Malaysia: Media Prima Labs,1337 Ventures to fund game developers

A new version of the game, where players can compete with each other and have real fake talent wars, is set to be launched some time this year. Photo: Mint

By Tanu Pandey

May 12, 2017

Media Prima Labs, the tech innovation arm of Malaysia’s Media Prima, has partnered 1337 Ventures’s idea validation programme Alpha Startups to groom and validate ideas from game developers in Southeast Asia, with top ideas receiving over $46,000 (MYR200,000) of funding.

The teams. that will engage in a weekend game hackathon, will either develop games based on their own ideas or leverage the IP (Intellectual Property) provided by Media Prima Labs. The top 5 games presented at the end of the weekend will receive funding of RM30,000 to further refine their game within the next one month with supervision from 1337 Ventures, said a statement issued on Friday.

The refined games would then be pitched again for a chance to receive an additional funding of RM50,000.

The last level of funding of which an amount between MYR50,000 to MYR200,000 will be used to successfully fund their crowdfunding campaign. 1337 Ventures and Media Prima are also in talks with other publishers in the region that may be interested to co-invest in the teams.

According to Kickstarter statistics (2014), game projects raised up to MYR89.1 million in funding, coming in third in terms of total amount raised after the Design (second) and Technology categories (first). Alpha Startups: Game Edition will prepare startups for their crowdfunding-launch and grant teams access to networking opportunities with investors, publishers, distributors, and super successful Indie and Game studios from around the Southeast Asia.

The Alpha Startups: Game Edition has also roped in Digi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd (Digi) into the programme where participants will be able to gain insights from the Digi team on the Malaysian gamers behaviour as a consumer.

“We have been seeing a significant growth and great potential in the mobile games industry in Malaysia whereby there is an increase in demand of the content. This would mean we are constantly looking out for great game developers to address this demand,” said Nicholas Sagau, Group General Manager, Media Prima Labs & Operations.

Also Read:

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Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
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Singapore Reporter/s

In Singapore, we are looking to double our reporting team by this year-end to comprehensively cover the fast-moving world of funded startups and VC, PE & M&A deals. We want reporters who can tell our readers what is really happening in these sectors and why it matters to markets, companies and consumers. The ability to write precisely and urgently is crucial for these roles. Ideal candidates must have to ability to work in a collaborative, dynamic, and fast-changing environment. We want our new hires to be digitally savvy and ready to experiment with new forms of storytelling. Most importantly, we are looking for hard-hitting reporters who work well in a team. Collaboration and collegiality are a must.

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).

Following vacancies can be applied for (only in Singapore).   

  • A reporter to track companies/startups that have raised private capital, and have the potential to become unicorns. SEA currently has over 40 companies with a valuation of over $100 million and under $1 billion.
  • A reporter who can get behind the scenes and reveal how funding rounds are put together, or why they’ve failed to materialise. She/he in this role will largely focus on long-format stories. 
  • A journalist to track special situations funds, distressed debt and private credit (from the PE angle) across Asia.
APPLY NOW