Malaysia's Khazanah opens London office
Khazanah Nasional, an investment fund controlled by the Malaysian government, has opened a new office in London aimed at strengthening the country’s business development links with Europe.
According to a statement, the branch known as Khazanah Europe Investment (KEI) will provide advice and support on investments in the region with a focus on opportunities in technology-enabled sectors. The expansion is considered an acceleration of Malaysia's innovation agenda that will foster additional international collaborations.
"We view Europe as an important market as it has proven to be a significant hub for technology firms, as well as start-up and entrepreneurial ventures," said Tan Sri Azman Hj Mokhtar, Khazanah's managing director. "We recognize that innovation is a key driver for economic growth, and as Malaysia continues to move towards a high-value, knowledge-based economy with a strong focus on the services and manufacturing sectors, innovation will play a crucial role to raise the overall efficiency and thus productivity of the nation."
Establishment of KEI completes a planned network of five overseas divisions, which started with the opening of a Beijing office in 2008. Other bases in this network are located in Mumbai, San Francisco and Istanbul.
Since the inception of KEI last year, Khazanah has made a number of UK-based tech investments, including travel search engine Skyscanner Holdings, augmented reality company Blippar and a commitment to Atomico, a Europe-focused VC firm.
Recent expansion of Khazanah's global tech investment footprint has otherwise included a $100 million commitment last week to India-US data services group Fractal Analytics and participation in a $170 million round last month for Singaporean online gaming platform Garena.
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