Maxis empowers local tech startup community with foray into corporate venture building and investing

KUALA LUMPUR: In its bid to continue fostering innovation in Malaysia and spurring the digital economy, Maxis has announced its foray into venture building as part of its overall strategy to invest in and grow tech-driven startups and companies.

As the leading converged solutions provider, Maxis is leveraging its leading network by providing tech startups and companies access to both technology and the human network to create more economic multipliers for the country.

As the first of many venture building initiatives to come, Maxis has taken a significant stake in Malaysian-based education analytics platform, startup, GuruLab.

“Becoming a corporate investor and venture builder is a stride forward for Maxis to empower local entrepreneurs and businesses that are looking to bring greater innovation in technology to the market.

"We want to play a key role in scaling as well as connecting innovators, investors and shareholders, and government, in a shared goal to accelerate national digitalisation.

"As a strong homegrown brand that is committed to investing in Malaysia, this is aligned with our purpose to bring the best of technologies to enable people and businesses to always be ahead,” said Tai Kam Leong, Head of Brand & Marketing, Maxis.

GuruLab is developing a digital platform that empowers teachers to effectively provide students with personalised English education.

By applying the power of data analytics to students’ inputs, such as written work and verbal responses, GuruLab will have a detailed view of each student’s strengths and areas of improvement.

The feedback algorithm recommends the best learning materials and practices for each student, addressing the shortcomings of the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach used by schools and tuition centres.

Maxis’ longstanding belief in the transformative power of education led to an engagement last year with Wright Partners, a corporate venture builder, to explore opportunities in EduTech.

“When we met the co-founders of GuruLab, we knew that we found the right partners to take this venture forward, as they share our passion for education and it will add value to our own flagship community programme, eKelas,” added Tai.

Maxis and GuruLab have started collaborating for the eKelas English HIP Storyfest this year. GuruLab will be curating writing workshops and offering their tech tools for the evaluation of essays written by students.

“We are excited to embark on this journey as we believe that Maxis will confer GuruLab a strategic advantage by giving us access to a significant base for customer acquisition,” said Eer Kai Song, Co-Founder of GuruLab.

Beyond funding, Maxis will also be providing companies that it invests in with access to support via Maxis’ capabilities, experience and talent.

Maxis has been active in the innovation space, developing several innovation programmes with the startup ecosystem through many initiatives such as the Maxis IoT Challenge, SPARK series, Market Access Day, and collaborations with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).