KUALA LUMPUR: Fashion entrepreneur Datin Vivy Yusof and her husband will relinquish their positions in e-commerce platform FashionValet Sdn Bhd (FashionValet).
In a joint statement shared on Instagram, Vivy and her husband, Datuk Fadzaruddin Shah Anuar, said they made the decision in light of recent issues surrounding the sale of Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) and Khazanah Nasional Bhd's stake in the company.
They said this was also done to prevent the ongoing issues from further affecting the company, which is currently in the process of a turnaround.
"We want to state from the outset that we take full responsibility for the failure of the investment.
"As the two individuals responsible for managing the company, the buck stops with us, and the fact is that we have failed our investors," the statement read.
The co-founders also admitted to not having a sufficient plan for FashionValet to face potential challenges as they attempted to expand the business aggressively.
They also said they made the mistake of scaling the business in anticipation of continued growth but were left exposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.
"We are disappointed in ourselves and regretful that it has come to this. We are truly sorry. Many have asked us what happened and how we ended up here.
"As much as we tried to cut costs to conserve cash (including shutting down our e-commerce platform), the situation had become dire.
"There are so many things we wish we had done differently, so many other factors we wish we had considered before embarking on our expansion plans.
"Personally, we continued to curate a positive and hopeful image for the world, naively thinking that maintaining such a posture would instil confidence in our brand and products," they said.
Both of them also apologise for how the controversy has affected both PNB and Khazanah.
"They (PNB and Khazanah) have always acted professionally and in the best interests of their organisations.
"We hope this disappointment does not become a deterrent and that they will continue to support other local entrepreneurs."
Yesterday, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil urged PNB and Khazanah to explain their RM43.9 million losses after selling their stake in the e-commerce platform FashionValet for RM3.1 million.
Fahmi said such an explanation should be made as they are dealing with the public's money.
He, nevertheless, said that both parties including FashionValet should be given some time to prepare a formal response.
On Oct 29, the Finance Ministry in a parliamentary written reply revealed that PNB and Khazanah lost RM43.9 million from the sale of their minority investments in FashionValet.
In 2018, Khazanah invested RM27 million and PNB RM20 million for minority stakes in FashionValet.
The ministry said the Covid-19 pandemic severely impacted FashionValet's business, leading to a significant need for new capital to continue operations.
It added that the sale represented a responsible exit for Khazanah and PNB from FashionValet to a strategic investor who could continue to assist FashionValet in addressing its financing needs holistically and reviving its business in a challenging industry environment.
Last month, Khazanah said its RM27 million investment in FashionValet in 2018 reflected its commitment to support local founders and the startup ecosystem.
Meanwhile, PNB's investment was to support the rapidly growing Bumiputera digital retail company to become a regional retail platform for Malaysian brands.
The investments from Khazanah and PNB were channelled into FashionValet to support the company's growth plans.