial intelligence (AI) tech company, which thrived amidst the pandemic chaos by creating an AI temperature detection system and groundbreaking augmented reality (AR) technology. Leveraging this tech, Daniel then launched Spectaclex, Malaysia's first virtual try-on app for glasses. The app utilises AI and facial recognition to suggest frames tailored to users' face shape and skin tone. Despite the challenges of launching two businesses during a global health crisis, Daniel remained motivated by his vision for AI's potential in transforming eyewear shopping. Now, Spectaclex is making eyewear selection a seamless, enjoyable experience and continues to enhance customer experience in the optical industry. We speak to Daniel about his journey, challenges, and Spectaclex’s plans for future innovations in the optical industry.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In April, India-based Software-as-a-Service and workforce management platform BetterPlace acquired TROOPERS, a Malaysian firm that specializes in part-time staffing and recruitment services, in a deal estimated to be worth between US$15 million and US$20 million, according to a source who spoke to Tech in Asia. This came a month after BetterPlace acquired Indonesia-based MyRobin for an undisclosed amount.Given this sudden push into Southeast Asia, we speak to Pravin Agarwala, Co-Founder and Group CEO of BetterPlace to get into how these acquisitions plug into BetterPlace, a deeper dive into their growth and expansion plans, and what the pathway to profitability and an IPO could look like.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Under its MyStartup Hub (MSH) programme, the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI) has been trying to recruit global innovators to establish business hubs in Malaysia. One of these companies is Singapore-based sustainable building solutions provider Bizsu. Founded in 2019, Bizsu wants to help businesses embrace sustainability in a way that’s practical while being kind to the bottomline. The firm claims that its main product reduces air-conditioning consumption by 25% on average. We speak to Brice Degeyter, Bizsu’s Founder and General Manager, about tech behind this patented net, their expansion strategy beyond Singapore, and what else lies ahead for Biszu.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is doing laundry at a laundrette becoming a trend here in Malaysia? We hear from Nini Tan, Co-Founder of Dobi Queen, a laundrette that has been providing wash, dry and fold services since 2015. Over the next eight years, DobiQueen plans to expand to more than 70 stores in the Klang Valley. We'll be delving into DobiQueen's business model, profitability, and future expansion strategies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.