Karuna Sarawak

KARUNA (Sarawak) Enterprise Sdn Bhd is a digital agency that started up in 2009, and currently housing more than 60 employees. KARUNA’s services include web design, software and mobile app development, IoT integration, SaaS (property management software, ERP, CRM, and LMS), digital marketing and branding. Other subsidiary ventures for KARUNA include real estate agencies, online ticketing, a business incubator, and PropTech.
==History==
As a fresh graduate from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois, Melvin Ong started his first business idea, Karuna Borneo in December 2009. Ong designed, produced and distributed electronics like iPad cases and power banks that sold 100,000 units online within a month of 2011. In the same year, he launched his first online retail website and store, Buddy Gadgets, which sold products from brands like Quirky, Philips, Personal Care, Dlight, and Katadyn. Ong sold the company and returned to continue e-commerce in Sarawak, Malaysia.
Ong pursued website design and development through Karuna Sarawak and partnered with Astro, Lazada and Groupon. The e-commerce site DHAUSE, through which BuddyGadgets now sells their products, was simultaneously born. Karuna branched out into digital marketing, UX and SEO alongside their government clients in the year of 2015. Ong brought its digital marketing services to SMEs in Kuala Lumpur.
Karuna shifted to target the youth through social media advertising and Google Ads. Karuna began developing systems in 2018, such as Malaysia Runner, Malaysia’s first fully integrated marathon Registration System, Intelligent Property Management System (IPMS), and iTicket, Malaysia’s first ticketing system. 
Karuna introduced new services such as branding, logo creation, brand identity, Google Street View, AR/VR, and IoT Services. In 2020, Karuna provided its services in Smart City projects through transportation mobile applications and systems for Miri’s Smart City, besides developing H2 Sarawak’s website and app which promotes the usage of hydrogen buses. Systems for street lighting, waste management, parking enforcement and buildings were also undertaken by Karuna during this project. Karuna has since brought IoT into Smart Agriculture through many other partnerships and collaborations.
In collaboration with Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Sarawak Digital and Sarawak Digital Economy Corporation (SDEC), Karuna organized MyHackWkd, a virtual event. This hackathon gathered 150 participants in 35 teams to create and engineer new software. In June 2022, a venture capital firm was established by Karuna under Karuna Khoshee Venture Capital Sdn Bhd. It was called 25 Startups and the venture fund was aimed to invest in small startups and also supply incubator services.
==Headquarters and offices==
Karuna Sarawak is headquartered in Kuching, Sarawak and operates in other parts of Malaysia; Kuala Lumpur and Penang, and other countries, Singapore and Australia.
==Notable campaigns==
In 2018, Karuna partnered with Sarawak Cultural Village to convert over 300 pages of website content, dating all the way back to 2003, into visual sliders, videos and infographics. Their 2018 sales went up by 3000% as compared to the past year in 2017.
Later, in 2019, Karuna converted online tickets for the Rainforest World Music Festival as well as to increase the visibility of the website with the help of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). RWMF’s website experienced an increase of over 50% in online traffic within a month.
Karuna provided digital marketing services to Everly Hotels to increase occupancy. In conjunction with the rebranding of Tunku Putra School’s new branch, Karuna also assisted in the recruitment of 1300 new students, 100 more than their initial target, through a 9-month campaign of active advertising.
Smart city solutions were introduced by Karuna to tackle daily issues such as transportation, waste management and access authorisation. Karuna’s smart transport systems like H2 Sarawak and Miri's Smart City inform estimated times of arrival, track the ride and allow online transactions for ticket payment. Smart garbage systems were also created for Miri City Council to notify residents on garbage collection times. In Kuching, the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation’s (SEDC) is using the smart building system to keep records of guests' information to ease access into buildings. 
A tracking application crucial to the price delegations of Tanoti Crafts was designed by Karuna to monitor inventory and details on raw materials used for the handicrafts. The system was complemented with a Point of Sale (POS) system for surveilling their retail outlets’ sales, profit and revenue.
Karuna also manufactured systems for educational institutions such as the International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL). The system archives students’ academic performance, available for parents to view, aside from collecting donation funds for the school’s maintenance.
==Awards==
In 2017, Karuna was awarded the Malaysia Website Awards (MWA) presented by Exabytes Group, a web-hosting company, with a score of 89 percent, the highest score ever achieved in Exabytes’ history for the (MWA). Karuna won another 2 awards under the categories of commercial website of the month for November and commercial site of the year. Cerava Sarawak, produced by Karuna, won the Personal Site for the month of December as well as of the Year 2019 at the second Malaysia Website Awards 2019 award ceremony. Karuna became the E-Commerce Site of the Month (Dec) Award 2019 for site development of Bax, a premium handbag company. 
In 2020, Karuna was awarded the Malaysia Technology Excellence Awards for the AR and VR advertising done for the Sarawak Cultural Village Experience app. Karuna had been invited to the 2022 Malaysia Tourism Council Gold Awards Ceremony where the Malaysia Tourism Council (MTC) presented them the MTC Gold Awards in gratitude for supporting Niah National Park to become a UNESCO World Heritage and providing their services for the Rainforest World Music festival . Karuna became one of the top 20 technology service partners of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).Chandra, S. H. (2023, January 31). Karuna Sarawak in top 20 of technology service partners. New Sarawak Tribune. https://www.newsarawaktribune.com.my/karuna-sarawak-in-top-20-of-technology-service-partners/
==Board and stakeholders==
Currently, Karuna (Sarawak) Enterprise Sdn Bhd consists of:
There are two stakeholders to assist the management and they are:
Category:Information technology companies
Category:Information technology consulting firms
Category:Companies of Malaysia
Category:Companies established in 2009