Corporate venturing gains traction in Malaysia – a boost to local tech startups

[KUALA LUMPUR] As Malaysia pushes to climb the value chain in the technology sector, its fledgling corporate venture capital landscape is beginning to show promise, with rising investments fuelling opportunities to reshape the country’s tech ecosystem.

Several key developments in Malaysia’s corporate venturing space – or corporate venture capital (CVC), where corporations invest directly in startups – lend hope to its potential, even as the country ranks among the top three in South-east Asia for funding, but lags regional peers in activity.

In December last year, the country’s sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional lent its heft to crank things up in the CVC space, with the launch of two strategic investments totalling RM1 billion (S$307.5 million) under its Dana Impak Initiative.