Usha Polun Perumal

Developed and executed high-impact partnerships to drive business growth and enhance the startup ecosystem:

• Strategic Partnerships: Cultivated relationships with key government agencies (MDEC, Cradle), leading VCs (Gobi Partners, 500 Global), and tech giants (AWS, TikTok Shop) to secure exclusive benefits for coworking members, including discounted services, access to funding programs, and industry-specific resources.
• Business Development: Negotiated and implemented corporate partnerships, resulting in a 30% increase in event space and meeting room sales, with trackable revenue exceeding RM 25,000.
• Community Building: Expanded the community to 15,000 members through strategic partnerships and engaging events, fostering a vibrant and interconnected ecosystem within the coworking spaces.
• Marketing & PR: Secured significant media coverage through strategic contra partnerships with Malaysiakini, Selangor Information Technology & Digital Economy Corporation (SIDEC), and by co-hosting high-profile events like Startup World Cup Malaysia and Antler programs, resulting in increased brand visibility and industry recognition.

Successfully launched and managed high-impact programs:

• Founders-Investor Connect: Initiated and led this program, connecting startups with leading VCs, resulting in successful funding rounds for participating companies. Launched a women-themed VC event, connecting female-led businesses to VCs. Assessed and evaluated participating startups to connect them for VC funding selections.
• Organized startup networking events: Successfully executed 7 series of networking events, attracting over 120 entrepreneurs per series, VCs, and investors, facilitating valuable connections, and fostering a thriving startup community.

Demonstrated strong analytical and operational skills:

• Data-driven approach: Established clear processes for event management, sponsorship acquisition, and lead generation tracking, enabling data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement.
• Community Management: Implemented strategies to increase Net Promoter Score (NPS) across all coworking outlets, enhancing member satisfaction and loyalty.
• Completed and submitted monthly and yearly reports to support executive decision making.

• Building accelerator programs in supporting and scaling startups in the blue economy and freshwater space, offering peer-to-peer mentorships and social entrepreneurship workshops with impact investing opportunities for these startups within Southeast Asia region. Thus far, our cohorts have supported over 40 startups from the region.
• Working with multiple marine and impact stakeholders from the Southeast Asia region and the US State Department in contributing to the Southeast Asia blue economy through partnerships.
• Providing capacity trainings to youth and coastal women from vulnerable communities such as social entrepreneurship, climate resilience workshops, and market relevant sustainability skills.
• Providing advisory support service to corporates and businesses in the shipping and marine field to achieve their social sustainability and impact goals.
• Building online advocacy campaigns to empower vulnerable communities affected by climate disasters.
• Conducted environmental risk assessment projects for businesses and partnered with impact investors within Bluepreneur ecosystem in financing projects with high environmental and social responsibility scales.

• Led the sales team to achieve a 12% increase in annual sales revenue.
• Successfully negotiated and closed 20 deals with tech companies and MNCs.
• Increased weekly leads by 86% through effective market research, lead generation campaigns (HR initiatives, company ambassadorship), and CRM management.
• Improved sales conversion rates across all stages of the sales funnel, resulting in a 78% client retention rate.
• Assisted in contract negotiations and pricing discussions to maximize revenue and profitability for the company, including building insurance bundling with company's digital mental health platform as a service for employees.

• Responsible for curating syllabus for teaching lessons on applying blue entrepreneurship to environmental science works.
• I work closely with the Young Southeast Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) fellows in guiding them with their environmental projects.

• MoEngage (headquarted in San Francisco) is a user engagement platform that increases customer’s lifetime value. I have designed and hosted private roundtable sessions for MoEngage by establishing connections with 25+ regional scale-ups and corporates from the region.
• Advised Asia Pacific business development teams on go to market strategy and sales approach for the region, increasing their customer lifetime value and gaining larger regional market share.