Venture Capital

Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology & Innovation (MRANTI), a commercialization catalyst in the technology and innovation ecosystem, and pitchIN, Malaysia's Digital Fundraising and Investment Hub, have announced their strategic partnership aimed at revolutionizing the investment landscape for Malaysian startups and spinoffs.

Former Fave Execs Joel Neoh and Audra Pakalnyte have launched First Move, a founder-led early-stage fund, to empower consumer-focused startups across Southeast Asia. The fund provides vital pre-seed funding of up to $100,000, and has a current portfolio of seven companies spanning Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Indian venture capital firm Arkam Ventures has launched its Fund II with a target size of $180 million to tap "Middle India" opportunity. The fund will continue to build a thesis-driven, concentrated portfolio by going deeper in its existing sectors and, as well as identifying category leaders in promising areas like manufacturing, tech and electric…

Iskandar Investment Bhd aims to be the bridge between Malaysian start-ups and local and regional investors to facilitate access to fundings.

Indian venture capital firm Blume Ventures has on Wednesday announced the first close of its new opportunity cum continuity fund, Fund 1Y. This is the firm’s third growth fund, and it has already raised INR 200Cr ($25 million) of the INR 400Cr ($50 million) target with visibility for the remaining corpus.

MYStartup, an initiative by the Ministry of Science of Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle), has partnered with Malaysian firms Maxis, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (Petronas), Cyberview and airasia academy to foster growth in Malaysia’s startup ecosystem.

GoTo-backed investment firm Go-Ventures has rebranded as Argor Capital Management Pte. Ltd. (Argor) and closed its second flagship venture fund at $240 million.

The Board of Directors (Board) of the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI) has on Monday announced the resignation of Dzuleira Abu Bakar as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Kaya Founders, a Philippines-based venture capital firm, has on Wednesday announced the first close at $12 million in funding across two new funds to back the next generation of tech-enabled, industry-shaping start-ups across Southeast Asia.

“We will persuade these 20 agencies (related to the ecosystem) that we will have to move towards a single window approach similar to what we have done with the visa application system,“ he said.