KUALA LUMPUR: Khazanah Nasional Bhd today said it has completed the acquisitions of Malaysia Venture Capital Management (Mavcap) and Penjana Kapital (PK).
The move is part of Malaysia's plan to set up a Malaysian-focused fund to invest in innovative and high-growth startups via venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds.
In April this year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that Mavcap and Penjana Capital would be parked under Khazanah to form a Malaysian-focused fund with an initial allocation of RM1 billion, dubbed the National Fund-of-Funds (NFOF).
Khazanah in a statement said with the completion of the acquisition, it will begin establishing the NFOF with an initial allocation of RM1 billion.
Khazanah managing director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir said the integration of Mavcap and PK represents an opportunity to build on the solid foundations of these entities while implementing new initiatives to strengthen Malaysia's VC ecosystem.
"By consolidating investment platforms across multiple investment agencies, Malaysia will be better positioned to ensure greater sustainability of funding, crowd-in private capital, attract regional VC firms into the country and catalyse strategically important sectors.
"Furthermore, the establishment of a national fund-of-funds aligns with Khazanah's Future Malaysia Programme, which aims to support the local start-up ecosystem of entrepreneurs, start-ups, VC, and corporate venture programmes through collaboration with domestic and international partners," he added.
Khazanah said the move aligns with the aspirations of Madani Economy to 'raise the ceiling' through digital innovation-led industries and support high-growth companies to become regional champions.
Additionally, this initiative is a key pillar of Malaysia's vision of becoming a preferred regional VC hub by 2030, as outlined in the Malaysia Venture Capital Roadmap 2024-2030 (MVCR) and the KL20 Action Paper.
"We recognise the contributions and commitment of Mavcap and PK. Their vision and dedication to the VC ecosystem all these years have been instrumental, and we look forward to drawing on the teams' strength and experience to achieve our collective vision of advancing Malaysia," said Amirul.