Three cohorts building the first rung of an ecosystem
Khmer Enterprise commissioned the Cambodia Startup Launchpad to take local founders from a working MVP to their first paying customers, then to regional expansion. It has run three times.
- 31
- startups across three batches
- 12
- weeks per cohort
- 3
- demo days delivered
The brief
Cambodia's problem was not a shortage of founders. It was that almost nothing existed between a prototype and a first commercial customer, and no local program was taking teams across that gap. Khmer Enterprise needed a repeatable format it could run more than once.
What we ran
- 01
MVP validation before growth theatre
Each 12-week cycle starts with validating the product against real users and securing first paying customers. Expansion planning only follows once there is revenue to expand.
- 02
Built to repeat, not to launch
The format was designed so Khmer Enterprise could commission it again. Three batches have now run, each ending in a demo day, which is what makes it an ecosystem programme rather than an event.
- 03
Regional exposure as the reward
Cohorts are prepared for expansion and fundraising beyond Cambodia, with the demo day framed as the Cambodia International Showcase to put founders in front of investors from outside the country.
What came out
- 01
31 startups have been through three batches of the programme.
- 02
PharmKulen, a digital health platform connecting patients to nearby pharmacies, and OneDash secured investment opportunities after the programme.
- 03
The next cohort runs in Phnom Penh with applications open.
One accelerator is an event. Three cohorts of the same programme is the beginning of an ecosystem, and that is what a development agency is actually buying.
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