Over the years, Malaysian entrepreneurs have struggled to bring their innovative ideas past the idea stage. Innovators lack access to funding, expertise to scale and struggle to file patents, which can be complex and time-consuming.
As a result, Malaysia’s commercialisation rate is estimated to be only between 5% to 10%.
However, thanks to the National Technology and Innovation Sandbox (NTIS), all high-potential innovations now have a smooth pathway to commercialisation.
A Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI) initiative under the National Economic Regeneration Plan (PENJANA), NTIS is aimed at developing innovative products and solutions, encouraging high technology adoption, providing commercialisation support and funding assistance in preparation for entering a larger and more competitive market.
With support from 26 ministries and 45 Innovation Acceleration Network partners, NTIS has assisted 163 companies since July 2020.
Prostrain Technologies is one such company that benefited with its MediBOT invention during the Covid-19 pandemic, a telepresence mobile robot equipped with vital signs medical devices that reduces patient-doctor contact.
“MediBOT assists medical personnel in performing ward rounds. The doctor can avoid direct contact with high-risk patients by controlling the robot from another room. Since the robot has microphones and speakers, the doctor can communicate easily with patients,” said Mohd Hirzi Amirrudin, founder and CEO of Prostrain Technologies.
However, he encountered challenges in taking MediBOT to market.
“Obtaining medical certification is difficult because the standards are extremely stringent. We went for IEC 60601-1-2, which includes 11 tests. Plus, some tests can be destructive and expensive.”
Fortunately, NTIS offers platforms for innovators to test and validate their revolutionary technologies with minimal restrictions. As a result, Hirzi obtained the necessary medical certification and funding to test MediBOT in a hospital.
Meanwhile, Jefri Efendi Mohd Salih of Farmotic Sdn Bhd (a company that has 20 years’ experience in designing agriculture robots that cover small land to big plantations) said: “Our sandbox project is called Farmo (Farm Assist Robot for Multi Operation). NTIS gave me access to more markets. I attended numerous exhibitions and constantly requested to hold field demos.”
With NTIS, innovators go through a smoother process in obtaining all necessary approvals while saving time on tedious procedures like documentation and paperwork. In addition, NTIS also funds innovation through four different funding schemes.
“NTIS’ funding helped me build more prototypes and increase my production. It can be intimidating to begin an innovation that is unknown to the public, but NTIS always kept in touch to ensure my robots are on the right track,” said Jefri.
For Adrian Abdul Ghani of MSD Innovation, he wanted to test and improve the company’s Smart Urban Farming (SUF) technology before commercialising it. He learnt of NTIS’s reputation for bringing the right people together to remove bottlenecks for start-ups to reach commercialisation.
“NTIS allowed us to conduct proofing on our Affordable SUF solution. We constantly reviewed and upgraded our methods and processes, and the real live engagement with stakeholders gave us valuable user feedback,” said Adrian.
He said he believed NTIS has been a catalyst in developing the company’s SUF technology.
“Companies should come on board as the NTIS enables fledgling participants to learn and improve themselves in preparation for commercialisation,” he affirmed.
Learn more about the NTIS programme here.
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