Facebook MY to hand out RM3.2m in grants to 300 small businesses

Facebook Malaysia is offering approximately RM3.2 million in grants to support over 300 local small businesses as part of its Small Business Grant programme. Each grant amounts to RM9,400 which includes RM5,900 in cash and RM3,500 in optional ad credits. To be eligible, the business must have between two and 50 employees, been in business for more than one year and experienced challenges due to the pandemic, and do not need to have a Facebook presence in order to apply.

This comes months after Facebook announced in March that it is offering US$100 million cash grants and ad credits to about 30,000 small businesses worldwide. Meanwhile, agency players also previously told A+M that they had yet to receive any financial aid or extension of payment terms from Facebook, and that Facebook will assess longer credit terms on a case-by-case basis. Similarly in Singapore, Facebook is also offering SG$4.75 million grants to support over 800 local small businesses. Each grant amounts to SG$5,500 which includes SG$3,500 in cash and SG$2,000 in optional ad credits.

Meanwhile, Facebook recently appointed Perspective Strategies to manage PR duties in Malaysia, taking over from Arcis Communications. AKA Asia is managing duties in Singapore. 

Separately, Instagram announced just yesterday that it is adding shopping tools to IGTV and Reels, according to multiple media reports including South China Morning Post. Shopping on IGTV will launch globally and the company said it is testing the function on Reels later in 2020. On IGTV, users can watch and purchase an item with a few taps on the video, completing the purchase on the seller's website, SCMP reported. Instagram Shop was introduced earlier this year, allowing users to browse a shopping page within a business Instagram profile or by scrolling through Instagram Feed, Explore and Stories.

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