To promote cooperation between businesses and the ecosystem of startups, Khazanah has joined as a corporate partner of PETRONAS FutureTech 3.0 technology accelerator program.
In order to support the local startup ecosystem, Khazanah Nasional Bhd has called for a “all Malaysia” strategy that doesn’t just rely on the government or its agencies. In addition, the sovereign wealth fund advised startups to eventually have a plan to go global because Malaysia is a “relatively small market in the regional context.”
Khazanah managing director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir stated that “everyone in all industries” must collaborate to attract new investments and ensure inclusivity as the nation approaches the 2025 deadline to produce five domestic unicorns.
In a StarBiz interview, Amirul Feisal also emphasised the significance of large corporations working with startups, given their greater resources and superior knowledge of the opportunities and difficulties unique to a given industry.
“This is the rationale behind our collaboration with Plug and Play (P&P), a preeminent global innovation platform that links businesses, organisations, venture capitalists, academic institutions, and governmental organisations.”
The partnership’s main goal is to establish a corporate innovation and accelerator programme in Malaysia with participation from top Malaysian corporations, with CelcomDigi serving as one of the anchor partners.
“P&P is currently contacting and bringing on board more anchor corporate partners. Malaysian corporations can investigate and match technology and ideas with their innovation needs if they have easier access to ventures, he said.
To promote cooperation between businesses and the ecosystem of technology-driven startups, Khazanah has joined as a corporate partner of the PETRONAS FutureTech 3.0 technology accelerator programme.
The Future Malaysia Programme was also established by the sovereign wealth fund to close the country’s gaps in risk capital after Khazanah pledged RM180 million to support the local startups ecosystem.
Amirul Feisal emphasised that because supporting portfolio companies requires various skill sets and organisational structures, Khazanah collaborates with seasoned venture capital (VC) managers to invest in startups of Malaysia.
Risks associated with early-stage venture capital investing can be reduced, according to Amirul Feisal, by teaming up with VC managers and ecosystem participants who have a track record of success, the necessary knowledge, and complementary strategic value propositions.
As a result, the portfolio would be more diverse, lowering overall risks. Khazanah announced a partnership with Gobi Partners and 500 Global in March of this year.
With a strong track record of investing and knowledge of value creation in Malaysia, both are among the most active VC managers. Once the business model has developed and meets our investment criteria and risk-return profile, we may continue with direct investments in late-stage companies, he added.
“We launched the Future Malaysia Skills initiative, where our first venture is a joint venture with the Sunway Education Group to establish “42 Malaysia,” an innovative peer-to-peer computer science school that aims to accelerate the development of 10,000 skilled technology talents – regardless of education and socioeconomic background – in the next 10 years. This is another crucial aspect of creating the ecosystem.
In order to support the local startup and corporate venture ecosystem, he said, “it is important to generate a sustainable talent pipeline to complement our initiatives in the Future Malaysia Programme.” When it comes to successful fundraising during the scale-up and growth stages, Amirul Feisal urged successful startups to have a regional strategy.
In order to achieve this, he said, “we are able to encourage large businesses to establish themselves in Malaysia, potentially further enhancing the local ecosystem, thanks to our experience in investing overseas and the strong network and relationships that we have established.”