Khazanah looking to team up with SG-based Antler, sources say

Pic credit: Khazanah Nasional

Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, is ironing out a partnership with Singapore-based VC and accelerator Antler to help the former invest in early-stage startups, people familiar with the matter tell Tech in Asia.

Details are scant at the moment as the deal has yet to be finalized, but talks “had been going on for some time,” sources say on condition of anonymity.

Spokespersons from Antler and Khazanah declined to comment on the matter.

A Kuala Lumpur-based investor who’s aware of the discussions tells Tech in Asia that Khazanah’s deal with Antler may mimic the programs of national oil company Petronas.

For instance, its VC arm Petronas Ventures has been running the FutureTech accelerator since 2019. The program’s partners include 500 Startups and StartupX, among others.

Antler was established by Magnus Grimeland in 2017. He was a co-founder of Zalora before leaving the fashion ecommerce firm to start Antler.

On its website, Antler claims to be “one of the most active early-stage investors,” with a portfolio value of US$3.1 billion.

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s government has set aside US$832 million for startups in this year’s federal budget, in addition to the usual allocations for government tech agencies.

Among the highlights is US$335 million being set aside by government-owned institutional investors such as Khazanah and pension fund Employees Provident Fund to invest in “innovative and high-growth” local startups.

Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir, Khazanah’s managing director, said in February that the sovereign wealth fund will be deploying money from its 6 billion ringgit (US$1.3 billion) Dana Impak fund to meet Anwar’s mandate.