Antler expands into Malaysia through Khazanah partnership

Antler plans to invest in more than 30 Malaysian start-ups over the next three years, with a local accelerator programme set to onboard its first batch of founders in October. The Malaysia expansion comes a week after Antler recruited Agung Bezharie Hadinegoro to lead its investment strategy and operations in Indonesia.

Future Malaysia aims to support the local start-up ecosystem, including corporate and independent VC firms, through investment and collaboration with domestic and international partners. Gobi Partners, 500 Global, and Plug & Play have already signed up as partners. When Khazanah officially launched the programme in March, it promised initial funding of MYR 180m (USD 40m).

Future Malaysia is part of Dana Impak, a MYR 6bn government initiative launched in 2021 as part of a COVID-19 recovery effort. It is intended to drive investment across six key themes: digital society and technology, access to health and education, employment and social mobility, food and energy security, climate resilience, and competing in global markets.

Numerous programmes have been initiated under the Dana Impak umbrella. For example, in January, AC Ventures and Indies Capital joined a tech investment project led by government VC unit Penjana Kapital.

“The strategic collaboration with Antler marks a new chapter in Malaysia’s entrepreneurial landscape, underscoring Khazanah’s unwavering commitment to introducing innovative and impactful solutions,” said Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir, a managing director at Khazanah, in a statement.

“Going forward, we will continue to identify potential partners with proven track records, expertise, and strategic value proposition to join us in nurturing and empowering the next generation of Malaysian entrepreneurs through this programme, offering comprehensive support throughout the entire funding lifecycle, spanning from the pre-seed stage right up to the growth stage.”

Antler was founded in Singapore in 2018 and has become a poster child for a recent proliferation of global seed-stage investment strategies with offices now established in 26 cities. It claims to have backed more than 792 companies with a cumulative portfolio value of USD 3.7bn.

The firm’s Southeast Asia presence includes Vietnam as well as Singapore and Indonesia. Elsewhere in the region, Antler entered Australia in 2019 and raised a AUD 46m (USD 30m) fund, established a Korean unit later the same year, and launched an India programme – with a fund targeting USD 50m – in 2020.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Early-stage
• GPs
• Technology
• Malaysia
• antler
• TMT
• Khazanah Nasional