KUALA LUMPUR: Pepper Labs, a social enterprise that has received RM5 million funding under Budget 2025, plans to set up 20 Dapur Digital nationwide within the next few years to equip more participants from underserved communities across the country, uplifting them into a better economic bracket.
Its co-founder Kuhan Pathy said the funding was a big win for social enterprises like PepperLabs, which was a delivery partner with Khazanah Nasional Bhd for the Youth Development Programme (K-Youth).
“This is the first time a social enterprise has been identified as a key ally to the government in the annual national budget - a vote of confidence as a trusted operator to expand an economic empowerment programme, which has delivered strong results through its pilot programme,” he said in a statement.
It was reported that under Budget 2025, Khazanah will allocate RM200mil through K-Youth a youth employability initiative to prepare 11,000 local talents for key sectors like semiconductors.
Dapur Digital is Malaysia’s first public-private-philanthropy programme in partnership with the Ministry of Finance, Federal Territories Department, Kuala Lumpur City Hall, and Yayasan Hasanah.
The five Dapur Digital pilot locations have to-date generated a cumulative revenue of over RM30,000, Kuhan said.
“This uniquely designed programme involves refurbishing five People’s Housing Programme (PPR) flats in Kuala Lumpur into cloud kitchens.
“While the cloud kitchens were being set up, within six months 50 individuals were also trained with a Micro-Credential programme on how to operate a cloud kitchen business,” he said.
This approach involves a group effort by a community of participants who use a shared premise to prepare food which is promoted and delivered through three food delivery platforms.
“Government initiatives over the past five years including programmes such as the Social Enterprise Action Framework 2030, Social Enterprise Accreditation certification and the zero-interest loans from the Hasanah Social Enterprise Fund, and social procurement initiatives are among the key instruments that have enabled social enterprises to grow and strengthen their offerings to serve the needy,” said Kuhan, who is also president of the Social Entrepreneur Development Association.
“This, among others, has helped the country address absolute poverty, with rates dropping from 8.2 per cent in 2021 to 6.2 per cent in 2022,” he added.
