Alibaba Cloud announced that its entrepreneurship competition, which is one of the world’s largest, is back and will be held in Kuala Lumpur. The competition, Create@ Alibaba Cloud Global Startup Contest 2022 (CACSC) will be hosted and organised by Handsprofit, the local operator of Alibaba Cloud Innovation Center along with My Lives Global as the co-organiser of the contest.
The contest aims to provide Malaysia’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), start-ups and developers innovation platforms such as working spaces, cloud technology, training, business leadership programmes and venture capital connections. Registration of the contest is now open for businesses and startups seeking to raise funds or to enter China.
About CACSC
In 2015, Alibaba Cloud kick-started the first CACSC, marking the beginning of one of the biggest entrepreneurship contests. Dubbed as “the Olympics” of technology venture capital, CACSC covers dozens of countries and just under 100 cities worldwide.
With the advantages provided by being one of the digital economy pioneering regions worldwide, the contest accelerates the integrated development between technology innovation projects and industries in areas of integrated circuits, big data, cloud computing, IoT, artificial intelligence, 5G, smart manufacture, and many more.
Entry Requirements
The applicant should have a bachelor’s degree or above, with a certain level of management or self-employment experience with a legal company registered for their project. The project should exhibit core technical strength and continuous innovation which includes intellectual property patents, model products, or established products. This year’s fields of interest will be on digital technology, food and beverage (F&B) technology, agricultural (agro) technology, blockchain and industrial revolution 4.0.
Program Opportunities
There will be a ready fund and network of investors for successful projects and access to Alibaba’s wide range of business ecosystems and resources. Invaluable mentorship from experienced industry experts will be provided as well along with technological assessment and development assistance. Moreover, participants will get insights from corporate visits and learn through experiential workshops. Trophies and certificates will be awarded to outstanding projects with an invitation to the World Final.
Contest Timeline and Phases
Pre-registration opens from July 20 and the contest will last 3 months ending Oct 27. There will be 3 phases; Phase 1 consisting of registration application and slide submission from participants; Phase 2 consisting of workshops, mentoring and corporate visits which prepares participants for the pitch; and finally, Phase 3 consisting of the pitching competition and also the potential pitch to investors.
Competition Roadmap
There will be a total of 50 participants each in 5 verticals listed. A preliminary stage will take place to shortlist the top 50 participants per vertical. The top 10 participants per vertical will then be chosen to advance during the semi-final stage. As for the ASEAN final stage, top 3 participants per vertical will be selected and the champion of each vertical will have the opportunity for an investor pitching in China.
Application Process
2022 Create@ Alibaba Cloud is now open for registration. Interested applicants can find out more and submit their proposals via the following link, https://www.createstartupcontest.com.