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It takes one whistleblower to send things crumbling

And a whole village to build the ecosystem back up.

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Vulcan Post
November 13, 2024

If you’ve not been caught up yet, MOF revealed that Khazanah and PNB had lost about RM43.9 million in their late-2023 fire sale of FashionValet for RM3.1 million.

All the finger-pointing and responsibility brush-offs aside, one thing’s clear: The startup ecosystem is kind of in shambles over this.

How could this happen when there are supposed to be layers of audits? Can we trust these bodies with our hard-earned taxpayer money again? Should we scrutinise every startup deal way more?

With investigations into the case still ongoing and few answers to be found, it’s no surprise that morale in the ecosystem is low.

But that doesn’t mean all hope is lost.

For you today, we have:

  • A week full of impactful startup events, hosted by various respected names in the ecosystem

  • ICYMI: A roundup of highlights from Budget 2025 just for entrepreneurs

  • A luxury car brand made locally that you’ve never heard of before

📢 It takes a village to build a startup ecosystem

💪🏼 Feeling discouraged by all the recent FashionValet news? Lost hope in our local startup ecosystem? Here’s a curated event that will show you it’s not all gloom and doom, because there are still many players doing their part to uplift one another and share their best practices.

It’s Startup Week Malaysia 2024, happening from November 18 to 24, hosted by one of Malaysia’s biggest entrepreneurship groups and supported by Cradle, ZUS Coffee, Asia School of Business, and more.

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

👨🏼‍🍳 He went from line cook to restaurant owner… and now runs 3 outlets. There was a steep learning curve for this shy entrepreneur to learn how to lead a team, but it was the “good kind”.

🎨 From home biz to 50+ centres globally… she started with teaching art to just eight students—mostly family members. To scale in her line of business, she needed trust. So, she invited parents to observe her classes, and the transparency paid off.

🚗 You’ve never heard of this luxury car brand made in Malaysia… because let’s be real, we’re not really in their target market. For a brand originating from Australia though, we’d say they’ve got more Malaysian pride than some local businesses.

So, we tried the new e-hailing service on the block, Bolt

It’s not breaking Grab’s monopoly anytime soon, but it has competitive potential.

Hot on the heels of Bolt, Lalamove has also Lalamoved into e-hailing

We’ve not tried this yet, but we’re curious how reliable Lalamove Ride will be.

The Makeover Guys spent almost RM4 million on their new office

We headed over to figure out why it cost so much, and catch up on how the brand has grown.

Budget 2025, condensed to the things that matter to entrepreneurs

Here’s a roundup of key highlights for local entrepreneurs to keep in mind as we move into 2025.

Spotlight on Sunway Popbox

Year-end sales are ongoing, and if you’re doing any shopping, you’ll want to know that your packages are safe and sound once they’re delivered.

Introducing: ✨Sunway Popbox ✨

It’s available in 200+ locations across the Klang Valley and can be unlocked only by your unique PIN code.

Plus, it makes “can’t find your address” issues a thing of yesterday, since Sunway Popboxes are placed in easily accessible areas.

Check out content marketing opportunities with us today.

Come explore with us

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!

👻 A ghost mall in its final days. We went to Malakat Mall just days before its closing to see the reality of its struggles for ourselves. Prided for being a Muslim-first mall, it seems that many felt its management could have done more to keep it around.

⏰ What it’s like to have no working hours! Our boss let us work with no fixed working hours (just for 2 weeks though!), so we worked from anytime, anywhere. Were we more productive than usual, or did everything fall into chaos? Well… the video tells all.

🤑 A RM400/seat cinema experience. You can rub your eyes as much as you want, but that won’t change the numbers you’re seeing. This is said to be Malaysia’s biggest luxury cinema, and the halls and their comforts certainly live up to its lavish promises.