Malaysia-based Petronas has topped off a 12-week programme for accelerating startups with a demo day at which awards were given to the most promising participants.
Petronas, which also makes lubricant and grease products, is running the FutureTech 4.0 initiative together with a number of corporate partners. These include Bosch Business Innovations, the Bosch group’s unit for building corporate ventures, and Xplor Ventures, which is Asian energy giant PTTEP’s arm for corporate venture capitalism.
Over the 12 weeks, 19 promising startups participated in a number of sessions for mentoring and coaching, as well as various masterclasses. Corporate figures, investors and industry leaders made up the audience at the demo day as the startups pitched their ideas. The proposed solutions covered areas like operational efficiency, digitalisation and sustainability.
Marina Md Taib, the senior vice president for corporate strategy at the Petronas group, said the programme demonstrated the dedication of Petronas in providing support for innovations. She said these have the promise of bringing enduring value, and that:
“By connecting startups, corporates and ecosystem partners from Malaysia and the wider region, we are creating pathways for new solutions to scale and contribute to industries and communities. This is part of our long-term effort to strengthen Malaysia’s innovation ecosystem and support a responsible energy transition.”
She congratulated those who won awards and expressed her company’s interest in their upcoming progress. FutureTech 4.0 will now progress to a phase for immersion and development in which the nine award winners will get to work with Petronas and its partnering corporations.
