As many as 10 venture capital investors signed up to establish new offices in Malaysia on Monday, at a launch event flagging off the country’s goal of becoming one of the top 20 startup hubs in the world by 2030.
At the event titled “KL20 Summit 2024”, the 10 investors named were Nordstar, GP. Bullhound, K3 Ventures, HOPU, Lever VC, Intrinsic Venture Capital, Mundi Ventures, Openspace Ventures, NRL Capital, and M Venture Partners.
Two more investors, namely The Hive Climate Al and China Galaxy Securities, are set to launch their funds in the country.
“KL20 is framed with the mindset we are ushering major reforms to welcome high-quality and high-value investments from around the world while focusing on uplifting local entrepreneurs to go global and seize the moment,” said Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at the event.
“We recognise the growing importance of startups in driving technological advancements, and KL20 is the ideal launchpad for your innovative ideas,” he added.
Anwar also said that Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional will “soon” be launching a national fund-of-funds with an initial allocation of one billion ringgit ($209 million).
He added that Khazanah, government servant retirement fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP), and semiconductor-focused investor BlueChip Ventures will be jointly investing 3 billion ringgit under an Asean Investment initative, though he did not provide further details on the matter.
Among the incentives touted were lower corporate tax rates for foreign venture capital firms, tech entrepreneurs and unicorns, subsidised office spaces, as well as employment pass exemptions.
The country has recently ramped up investments and initiatives to boost is its startup and VC ecosystem. Last month, it launched the Malaysia Venture Capital Roadmap 2024-2030 to enhance its VC ecosystem.
