"Capital is the cheapest thing."

But there's a catch to what this founder said.

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Vulcan Post
January 22, 2025

By now, you’ve probably done your company town hall meetings and alignments for 2025. (If not… best get to it, as January’s already almost over!)

It’s another year of opportunities to chase growth, and that can mean different things for each business.

Some may be looking to up their headcount, some want geographical expansion. Others may be seeking capital.

All tough challenges, but with the right strategies, things can fall into place.

For you today, we have:

  • An F&B entrepreneur who’s trying to keep youths in an ageing town through her F&B businesses

  • Predicted business trends for 2025 to keep an eye on or adapt to

  • An upcoming IPO listing on Bursa that’s turning many heads 

📢 “To me, money or capital is the cheapest thing.”

💰 For founders who’ve struggled with seeking funding, perhaps a switch in mindset is what you need. Tiffany, the founder of The Flow Studio, a Reformer Pilates chain, believes that capital is easy to get—if you’ve got your fundamentals right. What’s truly difficult is finding partners who can contribute more than just money.

Grab a coffee, here’s your to-read list:

👴🏼 Revitalising an ageing town seems like a mammoth of a task for any entrepreneur. But Linn Yong of San Da Gen in Sandakan isn’t backing down from that challenge. She’s breathing new life into the old town with her group of F&B brands.

🍃 If not now, then when? The hallmark of many entrepreneurship stories we cover is when someone decides to leave a stable (usually corporate) career to start something of their own. Jeremy left tech for tea, and brewed up a kombucha business from scratch.

🏦 Could this be the IPO of the year? We say “Oriental Kopi”, you think “long queues.” Now this popular kopitiam brand’s avid supporters have more to look forward to. Oriental Kopi has scheduled its Bursa listing for January 23, and is looking to raise RM183.96 million. 

‘Tis the season to claim your tax reliefs, if you’ve been paying them

Here’s a masterlist to guide you through what you’ll be eligible to claim by the deadline of April 30, 2025.

Barely a year old, this M’sian juice brand has bagged US$1 million

Founded by foodpanda Malaysia’s ex-CEO, Sayantan Das, Being Juice caught the eyes of 500 Global and BEENEXT.

Malaysia’s latest digital bank is banking on AI to stand out

Meet Ryt Bank by YTL-Sea, which has a ChatGPT-like bot that can do stuff like transfers based on screenshots.

Thinking of tackling more horizontal growth for your biz this year?

Ecosystem players are predicting opportunities in niche or ageing communities.

Spotlight on Cradle PLUGIN

👥 An event doesn’t have to be big and bombastic to make an impact. Cradle’s recent PLUGIN event was a great example of that.

It was cosy and intimate, creating the ideal environment for great ideas to be comfortably shared by startups, investors, and policymakers.

They talked about:

  • corporate-startup synergy

  • how to build a corporate’s confidence in your startup

  • the true value of grants

  • letting go of “cowboy” startup culture if you want to play in the big leagues, and more

Future iterations of this event will definitely be ones to keep an eye on.

Check out content marketing opportunities with us today.

Turning passion into profit…

Yes, we do have a TikTok too, where our articles can be watched in bite-sized videos! Click on the thumbnails to watch the videos!

🍰 Through their world-class pastries. With grit and resilience, these chefs emerged as superstars in the pastry world when they won the World Pastry Cup in 2019. Now, they’re letting fans taste their intricate creations through their very own store, Voilà Patisserie.

🍧 Through his shaved ice products. This entrepreneur’s been through a lot—dwindling sales, measly profits of RM89/month, partners leaving, and bankruptcy knocking at his door. But he kept believing in his product, and now he’s supplied his shaved ice to over 500 merchants nationwide.

🏺Through his unique pottery creations. Specialising in a Japanese firing technique called Raku, the end result of this ceramicist’s work can be unpredictable. In fact, there’s a 50% failure rate. Yet, he remains fascinated by the process, and his passion has raked in sales of over RM1 million in a year.