KUALA LUMPUR: Alliance Bank Bhd aims to empower small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to accelerate their business growth through its BizSmart Challenge Accelerator Edition by partnering with private equity and venture capital firms. Alliance Bank group chief executive officer Kellee Kam highlighted the launch of the initiative reaffirms the bank’s commitment to enable the growth journey of businesses through relevant and dynamic banking and non-banking solutions. “We recognise that SME owners face various challenges especially during the startup phase, from securing funding to accessing relevant business coaching,” Kam said during a speech at the launch.
The bank has partnered with experts from different fields to address the diverse needs that SMEs have. The partnered experts include private equity firm 5X Capital Sdn Bhd, venture capital firm 1337 Ventures Sdn Bhd, Credit Guarantee Corp Malaysia Bhd (CGC) and Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd. Private equity firm 5X Capital partner Natalie Tan said, while large corporations often make up Bursa Malaysia and get more attention from media outlets, it is SMEs that form the backbone of the identity of the Malaysian economy.
The business initiative organised by Alliance Bank aims to address the challenges that Malaysian SMEs face such as transitioning to eCommerce and digitalisation. The bank has expanded the eligibility criteria for this challenge so more SMEs are able to participate for a chance to grow their business exponentially. The.
