SHAH ALAM, May 20 — The Selangor government and The Hive Southeast Asia (THSEA) have inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to launch a collaboration for THSEA to share its co-creation methodologies to develop the Smart Selangor Digital initiatives.

The MoU was signed by the state-owned company Smart Selangor Delivery Unit (SSDU) managing director Dr Fahmi Ngah and THSEA managing partner Dato’ Syed Haizam Jamalullail during The Hive Annual Summit 2022 held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Palo Alto, USA, on May 16.

Fahmi said the collaboration is a result of their continuous efforts in developing the Selangor Smart State initiative.

“By collaborating with global and industrial partners, we hope to bring over the best practices and technologies in Silicon Valley to develop more AI (Artificial Intelligence) based technology startups in Selangor, hence, realising a more sustainable smart economy ecosystem for the Selangor state,” he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Syed Haizam said this collaboration signifies their acknowledgement of SSDU’s capabilities as the programme manager for its state’s Smart Selangor programme.

“(The programme) It provided the talent qualities of Selangor’s local startups and opportunities to enhance the startup ecosystems not only in Selangor and Malaysia but also to the wider South-East Asian region,” he said.

The signing of the MoU was witnessed by Selangor state executive councillor for investment and trade Dato’ Teng Chang Khim, Invest Selangor Bhd chief executive officer Dato’ Hasan Azhari Idris, Selangor Deputy State Secretary (Development) Dr Nor Fuad Abdul Hamid, Penjana Kapital Sdn Bhd chief investment officer Taufiq Iskandar and The Hive LLC founder and managing director T M Ravi.

THSEA is a third addition to The Hive LLC which is based in Silicon Valley, USA, after the establishment of The Hive Brazil and The Hive India.

THSEA said it will utilise The Hive LLC Silicon Valley’s trusted co-creation process, venture studio models and its seed capital funds which are also matched by Malaysia’s Dana Penjana Nasional, to provide startup launchpads in Selangor, which will be co-created under the Selangor’s Smart State programme through SSDU and its other state entities.

The Hive LLC is a fund and co-creation studio that collaborates with entrepreneurs and corporations to create and launch AI-based startups.

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