Malaysia's 1337 Ventures invests in three Philippines-based start-ups

The Malaysian VC tells Tech in Asia it may invest over $10,000 more in each of the companies

Malaysia’s 1337 Ventures announced it invested in three Philippine start-ups from its pre-accelerator program Alpha Startups, which recently launched in Cebu province.

The teams include Pas Pas, a last-mile, SMS-based delivery service; Fresk2Ket, a marketplace that connects farmers with restaurants and other businesses; and iMpok, a cash deposit microfinancing platform for schools.
 

Each received a “micro fund” worth $1,000 and $5,000 worth of Amazon Web Services credit.
 

Yet at this point, it’s not about the money but the connections and mentorship these start-ups will receive from 1337 Ventures, says the VC firm’s CEO Bikesh Lakhmichand.
 

“Each team will clock in hours of mentorship with their assigned mentor for the next three months. We will then help them raise a round of investment or invest in them with our regular pre-seed amounts,” Bikesh tells us.

If in those three months the teams get their minimum viable products off the ground and see some traction, then 1337 Ventures will likely inject another PHP 500,000 ($10,600) into each of them, Bikesh adds.
 

The start-ups were chosen out of 11 teams that were selected to pitch at Alpha Startups’ demo day. The programme saw close to 100 applicants, of which 28 teams were selected for a five-day intensive bootcamp.
 

“They were the winners because they could prove that the problem was real and their solution was what customers wanted. They also showed us that they had the right skill sets to execute. For example, Pas Pas was a team with logistics background,” explains Bikesh.

This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here.