PENJANA Kapital Sdn Bhd has raised RM676 million, where RM372 million or 55% came from various foreign investors, specifically from and South Korea.

“The RM676 million raised has exceeded Penjana Kapital’s initial fundraising goal of RM228 million by RM448 million, or almost 200% of the original target amount,” the company said in a statement yesterday.

“Out of the RM676 million raised, the eight-venture capital (VC) fund managers will initially invest a combined total of RM110.15 million in eight start-ups,” it added.

The company, which was set up by the government to operationalise the Dana Penjana Nasional (DPN) programme, said in a statement yesterday the amount was raised by eight Malaysian-based VC fund managers selected as part of the matching fund-of-funds programme.

According to Penjana Kapital, eight start-ups are present in at least two Asean countries.

Five are Malaysian-based startups, while the remaining three ex-Malaysian investments have committed to setting up operations in the country and secured partnerships with Malaysian corporates, it said.

Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz (picture) congratulated the eight VCs, saying that these funds are crucial to spur Malaysia’s start-up ecosystem and encourage innovation, particularly in the face of Covid-19 challenges.

“I also welcome their foreign VC partners to our shores, which is clearly a vote of confidence in Malaysia’s growth prospects and its start-up industry,” he said in a same statement.

“I wish Penjana Kapital, the VCs and their investee companies every success in invigorating this industry, as well as facilitating knowledge transfer and creating high-paying jobs in Malaysia’s start-up space,” he added.

Penjana Kapital said the fund managers have not only committed to achieving a target internal rate of return of between 15% and 30%, but also to delivering tangible economic benefits to the Malaysian economy and creating almost 1,400 high-quality jobs from those initial investments.

DPN, which is part of the Short-term Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana), aims to bridge the funding gap by incentivising private capital to facilitate the growth of start-ups and create an enabling environment for start-ups to scale and internationalise.

The Malaysian government will match RM600 million, on a 1:1 basis, of the funds raised by the VCs from foreign and private domestic investors, with a target allocation of RM1.2 billion.

– TMR

(Web source: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2021/05/20/penjana-kapital-raises-rm676m/)