Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah will launch new initiatives to boost its venture capital ecosystem, following the acquisition of Malaysia Venture Capital Management (MAVCAP) and Penjana Kapital in July this year.
Khazanah’s National Fund-of-Funds (NFOF) plans to commence the Emerging Fund Managers’ Programme (EMP) next month, which will be opened to all local general partners (GPs), according to a statement.
EMP will focus on VC managers who are raising their first, second, or third fund, Khazanah said.
The NFOF will anchor the fundraising efforts of emerging local GPs, aiming to catalyse capital from other fund investors to back fund managers who have the potential to be regionally competitive.
In addition, the sovereign fund will also launch the Regional Fund Managers’ Initiative (RMI) to attract international fund managers who are committed to enrich the Malaysian tech ecosystem, including supporting Malaysian startups’ expansion, as well as facilitating the redomiciling of global companies in the country.
Established international fund managers can leverage their existing portfolio companies to create value and impact by expanding into Malaysia, Khazanah said in its statement. This is seen as a strategic move to foster technology and know-how transfer with the aim of increasing business productivity and efficiency.
“With the launch of EMP, we aim to ensure the continued growth of our local VC fund managers, and we see the RMI as another critical step in our commitment to foster a dynamic VC ecosystem in Malaysia. As innovation is borderless, the availability of capital, talent and technology will determine the future of Malaysia,” said Khazanah Managing Director Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir.
In July, Khazanah announced the acquisition of MAVCAP and Penjana Kapital to form the NFOF, with an initial allocation of 1 billion ringgit ($232 million) to invest in innovative and high-growth startups via VC and PE funds.
Earlier this year, Malaysia said it targeted to increase the country’s venture penetration rate to 0.25-0.35% by 2030 from 0.19% in 2022, which means a twofold of capital to $1.4 billion.
This is part of the Malaysia Venture Capital Roadmap 2024-2030, which aims to make the country a preferred regional VC hub by 2030.