On 28 October 2024, Khazanah Nasional Berhad (“
Khazanah”), Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, launched Jelawang Capital Berhad (“
Jelawang Capital”), a national fund-of-funds designed to accelerate the growth of Malaysia’s venture capital sector.
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Jelawang Capital, which is named after the tallest waterfall in Malaysia, is the consolidation of the initiatives under Malaysian Venture Capital Management and Penjana Capital undertaken in July this year.
The Malaysia MADANI Budget 2025 provides that the national fund-of-funds will be allocated RM1.0 billion, of which RM300 million will be allocated in 2025.
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The Managing Director of Khazanah, 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.”
According to the Chief Executive Officer of Jelawang Capital, Bryan Lim, “
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.” He added that “
In shoring up this (VC) 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 EMP
The EMP aims to nurture promising Malaysian VC fund managers to raise their first, second or third fund.
The EMP, which is open to Malaysian General Partners (“
GPs”) based in Malaysia or abroad, seeks to support Malaysian fund managers to establish their track record and increase their competitiveness in the VC ecosystem. Jelawang Capital will act as an anchor for Malaysian GPs to gain traction and crowd-in further capital from other local or international investors. Aside from capital support, the EMP will also support GPs to develop crucial areas such as fund management, investment operations and talent management. In turn, this is expected to gradually institutionalise and improve the capabilities of GPs.
Interested applicants can learn more about the qualifying criteria and download the application forms at
www.jelawangcapital.com. The EMP is open for proposals until 31 December 2024 and completed applications are to be submitted to
emp@jelawangcapital.com. Further opportunities to participate in EMP will be available in the second half of 2025.
The RMI
The RMI aims to elevate Malaysia’s start-up ecosystem through strategic partnerships with regional VC firms.
The RMI is Jelawang Capital’s effort to attract international fund managers who are committed to enrich the ecosystem. This includes supporting the growth of Malaysian start-ups to be regional and global players and facilitating the redomiciling of global companies in Malaysia to expand local job capabilities, attract talent and deepen innovation.
Jelawang Capital also welcomes established venture generators to unearth new entrepreneurs and support the growth of existing ones in Malaysia.
Regional managers aligned with these strategic objectives are invited to submit their proposals to
rmi@jelawangcapital.com.
As the national fund-of-funds, Jelawang Capital forms part of the Dana Impak initiative which is a key pillar of Khazanah’s Advancing Malaysia strategy anchored by ‘A Nation that Creates’ framework which aims to boost national productivity and competitiveness. The initiatives under Dana Impak seek to empower Malaysian business of all sizes and across different life cycles, including start-ups, small to mid-tier as well as large companies, with the objective of improving livelihood of communities.
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Article by Fariz Abdul Aziz (Partner) and Sharifah Shafika Alsagoff (Partner) of the Corporate Practice of Skrine.