Applications now open in Malaysia for the fifth cohort of the EY startup incubator program in Asia-Pacific

Early-stage tech startups in Malaysia are invited to apply to the EY Foundry startup incubator program to accelerate business growth through piloting and scaling activities with EY, in particular the EY Tax service line. This year, the EY organization announced the continued expansion of the EY Foundry startup incubator program into Cambodia, Guam, Thailand and Vietnam. These markets will join Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore and Sri Lanka, where the program has been running since 2018.

EY Foundry is particularly keen to work with those startups that can enhance the EY Tax practice in any of the following innovation areas:

• Services of tomorrow: optimizing processes and enhancing the client experience
• New enterprise: reimagining traditional Tax, Law and People Advisory Services (PAS) using disruptive technology to create new markets and business models
• Sustainability: technology that delivers ESG and supply chain transformation resulting in net-zero or negative carbon emissions
• People and wellness: embracing the future of work through continuous learning and development, and employee wellness

Amarjeet Singh, EY Asean Tax Leader shares:

“Our incubator program has a new focus on innovation. Start-ups from all sectors are invited to collaborate with us in developing pilot solutions to enhance our clients’ experience and develop the services of tomorrow, leverage disruptive technology to create new markets and business models, meet sustainability goals, and stay centered on people and wellness.

With the geographic expansion of this year’s program to include more countries in Southeast Asia, more start-ups in the region will have the opportunity to participate in the program and scale their business. By supporting the growth of the start-up ecosystem, this will help to unlock new opportunities for the region.”

Successful applicants to the program will be announced at a virtual launch event to be held in June 2022. Winning startups will be offered six months of participation in activities that include tailored learnings by EY subject-matter professionals, as well as EY piloting sessions to better prepare startup products to access the corporate community.

EY Foundry takes no equity in the startups and to further support the program’s participants in building their technology, the successful applicants will be given US$120,000 worth of Microsoft Azure credits.

Program Director of EY Foundry in Malaysia and Malaysia Tax Leader, Ernst & Young Tax Consultants Sdn Bhd, Farah Rosley adds:

“EY Foundry has been very well received by the startup community in Malaysia since its launch in 2020. Last year, we saw strong representation from our local startups in the program’s fourth cohort across Asia-Pacific. This is a recognition of the potential of our local entrepreneurial talents and the healthy startup ecosystem in the country. Through this incubator program, we look forward to continue working with the relevant ministries and agencies to connect with the startup communities from across diverse sectors as well as supporting more budding entrepreneurs in Malaysia to achieve greater scale and impact by leveraging our professional experience, industry capabilities and global network.”

Patricia Xia, EY Asia-Pacific Tax Innovation Leader, says:

“The program’s expansion will bring greater diversification of applicants, startup businesses and emerging technologies, as well as more opportunities to connect these solutions to EY services for clients.”

Ben Stein, Co-Founder and CEO of Staple, and EY Foundry alumni, says:

“Since taking part in the EY Foundry program, our startup has been able to work directly with EY professionals and EY clients in helping them solve their pain points using our technology. We’ve been building our relationship with the EY organization to be able to reach a broader group of clients across the global EY network. I would encourage any startup looking to work with the EY organization to apply for this program.”

Vivian Zhou, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Karlsgate, and EY Foundry alumni, says:

“EY Foundry is a program all startups that fit the criteria should consider. The program was tailored based on our needs with the focus being to help grow and scale our business through access to EY networks, Microsoft Azure credits and subject-matter professionals.”

To qualify for the EY Foundry program, applicants must fulfill a set of criteria:

• Be an early-stage startup (Series A funding or earlier) that is technology- or product-related
• Be able to demonstrate how the startup adds value to the EY business in at least one of the four innovation areas noted above
• Have a working prototype or be working toward having a prototype that is scalable and can be used internationally
• Founders of startups are invited to apply to the program until 29 April 2022 at ey.com/eyfoundry.

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This news release has been issued by Ernst & Young Tax Consultants Sdn Bhd, a member of the global EY organization.