He also says SMEs in the country lack exposure, whether to the corporate world or to regional players

Malaysian private investment firm RHL Ventures has just announced a new US$24.3-million fund. While its previous fund focused only on tech startups across Southeast Asia, the current fund is more broader and sector-agnostic and is targeting only Malaysian startups and SMEs. SME Corp. Malaysia, a central co-ordinating agency under the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development, is a significant investor of the new fund.

According to RHL Ventures’s Managing Partner Raja Hamzah, the VC firm has already identified a few startups for investments.

In a quick chat with e27, he talks about the plans with the new fund and the trends in the startup industry in Malaysia.

Edited excerpts:

You backed primality tech startups with your earlier fund. What prompted you to change the strategy this time and decide to be sector-agnostic? Is it because Malaysia’s tech startup ecosystem has matured and offers enough financial resources to tech startups?

Tech can be used as an enabler for growth for all early-stage companies. We are not forgetting technology, but we are using it as a tool to help companies grow across all sectors. There is still a gap in growth-stage funding across all sectors in Malaysia, including tech, and we aim to bridge that.

Can you explain what you meant by being “sector-agnostic and more broader”?

We see opportunities across all sectors e.g. logistics, manufacturing, services. If we do see opportunities in any of these sectors, assuming the diligence checks out, we will invest.

Can you share the names of the other backers of this fund? How is the partnership with SME Corp. Malaysia going to mutually benefit the two firms? What does this mean for the industry?

We are unable to share specific names due to confidentiality requirements. SME Corp. is the agency in charge of developing SMEs all the way up to the pre-IPO stage. There are significant synergies that can be had with RHL’s investments and SME Corp’s guidance and support to SMEs. It is a game changer for the Malaysian early-stage ecosystem, that there is an investor who can support their business from the early stage all the way up to exit.

How is the new fund going to be fundamentally different from your previous one? Will the average ticket size be the same? How many startups are you planning to invest from this fund?

This new fund will invest in Malaysian startups only. Rather than targeting a specific number of startups, we are committed to deploying capital to a company across multiple growth funding stages, and see ourselves as a partner to our investee companies to help them expand.

Meet the VC: RHL Ventures on sniffing out a good deal and why VCs need to work together

Which sectors are you going to invest from this fund? Do you have any specific industry in mind?

We’ve looked at opportunities across numerous sectors including healthcare, logistics, and the consumer sectors. There are exciting growth opportunities seen across all sectors.

Is your previous fund completely exhausted? How many startups have you backed from that fund?

No, we still have plenty of capital to deploy from the previous Southeast Asian fund.

Malaysia has a thriving startup ecosystem and the VC funding industry is also growing fast. What are the current trends? Are startups still finding it tough to access funding, and is this why startups go to ECFs first?

Despite all the initiatives by both the public and private sector, there is still a big funding gap in the growth stage. The RM 1 billion fund championed by the previous government failed to materialise. With this fund, we aim to bridge that gap.

How is the non-tech startup ecosystem growing in Malaysia? What do SMEs lack? How are you going to help them?

The SMEs in Malaysia lack exposure, whether to the corporate world or to regional players. With our global network of investors across the region and Asia, we aim to help them bridge that gap.

Have you already identified any startups for potential investments?

Yes, we have identified a variety of Malaysia startups to invest in, and are finalising due diligence for these names.

The post There’s still a big funding gap in Malaysia’s growth-stage startup space: RHL Ventures’s Raja Hamzah appeared first on e27.