Maxis empowers local tech startup, forays into corporate venture building and investing
SHAH ALAM – In its bid to continue fostering innovation in Malaysia and spurring the digital economy, converged solutions provider Maxis has announced its foray into venture building as part of its overall strategy to invest in and grow tech-driven startups and companies.
Maxis was leveraging its leading network by providing tech startups and companies access to both technology and the human network to create more economic multipliers for the country.
The telco provider also announced its first investment with a significant stake in the Malaysian-based education analytics platform, startup, GuruLab.
Maxis Head of Brand and Marketing Tai Kam Leong said as a strong homegrown brand, its purpose was to bring the best of technologies for the people and businesses.
"Becoming a corporate investor and venture builder is a stride forward for Maxis to empower local entrepreneurs and businesses that are looking to bring greater innovation in technology to the market.
"We want to play a key role in scaling as well as connecting innovators, investors and shareholders, and government, in a shared goal to accelerate national digitalisation," he said in a statement today.
Tai said GuruLab was developing a digital platform that empowers teachers to provide students with personalised English education effectively.
"By applying the power of data analytics to students’ inputs, such as written work and verbal responses, GuruLab will have a detailed view of each student’s strengths and areas of improvement.
"The feedback algorithm recommends the best learning materials and practices for each student, addressing the shortcomings of the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach used by schools and tuition centres," he added.
Maxis’ longstanding belief in the transformative power of education led to an engagement last year with Wright Partners, a corporate venture builder, to explore opportunities in EduTech.
“When we met the co-founders of GuruLab, we knew that we found the right partners to take this venture forward, as they share our passion for education and it will add value to our own flagship community programme, eKelas,” added Tai.
On the other hand, Maxis and GuruLab have started collaborating for the eKelas English HIP Storyfest this year.
GuruLab would be curating writing workshops and offering their tech tools for evaluating essays written by students.
“We are excited to embark on this journey as we believe that Maxis will confer GuruLab a strategic advantage by giving us access to a significant base for customer acquisition,” said Co-Founder of GuruLab Eer Kai Song.
Beyond funding, Maxis would also be providing companies that it invested in with access to support via Maxis’ capabilities, experience and talent.
Maxis has been active in the innovation space, developing several innovation programmes with the startup ecosystem through many initiatives such as the Maxis IoT Challenge, SPARK series, Market Access Day, and collaborations with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation.
