Alliance Bank Announces Increased Total Cash Prizes to RM500,000 for BizSmart® Challenge Accelerator Edition

Kuala Lumpur, 16 July 2024 - Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad (“Alliance Bank” or the “Bank”) today announced that the total cash prize for the ongoing Alliance Bank BizSmart® Challenge cornerstone initiative has been increased to RM500,000 to empower and support the growth aspirations of SME businesses. The grand prize winner will now receive cash funding of RM250,000 and to allow greater participation in the Challenge, the submission deadline has also been extended by another 3 weeks to 4 August 2024.

This announcement was made at the inaugural Alliance Bank BizSmart® Business Conference 2024 (“ABBBC” or the “Conference”) held today, which saw a full house of approximately 400 entrepreneurs gather to gain insights, get inspired and connect with business leaders across various industries. The event aimed at providing business owners the knowledge and resources to advance their business roadmap for growth.

The Conference, themed “Business Beyond Tomorrow”, continues the Bank’s efforts to provide solutions that support SMEs’ growth through relevant and meaningful events which adds value to the community. The first half of the event called “StartUp”, featured segments that would benefit SMEs in their earliest growth stages (less than 5 years in operations) while the latter half of the event, “ScaleUp”, was tailored to the needs of more established SMEs looking to grow to the next level or are in periods of transition to a younger generation of leaders. The fully sold-out one-day event had approximately 350 participants attending.

“We have a long-standing relationship with the SME community and are committed to providing relevant banking and non-banking solutions to meet their diverse needs at every stage of their business roadmap. The ABBBC exemplifies our continuous efforts to empower SMEs with the knowledge and tools they need to thrive in today’s competitive market. As we become their Bank for Life, we will continue to provide propositions that can further enhance the capabilities of SMEs,” said Mr Kellee Kam, Group Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Bank.

Distinguished industry leaders from Mamee, Montigo, Asia Green Group, YYC Group, Hexa Food, FFF Media, Ampersand Advisory, BilaBila Mart and ZUS Coffee alongside venture capital investors 1337 Ventures and 5X Capital delivered insightful business strategies for navigating the complex entrepreneurial landscape and also provided actionable knowledge on critical topics that ranged from e-invoicing, digital adoption, market expansion and branding opportunities as well as ESG adoption in a series of panel sessions, presentations and fireside chats throughout the event. Many BizSmart® Challenge alumni who are now household names, namely Signature Market, Chriszen, Christy Ng and BloomThis also took part in the event held at W Hotel Kuala Lumpur to share their entrepreneurial stories and learnings.

The ABBBC event is part of the Alliance Bank BizSmart® Challenge initiative which launched its seventh iteration in June. This year’s challenge, also called the Accelerator Edition, aims to connect aspiring entrepreneurs with venture capital investors for the chance at investment funds while also providing mentorship, brand exposure, business training and cash prizes to finalists. 30 finalists will be shortlisted from among the submissions that are received and they will be contacted in August.

For more information about the Alliance Bank BizSmart® Business Conference, please visit www.alliancebank.com.my/bizsmart-business-conference. .
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