The national fund-of-funds will empower and grow Malaysia’s startup ecosystem as part of Khazanah’s Dana Impak efforts
KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Berhad (“Khazanah”) today launched the national fund-of-funds, Jelawang Capital Sdn Bhd (“Jelawang Capital”), following the consolidation of Malaysia Venture Capital Management and Penjana Kapital in July and pursuant to the announcement in YAB Prime Minister’s third MADANI Budget 2025 speech. Khazanah Managing Director, Dato’ Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir said, “Jelawang Capital signifies our commitment to the growth of Malaysia’s venture capital (“VC”) ecosystem. Through this catalytic initiative, Jelawang Capital will continue to grow Malaysian fund managers while crowding-in regional fund managers with expertise and capital.” He added, “The VC industry is an important source of innovation, economic growth and job creation for the nation. However, based on research by Startup Genome, only 1.5% of startups in the best US VC hubs enjoy meaningful financial returns on their investment i.e. a successful exit of US$50million or more, illustrating the high inherent risk and challenges associated with this asset class. As such, nothing short of an all-of-nation approach will be needed for us to increase the odds of success. While capital is a key building block to a vibrant VC ecosystem, other critical success factors include the ease of doing business, availability of talent, and deepening of technology and know-how. As innovation is borderless, it is this combination of capital, effective regulation, talent and technology that will determine the future of Malaysia.” Jelawang Capital will be led by Bryan Lim as its Chief Executive Officer, who is also Khazanah’s Head of Dana Impak. Bryan Lim said, “Jelawang Capital is named after the tallest waterfall in Malaysia. Our vision for the local VC ecosystem begins with the provision of capital to fund managers. In turn, we envision this capital and expertise of the managers to cascade to high-potential startups. Like a waterfall flowing into rivers that nourishes the local flora and fauna, we hope these high-potential investments will enrich the wider VC “rainforest” (ecosystem) with innovation and quality jobs. As with any healthy forest, success will depend not just on the availability of water (capital), but also on the abundance of sunlight and nutrients. In shoring up this ecosystem, we look forward to working with like-minded partners and investors.” To accelerate the growth of Malaysia’s venture capital ecosystem, Jelawang Capital will spearhead two initiatives:- The Emerging Fund Managers’ Program (EMP):
- The Regional Managers’ Initiative (RMI):
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