Alibaba.com held the grand finale of its global product-based startup competition, CoCreate Pitch 2026 Malaysia, at the B2B AI Seller Summit in Kuala Lumpur, co-organised with MATRADE. It was Malaysia’s first time taking part, as the competition expanded this year to Korea, Indonesia, and Malaysia. The turnout was strong: more than 2,300 applications from MSMEs, startups, aspiring entrepreneurs, and student innovators, with 10 teams making it to the Grand Final.
Out of the 10 teams, three of them managed to stand out from the rest
| Placing | Team | Represented by |
|---|---|---|
| 1st | Lettuboost | Pavithran Julieus Sudhave, Co-founder and COO |
| 2nd | Global Cerah | Willie Ng, Founder and Managing Director |
| 3rd | Eartheories | Fadz Subari, Founder and CEO |
The top three will attend the CoCreate Global Summit 2026 in London this November, and the finalists shared a total prize pool of RM500,000 to fund their next stage of growth.
This year’s format was built around AI. Participants used Alibaba.com’s AI agent, Accio, to develop products, refine their business concepts, and prepare pitch materials, from market research and planning to supplier sourcing. Roger Luo, Alibaba.com’s Head of South and Southeast Asia Business, said teams used AI to explore global suppliers, find manufacturing partners, and strengthen their business plans.
Meanwhile, the company has also launched Accio for Malaysian SMEs at the event. it is an enterprise-grade agentic AI platform that connects major e-commerce platforms and automates store operations through built-in expert tools, and it’s designed for plug-and-play use with no programming expertise needed. The pitch is that AI shifts from a passive assistant to an active operational partner that can manage end-to-end export processes so owners can focus on growth.
Lastly, MATRADE and UOB Malaysia have also committed to fostering the local ecosystem by showcasing certified Malaysian Halal products to international buyers (the former) and reaffirming support through financial expertise and regional network offerings (the latter).
