Is Malaysia set to become a global start-up hub soon that can compete with Singapore?

Silicon Valley-based tech entrepreneur Damon Grow says local newcomers need “the right support and inspiration” to break it into the big league, which includes neighbouring Singapore.

Speaking to This Week in Asia ahead of the European start-up event ‘Slush’ in Kuala Lumpur’s Chinatown, Grow said Southeast Asia is the next growth centre of the world and Malaysia has a unique role in the heart of a region of hundreds of millions of people.

“What’s great about Malaysia is it has the population, everyone speaks English, it’s a melting pot of different cultures and different things and it’s just built for business,” Grow said.

“I think the ecosystem here is not yet ready but it’s almost there.”

Start-ups flourish with ready access to funding and talent as well as supportive government policy including tax breaks. For years, Malaysia has failed to focus on building its tech capabilities, according to industry analysts.

Yet there are signs the country’s reputation is changing with global tech firms looking to establish cloud infrastructure and data centres in Kuala Lumpur and other cities.

“Why would [Huang] take time to come to Malaysia? Because the future is here,” Grow added.

Looking to grow beyond its dependence on oil and gas and commodities to a higher value chain level, Malaysia has been vying to compete in the tech start-up sector and grow “unicorns”, or privately held start-up companies each with a value of over US$1 billion.

Malaysia is not high on the radar for start-ups. Its local ride-sharing start-up Grab, which now has a market capitalisation of over US$12 billion relocated to Singapore in 2014 after being sidelined by the government’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional, which backed rival US-based Uber instead.

Gra