Malaysia’s private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) funding rose 8.43 percent to MYR16.08 billion ($3.64 billion) in 2022 from MYR14.83 billion ($3.35 billion) a year ago, according to the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC)’s Annual Report 2022 released on Monday.

The SC said in the report that total committed funds in the industry as at the end of 2022 stood at MYR10.71 billion ($2.42 billion) and MYR5.37 billion ($1.21 billion) for PE and VC respectively.

For PE, commitments are sourced largely from corporate investors (33.40 percent), individuals and family offices (16.97 percent), and financial institutions (12.78 percent).

For VC, government agencies and investment companies (36.01 percent), sovereign wealth funds (27.27 percent) and corporate investors (22.68 percent) make up the top three sources of funding.

The top three registered corporations by the amount of investor commitments as at end 2022 were Creador, Xeraya Capital, and Malaysia Venture Capital Management Berhad
(MAVCAP).

VC investments in 2022 concentrated on growth (48.18 percent), followed by early stage (36.53 percent) and seed (10.54 percent) opportunities.

PE investments were primarily channeled into growth plays (64.87 percent), with some investments made to early stage opportunities (28.20 percent), followed by bridge, mezzanine and pre-initial public offering (IPO) investments (6.85 percent).

In total, 34 VC and 38 PE deals were recorded in 2022.

In terms of target industries, medical and biotechnology (34.83 percent) saw the highest share of VC investment in 2022, followed by information and communication (16.45 percent), and financial and insurance/takaful activities (12.70 percent).

As for PE, investments were largely channeled to wholesale and retail trade (53.66 percent) in 2022, followed by healthcare (13.45 percent) and manufacturing (13.41 percent).

Divestments in PE portfolios during 2022 were mainly exits in the growth stage, while the majority of divestments in VC were early stage positions, followed by growth.

While trade sales and secondary sales remain common routes for liquidity, 2022 saw several exits via IPOs.

Meanwhile, the total number of registered corporations stood at 129 as at 31 December 2022.

The VC segment accounted for 109 registered corporations, while the private equity (PE) segment consisted of 20 registered corporations.

As at end 2022, the number of professionals employed by the industry with at least 4 years experience stood at 229.

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