Social entrepreneurship is “the practice of combining innovation, resourcefulness and opportunity to address critical

social and environmental challenges” (Said Business School, n.d.). Unlike business entrepreneurs that focus primarily
on solving problem for pure economic returns, social entrepreneurs are driven by their vision to solve social
challenges for social returns (Austin, Stevenson and Wei-Skillern, 2006). In Malaysia, social entrepreneurship has
recently become one of the significant agendas in enhancing socio-economic well-being of the people and the country
is recognised as one of the top 10 countries for social entrepreneurs in 2016 according to Thomson Reuters
Foundation poll on the best countries for social entrepreneurs. Currently, there are about 100 social enterprises
operating in Malaysia, in various areas such as education, environmental sustainability, women and youth. Among
the social enterprises (in which the list can be retrieved from Hati.my), the largest open directory of NGOs including
social enterprises in Malaysia are, Extraordinary People
Comprehending the roles of social enterprises and social entrepreneurs can bring about potential
transformative changes to the society, Malaysia Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC) Social
Entrepreneurship (SE), a dedicated unit under within MaGIC was set up in 2013 to spearhead the
development of Malaysia’s social enterprise sector. This unit is entrusted to accomplish the vision of
making Malaysia as the regional leader for people economy. In this regards, MSEB, a three-year roadmap
was prepared outlining three strategic thrusts that act as catalysts to the building blocks namely, to
‘inspire a movement’, to ‘create an enabling environment’ and to ‘affect systematic change’. The total of
RM20 million fund was allocated for MaGIC SE to finance social enterprises (MaGIC, 2015), targeting the
number of social enterprises to increase up to 1,000 by the year 2018 (NST, 2015). In fulfilling the given
mandate, MaGIC SE runs several key activities for the community such as introducing the communities
to what social entrepreneurship is and collaborate with the third sectors; develop network and
strengthening relationship with the local communities to encourage them to venture into social
entrepreneurship; and conduct programmes such as SE Workshop, SE Boot-camp and MaGIC SE
Accelerator Program to social entrepreneurs. Amplify Award that rewards a grant up to RM150,000 per
recipient was also introduced to assist Malaysia’s top social enterprises to proliferate their impact via
new business capabilities and scale up their operation (MaGIC, 2017). The Malaysian Global
Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC) is bringing together the private sector, finance
providers, universities and government agencies by providing end-to-end support
to entrepreneurs. MaGIC creates unprecedented value by orchestrating the entrepreneurial
ecosystem in Malaysia through a 1-stop centre that offers entrepreneurs hands-on training –
including in blue ocean tools and methods, mentoring, co-working spaces and tailored
support. This is helping the nation attract creative domestic and international entrepreneurial
talent who will launch high growth startups and position Malaysia as the regional hub of
entrepreneurial activity. The centre would also help prospective entrepreneurs with
intellectual property registration and facilities for training, coaching and mentoring.

Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) was launched in April 2014 by President Barack Obama and Prime

Minister Najib Tun Abdul Razak. MaGIC enables and supports the sustainable growth of entrepreneurship in Malaysia with a goal

to drive sustainable ecosystem development through innovation, as well as create value and new economic drive for Malaysia. We

help entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey by collaborating with other government agencies, industries, and community

stakeholders. To build our nation’s creativity and innovation skills as well as grow talent, we offer dynamic programs and capacity-

building initiatives. MaGIC is also working to position Malaysia as a gateway to Asia for entrepreneurs to expand their business and
reach. Social entrepreneurship is a key focus for us; we aim to drive the movement forward through community engagement,

capability development, and social impact measurement initiatives.

PROGRAMMES

 MaGIC-Hub Social Entrepreneurship Bootcamp

 MaGIC Technical Bootcamps

 e@Stanford Programme

 Silicon Valley internships

 Entrepreneur in Residence

 MaGIC Startup Academy

FACILITIES

 Co-working space with fast Internet, office facilities and 3D printers

 Event space (auditorium, training rooms, meeting rooms)

 R&R lounge

Two new initiatives will help to address a nationwide disconnect between impact driven enterprises (IDEs) and
resources as well as build greater opportunities, according to Cyberjaya-based Malaysian Global Innovation &
Creativity Centre (MaGIC).

Earlier this week, MaGIC launched IDEA, which stands this time for Impact Driven Enterprise Accreditation, described
as "a national initiative in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance's National Entrepreneur Development Office
(NEDO)."

Secondly, MaGIC and Tekun Nasional (TEKUN), an agency under the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry,
also signed an agreement to work together on IMPACT, which is "a project that will develop micro-franchising
opportunities for successful impact driven enterprises (IDEs)."

