Malaysia, 12 August 2022 – Following the success of the previous 4 competitions, the fifth China ASEAN New Smart City Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition 2022 will be held virtually on the 23 September. The competition hosted by Nanning Municipal D&R Commission is organized by Nanning Municipal Big Data Bureau, Nanning Foreign Affairs Office, CloudBae Big Data Industry Development Co. Ltd. (‘CloudBae’) with other commercial partners such as NeuXP Group joining hands to promote the competition to the Malaysian startup market.
This competition serves as platform to connect the best ASEAN startups to the Smart Cities ecosystem which in turn will accelerate the advancement of technology in building smart cities. Through the competition, the grand finalists will undergo special training from CloudBae in the areas of business culture, way of life, and the existing competition in a typical China’s second-tier city. The grand finalists will also be receiving mentorship from seasoned startup founders who will be guiding them in sharpening their pitch, Unique Selling Proposition (USP), and ROI forecast. Additionally, CloudBae will also be selecting startups from the competition to incubate and provide them with the resources such as networking, access to big data, and office spaces, that can help them grow their business in Nanning.
The Details of the Competition
The registrations to the competition starts from the 5th of July till the 3rd of August 2022 on its online platform . Upon the closing of the registration, 12 teams from each category will then have to undergo the process of project planning to come up with their pitch performance to secure their seat in the China Grand Finals. The ASEAN division finals will be held on 18-19 August 2022, and the top 12 teams will go to the China Grand Finals on 23 September 2022.
Participants can choose to join two categories in the competition; the Startup Category and the Comprehensive Category. While the Startup Category is open to students and teams with early-stage smart city ideas without a minimum viable product requirement, the Comprehensive Category is open for established startups working on smart city solutions with the requirement of a minimum viable product.
The Judging Criteria: The Pitch
Coaching these 12 final teams will be six mentors from the private sector and the judges will consist of three Singaporean representatives and two from other ASEAN nations. The main highlight of this competition will be the pitch performances by the teams where they will be judged on their pitch performances; excellent flow, delivery of response, critical thinking as well as team synergy. The pitches are expected to meet various criteria with the inclusivity of the use of immersive media in order to move onto the finals and win the competition.
Aside from the delivery of the speech, the teams will also be judged in their response to the judge’s questions. They will also be required to showcase a team synergy through good performance, visual presentation, as well as a good team spirit.
The China Grand Final
Only six teams from each category will be selected for the China Grand Final that will take place on the 24th of September 2022 as a virtual and live streaming event where the competition winner will later be announced and awarded with the grand prize of RM 50,000. Just like the experience of the past four winners of the competition, the winner of this year’s competition will also be able to use this competition as a stepping stone to a successful jump in their startup business.
This competition hopes to form opportunities for startups to break into new markets and overcome the challenges of a new normal of going virtual with high-tech advancement. While startup businesses may feel the pressure as barriers to market entry may be higher for specific markets, this competition will make it easier for the participants to venture into the niche of their choice.