SEEd.Lab Empowers Malaysian Changemakers at its Second Open Day

KUALA LUMPUR, 8 August 2022 – SEEd.Lab, or Social Enterprise Education Laboratory – an incubator programme powered by PETRONAS and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) – debuted six social ventures from its second cohort at its Open House, which was held at Petrosains, Suria KLCC from 4 to 6 August 2022.

The Open Day is an avenue for the programme’s participants, dubbed SEEd.lings, to showcase the solutions they are developing and validating for their respective social ventures over the course of 12 to 18 months. The SEEd.lings had the opportunity to share findings from their market validation and impact created thus far through their minimum lovable products (MLP), whilst rallying support from industry leaders and ecosystem players towards their social ventures.

“The three social enterprises from our first cohort have collectively impacted more than 10,000 lives and counting. However, it takes a concerted effort from all individuals and groups, organisations large and small to create an ecosystem for impactful, widespread and lasting social change to happen. This year’s Open Day for Cohort 2 is not only a platform for these six new social ventures to showcase their ideas and validate their proposed solutions, but also rally more partners and supporters to collectively create a more positive impact for Malaysian communities,” said Aidonna Jun Ayub, the Programme Manager at SEEd.Lab.

For its second cohort, SEEd.Lab aims to address specific social challenges that exist within four domains, including Food & Agriculture, Health & Hygiene, Education & Skills, and Personal & Financial Security. Amongst the social ventures making their debut at the Open Day were Enoku, which seeks to provide employment for persons with disability; Fundamental, which aims to provide accessible and trustable mental health care for teenagers; OneWay, which looks to enhance business sustainability for Sabahan entrepreneurs with focus on logistics; Sapot, which provides innovative, credible and accessible mental health services for young adults; Sejolly, which empowers parents of children with learning disabilities; and Niagable which empowers street food vendors with relevant insights to make informed, timely and profitable business decisions to grow their business.

As the main forces behind SEEd.Lab, PETRONAS and TCS contribute their resources to accelerate the journey of these social enterprises by providing business and leadership mentoring, technical expertise for solution development, funding for solutions, market testing and commercialisation, to name a few. The graduates from the programme will then continue to have access to the support system built within their time in SEEd.Lab for the next 12 months.

“SEEd.Lab’s first cohort was a success, producing three social enterprises that continue to operate actively in the industry. For its second cohort, PETRONAS and TCS work to equip these newly established social ventures with the right knowledge and know-how to address specific social challenges within the identified four domains. We will continue to empower these young Malaysian changemakers, leveraging our resources and industry networks as a springboard for these ventures to unleash their potential and bring their ideas to sustainable fruition, long beyond commercialisation,” said Datuk Sazali Hamzah, Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Downstream at PETRONAS.

“At TCS, we firmly believe that businesses exist to serve the needs of the people and technology has the power to create greater futures for all. To this end, we are heartened to be able to create upskilling and job opportunities for youths in Malaysia through the work we are doing for SEEd.Lab and look forward to collaborating further with PETRONAS to holistically address societal challenges and leave a positive impact on the community,” said Girish Ramachandran, President, TCS Asia-Pacific.

On the second day of the event, the team organised “An Evening with SEEd.Lab” attended by stakeholders, industry players and advocates of SEEd.Lab. The two-hour session enabled these aspiring social entrepreneurs to share their stories in building a deeper understanding of their cause as well as rallying support from the industry and ecosystem. Among the guests of the evening were top leaders at PETRONAS, including President and Group Chief Executive Officer, Datuk Tengku Muhammad Taufik, President of TCS Asia-Pacific and other key stakeholders of SEEd.Lab.

SEEd.Lab is the first initiative of its kind in Malaysia, which incorporates an end-to-end journey that spans over the essential stages of a start-up’s growth. It is modelled around the TCS Digital Impact Square (DiSQ), an open social innovation centre that encourages innovation using digital technologies to address social challenges prevalent in the community and customised to address the needs of communities in Malaysia.

Further information on SEEd.Lab can be found at www.seedlab.my.