National Expert of WSA Malaysia

Renuka Sena

CEO Proficeo|Senior Partner Scaleup Malaysia|National Expert, Malaysia, World Summit Awards

Renuka began her career as a lawyer. With a Masters in IP and IT Commercialisation from Kings College, London, she worked with companies like IBM, Microsoft and SAP whilst at the law firm, Skrine.  

She joined a Startup in 2000, supporting their launch, Business Development and Fundraising journey and also their eventual closure. Learning ground up was humbling and taught her invaluable lessons which led to co-founding Proficeo - a Startup Ecosystem Builder - in 2008. At Proficeo, she has had the privilege of working with more than 1000 startups via coaching programs Proficeo designed for the Malaysian Government. 

One program that changed the course of her life was a program Proficeo designed for micro-entrepreneurs - where she witnessed how digital transformation can lift individuals out of poverty whilst catalysing a multiplier effect in their communities. This was a pivotal moment in her career which led her to focus on Impact Entrepreneurs since 2020 and where today, she is the Malaysian National Expert for the World Summit Awards, the largest Digital Global Impact Competition for the United Nations SDGs.

Renuka is also an Angel Investor. She has invested in over 40 startups via direct investments and also via Scaleup Malaysia, an accelerator she co-founded and where she is the Senior Partner.

Fun Fact : She loves travelling off the beaten path and makes it a point to seek out and support Social Enterprises in every destination she visits.

Congratulations to the Malaysian winners for 2023!

Nomination Based Competition
 

The only way to qualify for the WSA Global Contest is via nominations from the Malaysian National Expert. The winners from each of the 8 WSA categories from the Malaysian National Competition will then be nominated to the Global Contest.
Thus, the first step is to register for the WSA Malaysia National Competition.

Register & Apply here Application form template for WSA database

Eligibility

• Any company/ business registered on SSM is welcome to apply. 
• For the Young Innovators Award, all Malaysian youth under the age of 26 are eligible to apply
• Digital applications with a strong impact on society and aligned to any of the 17 UN SDGs are eligible to apply within any of the 8 WSA categories and the WSA Young Innovators Award.

Applications

• Any Digital Application including Mobile Applications, SMS based products, Web-Apps, databases, kiosk installations, wearables, IoT, Blockchain applications and Digital Solutions incorporating AI or Data Analytics
• There is no limitation regarding the platforms the digital solution uses. 
• The digital solution should already be launched, with traction of revenue and/or users i.e. market ready or already in the market. No ideas, drafts, demonstrations or concepts are accepted. 
• Only applications that are fully completed and submitted will be considered. 
• Products older than three years at the time of nomination must include updates or new features to qualify.
• Participation is free

Technical Criteria

• CONTENT | Quality and comprehensiveness
• FUNCTIONALITY | Ease of use, user experience, appropriate interactivity
• DESIGN | Navigation/orientation and visual appeal
• TECHNOLOGY | State of the art in technology and quality of technical realisation
• INNOVATION | Originality and newness to targeted users, Business model, society and market

Strategic Criteria

• IMPACT | Local Impact / Impact on society 
• GLOBAL / UN VALUE

Category switch

• The National Expert, Local and International Jury reserves the right to switch a submission to a different category if they find it better fitting for the particular solution and this decision is final.

Winners selection process

• Winners in each category will be selected at the WSA Malaysia National Finals. Only the Top 3 shortlisted candidates in each category will be chosen to pitch at the National Finals. Decision of the Malaysian winners by the Malaysia Jury is final and cannot be legally challenged.
• Only one winner per category will be selected at the WSA Malaysia National Finals. The winning solution per WSA award category will then be nominated by the Malaysian National Expert to the WSA Global competition.

Jury Process

The WSA Jury Process is a strictly democratic and transparent system to guarantee a fair and diverse selection of digital innovation. Once a digital solution is nominated by each National Expert from around the world for the WSA Global Competition, it has to pass several stages of evaluation and assessment before it can become a WSA Winner and maybe even a Global Champion.

Round 1 - WSA National Nomination - 1 nomination per Category
Round 2 - WSA Global Competition - up to 5 winners for each Category.
Round 3 - WSA Global Congress - 1 Global Champion per Category