KUCHING – The establishment of a business incubator program that will train and fund selected staff, students and alumni from Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus to launch new start-up businesses is being developed.
Swinburne Sarawak and FINICO Investments Pty Ltd of Australia recently signed a MoU to explore the establishment of an investment fund that will support new business ventures in Sarawak.
The incubator program, currently under development in collaboration between Swinburne University staff from the Melbourne and Sarawak campuses, will bring together insights and experience in business incubation and venture funding across Australia and Asia.
“Our intent is to foster a strong spirit of entrepreneurship amongst our staff, students and alumni, and this program will offer them the tools they need to make a start-up successful,” said Professor Janet Gregory, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of Swinburne Sarawak.
Partnership with venture funds like FINICO provides participants with direct access to capital and international business network.
The chief executive officer of FINICO, Marcus Sheeran, who was present to sign the MoU with Swinburne Sarawak, is an entrepreneur from Australia who has established a range of successful technology and information technology companies in the Asia Pacific.
When approached about extending his existing partnership with Swinburne to Sarawak, Sheeran saw it as an opportunity to not only support fellow entrepreneurs in Sarawak but also have a platform for further business development from Malaysia into ASEAN and beyond.
Associate Professor Wallace Wong, Director of the Research and Consultancy Office at Swinburne Sarawak, said there is substantial interest in collaborating with exciting new entrepreneurs from Swinburne, with a range of further investment discussions occurring to support later stage funding for the new business start-ups.
The signing of the MoU between Swinburne Sarawak and FINICO was officiated by Yayasan Sarawak director, YBhg Encik Azmi bin Haji Bujang.