Both moves essentially establish social procurement and accreditation platforms

Ashran said the partnership with TEKUN will collaborate under IMPACT, which is a micro-franchising initiative for
IDEs to scale up social impact and reach into B40 communities across the nation.

IDEA's digital platform will address the disconnect between impact driven enterprises and resources in three ways,
he said. These are: to connect IDEs with the public and private sectors; give IDEs access to social procurement
opportunities; and help IDEs build credibility through an accreditation programme.

The platform also has an online directory with a list of certified IDEs, impact indicators of the IDEs, and quarterly
reports on their impact performance, said Ashran.

Speaking of the accreditation aspect, he said IDEs can prove credibility, earn recognition and speak of their social and
environmental intentions.
This ethical aspect will be important when attracting talent and winning business, Ashran continued. For IDEA
certification, IDEs need to meet three criteria: To show commitment to a social or environmental goal and
demonstrated a track record of taking business decisions that prioritise impact over profit. Secondly, IDEs need to
prove that they are driving significant resources towards achieving their social or environmental goals. Thirdly, IDEs
must show a sustainable business - where more than half of the total annual revenue is earned as opposed to
donations or grants.

As mentioned, 21 IDEs have been accredited and listed on the platform. These are: Silent Teddies Bakery, The Batik
Boutique, Biji, FOLO Farms, GOLD, Dialogue in the Dark, Earth Heir, Project Woodworks, The Picha Project,
Stich.A.Giggle, The Truly Loving Company, Agak-Agak, Suri, Foodabox, Greenyards, SOLS 24/7 SE, PT Foundation
CHCC, 1L Carwash, Discover Muay Thai, Ecoloo and Project 57.

Ashran detailed some the other benefits for corporates, GLCs, and private sector players in being a member of MaGIC
CER Circle. The MaGIC CER Circle and MaGIC Activate, under the MaGIC Corporate Entrepreneurship Responsibility
(CER) platform was launched on 9 June 2017 as a national initiative to encourage greater corporate, GLCs, and private
sector involvement in entrepreneurship development across Malaysia.

"By participating in the MaGIC CER platform, corporates, GLCs, and private sector players will be able to engage with
our nation's entrepreneurs directly as well as advance their innovation agenda," he said. "Together, we can be a
catalyst of the next wave of entrepreneurship and innovation, which will allow both corporates and entrepreneurs to
quantum leap their growth and truly become global industry leaders."

As members of MaGIC CER Circle, corporates, GLCs and private sector players would be able to run innovation
challenges for local, regional and global startups through MaGIC Activate's Startup Corporate Open Innovation
Challenge Platform, Ashran added.

He said that these innovation challenges will connect corporates with entrepreneurs to uncover revolutionary
solutions. It is an initiative run in partnership with the Techstars Startup Program which provides the platform access
to more than 3, 000 startups. Eight innovation challenges have been posted on MaGIC Activate so far.

For example, the new partners will also be able to offer industry advisory and mentorship support in MaGIC's various
programmes; run corporate innovation programmes together with MaGIC; and take part in MaGIC's Creativity and
Innovation Labs as well as the Global Entrepreneurship Community 2017 as strategic partners.

The Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC), has recently launched a new accelerator programme,
which is looking for 80 entrepreneurs to take advantage of benefits worth more than US$400,000 from Microsoft,
Amazon Web Services, 123 RF, PiktoChart, and others.

The Global Accelerator Programme (GAP) is the latest version of MaGIC's Accelerator Programme (MAP), which has
chalked up three successful cohorts by supporting Malaysian and regional startups.

GAP, which will start from July 2017, will give entrepreneurs the opportunity to strengthen their business ideas based
on GAP's nine industry verticals: biotech, education, social innovation, lifestyle, supply chain, creative, finance,
healthcare, as well as smart cities, said Ashran Dato' Ghazi, chief executive officer of MaGIC.

"This programme will be a great springboard for global entrepreneurs looking to expand and grow in Southeast Asia
as well as help Malaysian entrepreneurs take their concepts out to the region, and beyond," said Ashran. "Our well-
tested curriculum will help these entrepreneurs to fine-tune their ideas and bring their businesses to greater heights."

"After witnessing strong global interest in our ASEAN and Social Entrepreneurship accelerators last year, we decided
to evolve the programme and take it to the global stage. The programme will foster cross-border collaboration in
entrepreneurship and innovation between global, regional and local entrepreneurs," he said.

"We encourage anyone interested to come along to one of the roadshows and find out more, this could be your entry
point into one of the most exciting entrepreneurship ecosystems in the region," he said.