KUALA LUMPUR, 25 August 2023 – Think City, an impact organisation dedicated to making cities more liveable, is pleased to unveil the eight finalists of the Creative KL Urban Challenge. These finalists are competing for the chance to secure funding of up to RM200,000, empowering them to bring their visionary concepts to life or amplify their urban solutions, effectively addressing the most critical urban challenges of Downtown Kuala Lumpur and enhancing the area’s overall liveability. Their proposals will be presented on a public voting platform this 26 August 2023, inviting citizens to participate in shaping the city's future.
The Creative KL Urban Challenge is a component of the Kuala Lumpur Creative and Cultural District rejuvenation efforts, an initiative by Think City and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), and supported by Budget 2023 under the auspices of the Ministry of Finance. The challenge was implemented by scaleup accelerator Proficeo and Open Academy.
The hackathon-styled competition encourages innovators, entrepreneurs, and organisations with a dynamic opportunity to pitch, develop, and showcase Malaysia's finest solutions under the themes of reimagining urban housing, fostering a better environment for all, and enhancing urban accessibility.
Emerging from a promising pool of 76 ambitious and innovative ideas submitted through an open call, 15 semi-finalists were selected to participate in a pitching session. These semi-finalists were evaluated by a distinguished panel of six judges from diverse professional backgrounds including Suryani Senja Alias, Board Director of Think City, Dr. Sivapalan Vivekarajah, Senior Partner & Co-Founder of Scaleup Malaysia, Anita Ahmad, CEO of Yayasan MySDG, Harmender Singh, Vice President of Corporate Affairs Special Projects & SUPERPMO of Cradle, Nor Janah Affandi, Deputy Director, Physical Planning Sector, City Planning Department of DBKL and Suriana Hamzah, Senior Manager, Funding Facilitation & Technology Commercialisation of MRANTI.
Following the pitching session, eight hopefuls have advanced as finalists to proceed to the next phase of public voting where members of the general public can cast their votes from 26 August to 20 September 2023. The successful finalists are:
Natalie Loi
Entomal Biotech
TRYKE Transportation
getBiiB.com
Moore Authentics
NakSeni
Arus Oil (MyProtech)
Asia Mobiliti
The challenge not only empowers the public to actively shape Kuala Lumpur by expressing their preferences through voting for the best urban solutions, but it also establishes a platform for individuals and potential investors to endorse projects aligned with their beliefs and passions.
Think City’s Managing Director, Hamdan Abdul Majeed said, “We are thrilled to announce our final eight innovators who have presented inspiring solutions aimed at enhancing the liveability in Downtown Kuala Lumpur. These ideas seamlessly align with our continuous efforts to transform the Downtown Kuala Lumpur into a thriving, globally recognised creative destination. They also harmonise with the Malaysia MADANI seven key missions as announced by YAB Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Anwar bin Ibrahim, underscoring our commitment to fostering an inclusive city for all.”
“We now invite you to cast your votes for the most promising solutions for Downtown Kuala Lumpur. The people are the heart of the city, who understand what truly drives its pulse and which solutions will flourish in this dynamic urban landscape. I also encourage the successful finalists to seize this opportunity and present your ideas with conviction, highlighting how they can enrich local communities and usher in a positive transformation in Downtown Kuala Lumpur. After all, the transformation of a city requires a whole-village approach.”
The eight Creative KL Urban Challenge finalists will stand to secure funding to realise their ideas or amplify their solutions. Among them, the top three finalists will be awarded the main funding up to RM200,000 each, while the remaining five finalists will receive consolation funding up to RM50,000 each.
The wider public will also have the opportunity to engage with the eight finalists as they present their ideas for votes at:
Proficeo’s Impact Tuesday on 29 August 2023, 10:00AM – 12:00PM at WORQ Co-Working Space, KL Sentral, and
Think City’s and DBKL’s Pentas Seni Merdeka on 9 September 2023, 6:00PM – 11:30PM at Dataran Merdeka.
Voters can explore, vote and consider offering support for the best ideas that resonate with them by visiting thinkcity.com.my.
The voting platform will open on 26 August 2023.
