PETRONAS PING’S FIRST COHORT OF STARTUPS TAKES CENTRE STAGE | The Star

JAZRO founder Dzulfarqeish Zainuddin (second from left) receiving a RM1.2mil investment from Gobi Partners co-founder and chairperson Thomas G. Tsao, accompanied by PING chief executive officer Zafirah Bahiyyah Zulkifli (left) and Gobi Partners managing partner Jamaludin Bujang (right).

PETRONAS Innovation Garage (PING), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the PETRONAS Leadership Centre, placed its in-house talents front and centre at the recent PING Open Day.

Held at Petrosains in Suria KLCC, the event provided a platform for four employee-led start-ups to showcase their cutting-edge solutions to an audience of corporate leaders, early-stage investors and key ecosystem builders.

The ventures are Tigasfera, a startup offering integrated, containerised waste-to-energy solutions; JAZRO, an edutech firm delivering robotic education programmes for children, including those who are neurodivergent; FarmDirect, an agritech company providing customised agricultural solutions to enhance productivity for farmers and landowners; and V-Cred, a software company that focuses on AI-powered solutions for the engineering and legal sectors.

All four ventures represent the inaugural cohort of PING, a corporate incubator programme designed to empower and cultivate the entrepreneurial spirit of PETRONAS employees.

Growing talent

Launched in 2023, PING serves as a platform for PETRONAS employees to turn their ideas into innovative solutions and investible ventures.

Ruslan says PING represents PETRONAS’ commitment to nur­turing budding entrepreneurs by fostering a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.

PETRONAS vice president and group chief human resources officer Ruslan Islahudin says PING represents PETRONAS’ commitment to nurturing the national energy conglomerate’s budding entrepreneurs.

“By encouraging employees to think outside the box, take risks, and pursue their entrepreneurial dreams, PING fosters a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship, which can have ripple effects across PETRONAS, the industry and beyond. Employee ventures that emerge from PING have the potential to create new jobs and employment opportunities for the nation,” he adds.

PING chief executive officer Zafirah Bahiyyah Zulkifli says the programme is an investment in human capital.

“We recognise that there are natural entrepreneurs within PETRONAS’ workforce; employees who see opportunities beyond their day jobs and want to seize them, employees who are self-driven and risk takers and employees who are passionate about creating something on their own and making an impact,” she shares.

Win-win situation

Since its inception, PING has received 120 video submissions from PETRONAS employees across the organisation. Shortlisted teams then undergo a four-month journey to validate and build their ideas with support from PING, before pitching again at “Demo Day”.

Successful participants are then offered a one-year employment contract with PING to continue building their startups with the company’s support.

“When we established the programme, we knew that some of the participants would graduate from the programme as entrepreneurs running their own ventures while others would return to their departments as engineers, accountants or managers, enriched with entrepreneurial skill sets and mindset. In either scenario, it’s a win for the organisation,” Zafirah says.

Zafirah says that projects ­developed within PING may either spin off as independent startups or return to PETRONAS for further development.

Innovation, Zafirah stresses, is essential for companies to future-proof their organisations and remain resilient, adding that PETRONAS’ investment in innovation and technology is key in fulfilling its commitments while exploring new opportunities.

Corporate innovation programmes, Zafirah adds, offer a platform to harness fresh ideas and solutions from within and outside the organisation.

Intrapreneurship, or corporate entrepreneurship, she observes, puts employees at the centre of creating, developing and scaling of ideas to solve pain points of the organisation, the industry and society at large.

“What we’re introducing now with PING is a focus on giving ownership to employees. Often, employees work on projects and contribute ideas, but they don’t really own the outcome. By empowering entrepreneurs from within, we hope to unlock a new stream of innovation, tapping into their intrinsic motivation and recognising the value of their initiative,” she notes.

Growth and guidance

A key advantage of PING is its extensive network. Participants gain invaluable support through expert mentorship and coaching, access to broad networks and resources, opportunities for testing and prototyping, as well as funding and investment.

All of this is made possible by the organisations’ entrepreneur-friendly policies that empower and give founders skin-in-the-game to fully commit to their projects and drive their startups forward.

For team members of the ventures, their time at PING has been both challenging and deeply rewarding, providing a rare opportunity to explore their passions, push the boundaries of innovation, and embrace unconventional thinking.

Tigasfera founder and chief executive officer Yusof Faizal Amin shares that his perspective on success has evolved since joining PING.

After 20 years with PETRONAS and serving as a trailblazer in what was once the Gas and New Energy Division (now known as the Gas and Maritime Business), Yusof has redefined success – not as climbing the corporate ranks, but as creating a meaningful impact through Tigasfera.

“For me, success is not just about career progression or performance bonus anymore. There’s a larger story to consider. It’s about addressing environmental issues, focusing on the next generation, and proving that we can do better,” he shares.

For May Law, one of V-Cred’s co-founders, PING has expanded her horizons in ways she could never imagine.

Law, who began her career at PETRONAS straight out of university as a geoimaging researcher, found herself suddenly exposed to a wide range of new areas, including commercialisation, marketing, branding, hiring, product management, and even coding.

“I’ve learnt that you are your own limit, and your personality and emotional regulation can impact how you run your business. I’m just becoming more aware of what I want as an individual,” she adds.

Dzulfarqeish Zainuddin, driven by his love for robotics, started JAZRO in 2019 as his passion project while working as a mechanical engineer at PETRONAS. When he joined PING, he committed full-time to further robotic education specifically tailored for autistic children to help them develop cognitive, communication and social skills.

In his decade-long experience at PETRONAS, Dzulfarqeish’s work revolved around operating complex equipment, from boilers and pumps to vessels.

However, his journey with PING has broadened his perspective, emphasising the human side of innovation and the value of truly understanding the pain points of the customers.

“When talking to parents, it’s essential to be both confident and empathetic. You need to communicate that learning about technology, coding,and robotics is crucial for their children’s future opportunities.

“Unlike technical roles in industries like plant management, where the focus is on functionality, engaging with parents requires genuine care and understanding,” he explains.

Onwards and upwards

During the event, PING announced an investment from Gobi Partners – one of Asia’s leading venture capitalists, to JAZRO through the Khazanah Nasional Berhad-backed Gobi Dana Impak Ventures (GDIV) fund.

This RM1.2mil investment marks a significant milestone for the startup, enabling the company to expand its educational offerings and reach more young learners.

For Zafirah, this signifies a promising beginning. “Considering that it’s our first year and our first cohort, we already have good success stories, with our startups getting investments and business opportunities.”

The first cohort of ventures is just the start of PING’s journey, with the second batch of in-house entrepreneurs already in the pipeline. Building an adaptable and agile company, said Zafirah, involves focusing on the talents within your organisation.

“Essentially, a company is as good as its people. Entrepreneurial talents have a keen eye for spotting business opportunities and the passion and drive to take action.

“While building a startup is not for everyone, there is immense value in fostering an entrepreneurial mindset in every employee, encouraging them to be proactive, resourceful and behave like owners. This is the culture that we want to cultivate in PETRONAS through PING,” she adds.

To find out more about PING, visit petronas.com/ping

Tags / Keywords: PETRONAS , PING , PETRONAS Leadership Centre , Start Ups , Talent , Employee ventures , human capital

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