This 10-year old kid won RM20,000 for making an app to help stroke patients

Earlier this week, three kids walked away with a total of RM35,000 after topping Goodday KidSTART, a competition that aims to find the best and brightest among young businesspeople in the country.

Launched by Goodday Milk in November last year, the challenge saw 340 participants from across the nation, and 20 children were shortlisted for a 2-day bootcamp that concluded with a pitch session a la Dragon’s Den. The winner was…

A 10-year old kid who invented an app to help stroke patients

Fatimah Basyeerah Binti Mohamed Ackiel from Dengkil was awarded RM20,000 for her stroke cognitive skills recovery app, an idea initially conceived to help her grandfather who suffered a stroke.

“I did not expect it. I’m so happy, thankful and excited to grow my business. Goodday Milk and the rest of the team have been very encouraging and I’m looking forward to using the prize money to develop and test my app on stroke patients.” – Fatimah, speaking after her win

The judges were impressed by her charismatic presentation and ability to clearly express her business idea, and they said they looked forward to seeing the app in its fully developed form.

Ong Joon Zach, who took home the second prize of RM10,000, invented an extractor that can hygienically extract coconut water from the fruit in one single step. The third to fifth prizes of RM5,000, RM4,000 and RM3,000 were awarded to Fredston Wang Le Dong, A’isy Sofyan Bin Mohd Salehuddin and Ahmad Zulfazriel Iman Bin Ahmad Faizul respectively. Fredston’s mother had this to say about the competition:

“I wanted to expose Fredston to other like minded individuals, taking this entrepreneurial journey with them. He’s participated in other contests but Goodday KidSTART was the first platform to allow him to think out of the box and place importance in building not just a successful business but one that has a positive impact on others and the planet.” – Ariel, Fredston’s mother

A further RM3,000 were presented to Muhammad Danish Bin Mohamad Zamri, Joe Chew Thong Yao and Tan Shwen Yin took home the awards for Best Presenter, Most Innovative Idea and Young Emerging Star.

Goodday will be launching round 2 of Goodday KidSTART later this year

Recognizing the lack of financial literacy in Malaysian youth, Goodday aims to equip children with the right knowledge to develop strong money habits early on to ensure they are on the right track to a financially sound future. Etika’s (the company behind Goodday Milk) Vice President of Marketing, Amy Gan, had this to say about the competition:

By instilling confidence and imparting the skills required to fuel a child’s entrepreneurial spirit, we are teaching our kids to understand the concept of money so they can make responsible financial decisions. Thus, we see Goodday Milk as a brand that doesn’t just provide goodness in the form of nutrition but also goodness in the form of well being to the community, in this case financial soundness.” – Amy Gan, Etika’s Vice President of Marketing

She also conveyed the company’s delight at the enthusiasm of the participants, and said she felt humbled and touched by the stories of the stories of two finalists who, despite having faced difficult family situations and are in the welfare system, have shown passion and drive to better their lives. Goodday will be launching round 2 of Goodday KidSTART later this year, so parents, do be on the lookout for the announcement.