KUCHING, April 5: Five entrepreneurs from Sarawak were selected by Shell Malaysia as part of its entrepreneurial building programme through Shell LiveWIRE 2020 in partnership with Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Bumiputera Sarawak (Tegas).
Shell Malaysia in a media statement today revealed the five winners will each receive a seed grant of RM6,000, as well as mentoring and coaching support from Shell LiveWIRE facilitators for the next nine months to empower them in their entrepreneurial aspirations and assist them in transforming their ideas to full-fledged businesses.
The oil and gas company added their businesses will also be considered for entry into the Shell Malaysia value chain.
It disclosed that a total of 30 entrepreneurs from various locations in Sarawak had participated in the 2020 Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme.
The five winners from Sarawak are:
| RECIPIENT | BUSINESS DESCRIPTION |
| · Moses Lejau Vinsien | EdaBeran – an online platform to promote and market cultural fashion brands from Borneo |
| · Mohammad Hisham Khairul Nasir | WeGo – an online platform and mobile app for deliveries, services and online purchases |
| · Fitriah Rahbi | KunProduct – dried fruits or jeruk produced from local fruits such as guava, terung asam and rambutan |
| · Mohammad Hajib Ali | Farm4All – digitalizing agriproduction for local farmers |
| · Sara Nadia Suib | Mariadra Beauty – manufactures beauty care products made from locally sourced materials |
According to one of the winners, Moses Lenjau Vinsien, the Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme has provided him an avenue to gain much insight and he is looking forward to the support from the facilitators to propel his business ideas further to add value to Sarawak’s economy.
He owns EdaBeran, an online platform to promote and market cultural fashion brands from Borneo.
“Although the programme was conducted entirely virtually, the facilitators made it fun and simple to understand the key things we needed to know to expand our business.
“It essentially gave us a fast track to navigate some of the problems that could potentially challenge our expansion in the future,” he said.
Meanwhile, another winner Sara Nadia Suib of Mariadra Beauty said the Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme has given the participants the skills they need to operate their business besides instilling self-confidence in them.
In the meantime, Shell Malaysia’s chairman and upstream vice president Ivan Tan said, “This year’s Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme utilised virtual platforms to assist participants who are impacted by movement restrictions within the State due to the pandemic.
“Despite this, we continue to show care and support to our local entrepreneurs by providing them the needed assistance to develop their businesses.
“We want them to be empowered to propel their businesses to the next level by taking advantage of opportunities to connect with other entrepreneurs, locally and globally, through the LiveWIRE ecosystem,” he said.
Tegas chairman Datu Len Talif Salleh said, “We are ecstatic to partner with Shell for the Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme for five consecutive years, and work towards creating an inclusive start-up ecosystem in Sarawak.
“We believe through our partnership, we can accelerate the growth of local start-ups and elevate them to the next level,” he said.
Adding on, one of the judges from Tegas Jasmine Dadi said: “The entrepreneurs were a good mix of food-based and technology-based businesses, which really made it challenging to determine who the winners would be.
“I’m glad that the Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme is equipping our local entrepreneurs with the skills they need to affect change and that the programme affords them the opportunity to grow their businesses by potentially entering the Shell Malaysia value chain,” she said.
Likewise, the other two judges were Sarawak Shell senior contracting and procurement manager Yip Yoke Hwa and Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation Innovation and Entrepreneurship head Hazwan Razak.
Shell LiveWIRE is an entrepreneurial programme that seeks to unveil potential start-up entrepreneurs.
It aims to inspire young entrepreneurs to innovate and produce real business solutions that meets today’s socio-economic needs.
Since its inception in 2016, the Sarawak Shell LiveWIRE programme has seen a total of 356 participants come through the programme and 20 entrepreneurs receiving start-up grants as of today. — DayakDaily
