Malaysia’s venture capital firm Malaysia Venture Capital Management Berhad (MAVCAP) said Monday it successfully inked agreements to invest in technology startups via two new Venture Capital (VC) Funds, namely the Orbit Malaysia Fund I and the Ficus SEA Fund, with a total target fund size of 160 million MYR ($35.83 million) collectively.
The two VC Funds will provide equity funding to startups with strong growth potential in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian markets, focusing on verticals such as Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Healthtech, Greentech, Industrialtech, Internet of Things and EdTech, MAVCAP said in a statement.
“In line with our mandate to spearhead the development of Malaysia’s VC ecosystem, the new VC Funds will further strengthen MAVCAP’s aspiration to help local startups grow their businesses and excel, with a view towards becoming tech unicorns and tapping into regional growth opportunities,
“In addition to increasing the pool of capital available for startups, both local and regional, to scale up their businesses, our new VC Funds also provide opportunities to draw upon our broad global network together with the new fund managers, as we strive to cultivate regional and global champions,” said MAVCAP’s Chief Executive Officer Shahril Anas Hasan Aziz.
Orbit Malaysia Fund I will be managed by Jakarta-based Kejora Capital, with Sunway Group and MAVCAP as anchor investors. This marks the second collaboration between MAVCAP and Sunway Group, following the Malaysia SuperSeed Fund II in 2019.
Orbit Malaysia Fund I Director Raymond Hor said that this public-private collaboration between MAVCAP, Sunway Group and Kejora Capital will amplify their shared goal to champion the growth of local startups, leveraging the fast-growing development of the tech space in the region.
Meanwhile, the Ficus SEA Fund is investing in highly promising local startups in Logistictech and Greentech, and is considering other potential areas including Islamic Fintech, Augmented Reality, and environmental, social and governance (ESG) solutions. The fund is also unique as the first of its kind in the region with Shariah-compliant investment structuring.
“MAVCAP is one of Malaysia’s most established VC firms, so we are pleased to partner with them. With our investment focused on robust growth sectors, we foresee positive returns for investors in the years to come, particularly in the post-pandemic environment as the world forges ahead towards recovery. To further spur Malaysia’s immense entrepreneurial talent, we look forward to providing guidance along with investments for promising startups to capture new opportunities and flourish,” said Asyrul Ramali, Chief Executive Officer of Ficus Group Capital.
The two new VC Funds are the latest additions to MAVCAP’s 14 VC Funds at various investment stages, from Seed to Series C, such as 500 Durians, Axiata Digital Innovation Fund, Asia Greentech Fund, and Meranti Asean Growth Fund.
From these billion-ringgit-sized assets under management, 10 tech unicorns have emerged, including Malaysia’s very first, Carsome, a technology-disruptive trading platform for the regional automotive industry while other startups coming from the Funds are also transforming the normal brick-and-mortar business landscape.
“Backed by MAVCAP’s farsighted leadership and continuous funding model against the backdrop of Malaysia’s vibrant startup ecosystem and committed stakeholders, prospects are encouraging for Malaysian startups with huge potential to evolve into future Southeast Asian tech unicorns in the next few years, and MAVCAP’s two new VC Funds aim to accelerate the development of the ecosystem,” said MAVCAP.
Established in 2001 on the Malaysian government’s policy to accelerate the technology ecosystem and provide funding to the unbankable market, MAVCAP has since evolved and transformed its operations to ensure continuous development and value creation of the VC ecosystem in Malaysia.