VentureTech, SBI launch $18m Malaysia fund

The vehicle will invest in local companies with Bumiputera status, meaning they are 100% Malaysian-owned and the board and staff are at least 51% local. It will prioritize industries considered strategic and high-impact, including technologies that digitize, automate, and reduce the carbon footprint of local businesses. SBI said in a statement this would include smart manufacturing and the internet-of-things.

VentureTech and SBI established a similar joint venture last year with a view to investing MYR100 million in the biotech, green technology, and financial technology sectors, as well as industrial automation. That fund likewise focuses on co-investment in the Bumiputera space although it is also open to companies across Southeast Asia.

"Malaysia is ranked third in ASEAN in terms of per-capita gross domestic product, blessed with young, skilled and abundant labor population, coupled with the low unemployment rate,” Yoshihiro Ishiwata, a managing director at SBI Ventures Malaysia, said. “SBI recognizes the existence of ample investment opportunities in Malaysia, one of the fastest-growing economies in the ASEAN region with attractive start-ups.”

VentureTech is a subsidiary of Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology, a government think-tank set up in 2009 to make investments in bio-based and emerging clean industries with an impact-style approach. As of September, it had backed about 25 companies and had around $60 million in assets under management.

Malaysia’s primary government initiative to catalyze venture capital and emerging industries is Mavcap, a wing of the Ministry of Science established in 2001. In addition to making direct investments in local start-ups, Mavcap makes LP commitments to regionally active firms such as 500 Global and Gobi Partners. This strategy is aimed at bringing skills into the Malaysian ecosystem.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Fundraising
• Venture
• Technology
• Thailand
• SBI Holdings
• manufacturing
• Co-investment