| Danial Norjidi |
A NEW platform could soon be in place to help and prepare start-up companies so that they can secure funding.
This new platform would potentially be carried out in an initiative under DARE (Darussalam Enterprise) in cooperation with Adlerblick Pte Ltd, a consultancy company based in Singapore.
Speaking in a recent interview, Kirpal Singh Sidhu, Chief Executive of Adlerblick, shared that the company had been invited by DARE “to come and look at some of the startup companies here with the objective of helping them and preparing them – polishing them up – so that they can raise funding”.
He said that “it’s still in the infancy stage” and that they are still talking to the relevant stakeholders. “It’s very preliminary.”
Sidhu went on to explain exactly what the programme would prepare companies for, saying, “Right now, the companies have just come up with the idea. There’s still a long way before you talk about IPO and so on. It takes time. So right now is for them to take that idea and develop it in such a way that it becomes marketable, ready for the market.”
“The journey from where they are now to where they even raise the funds is a long journey. But if you have the proper guidance and mentorship then they will be much better and more polished to do that. That is what we are here for.”
Ash Singh, who is also with Adlerblick, also spoke during the interview.
“On the topic of qualifications, first off, we’re both entrepreneurs,” he said. “We’ve both gone on a journey of building and selling companies. We’ve also done it in the region. We’re not some Silicon Valley guys that are pretending that what happens in Brunei is the exact same thing that happens in Silicon Valley.”
Ash Singh (L) and Kirpal Singh Sidhu posing for a photo. – DANIAL NORJIDI
“We’ve done work in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Indonesia, India, Thailand and Australia, etc. So we’re close. I think Brunei is a unique place, and we’re close to home.”
“The other thing is we have been developing a curriculum at one of the top business schools in the world and what we’ve done is we’ve had thousands of students go through our programme,” he continued.
“Through that journey we’ve put together a curriculum based on the challenges that startups have and the concerns that VC (venture capitalists) have when they’re assessing somebody for investment.”
“We’ve put a programme together that has now been leveraged by around three to four thousand students and these students, of the teams that incorporate, over half of them go on to raise some form of funding, whether it’s a grant, angel investment or VC, and we’ve spent a lot of time coaching these people as well, outside of the curriculum, and we feel like now is the right time for us to bring our talents here and see if what’s worked in 18 other different countries will work here.”
Sidhu added on, noting that they are looking to help companies here to export their ideas, products and services.
When asked about the specific format that the programme will be delivered in, Singh said, “We’re working on it right now,” and added that more details will be announced soon.
“We are going to take a very innovative and localised approach,” he said.
Sidhu, sharing his thoughts on what he has seen in the country so far, said, “Brunei has got very good talent. I taught at the IPA (Civil Service Institute) and met a lot of young Bruneians, and I feel that they are talented and speak well.”
He noted, however, that they may not know what investors might be looking for, “because they haven’t had this kind of experience yet”.
“So what we are here to help them with is to sharpen them up a little bit and give them an understanding of what the VC will be looking out for, how to present your ideas, how to be more focused – we talk about putting ideas across quickly and succinctly in a two-minute pitch rather than ramble on for one hour and get everybody lost in the one hour.”
“Bruneians have gone over-seas to study. They have good exposure,” he added. “The challenge will be for them to polish up their idea and be very focused and clear when presenting it. With that out of the way I think they’ll be able to lift off.”
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