Malaysian VC firm to pump $38m in startups through 2 new funds

Malaysia Venture Capital Management Berhad (Mavcap), one of Malaysia’s largest VC firms, has agreed to set up two new funds with a collective size of 160 million ringgit (just above US$38 million).

Photo credit: Mavcap

The investment vehicles, named the Orbit Malaysia Fund I and the Ficus SEA Fund, will look for equity funding opportunities in the AI, fintech, healthtech, greentech, industrial tech, edtech, and IoT spaces. It plans to back startups from Malaysia, as well as other countries in the region.

Besides this, the Ficus SEA Fund will invest in local startups in the logistics and greentech industries, and is eyeing other areas such as Islamic fintech, augmented reality, and solutions that tackle environmental, social, and governance issues.

“With our investment focused on robust growth sectors, we foresee positive returns for investors in the years to come, particularly in the post-pandemic environment as the world forges ahead toward recovery,” said Asyrul Ramali, CEO of Ficus Group Capital (Mavcap’s partner for the fund).

The US$25 million Orbit Malaysia Fund I, which was announced earlier this month, will be managed by Jakarta-based Kejora Capital, with Sunway Group and Mavcap serving as anchor investors. The partnership follows Sunway Group and Mavcap’s collaboration on the Malaysia SuperSeed Fund II in 2019.