Khazanah’s Dana Impak aims to drive meaningful change through supporting the scaling up of Malaysian innovation and businesses as well as building sustainable value for Malaysians.
Khazanah Nasional’s Dana Impak makes progress in delivering impactful outcomes for the nation and the rakyat
A KEY part of Khazanah Nasional’s mandate is to undertake strategic investments with an objective to advance the nation, be it through increasing economic competitiveness or building national resilience.
A continuation of Khazanah’s role in delivering strategic investments is Dana Impak, which aims to drive meaningful change through supporting the scaling up of Malaysian innovation and businesses as well as building sustainable value for Malaysians.
Dana Impak is a key pillar of Khazanah’s Advancing Malaysia strategy, with a RM6bil allocation over five years across six themes based on challenges facing the nation:
> Digital society and technology hub
> Food and energy security
> Decent work and social mobility
> Quality health and education for all
> Building climate resilience
> Competing in global markets.
With a focus on nurturing national resilience and unlocking new avenues for growth, RM500mil worth of projects were identified in 2022 across a wide spectrum of impact areas.
'Our commitment to deliver long-term value for Malaysians is guided by the principles of good governance, in line with the aspirations of Malaysia Madani.' - Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir
“In recent years, there has been a shift in the way we invest which has, in turn, redefined the role of our capital and the ways we crowd-in investments. Notwithstanding, we remain focused on pursuing not just financial returns but also creating positive change,” says Khazanah managing director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir.
“The Future Malaysia Programme (FMP) is one such expression of that focus, specifically for local entrepreneurs, start-ups and businesses to spur innovation and economic growth by driving strategic collaboration within Malaysia’s start-up and corporate venture ecosystem – fostering the sharing of ideas and enhancing business value creation.
“The FMP and other initiatives launched are important milestones for Dana Impak and the wider Khazanah in increasing Malaysia’s economic competitiveness and building national resilience.”
Future Malaysia Programme
FMP was launched in March 2023 with an initial capital deployment of RM180mil with the aim to support the local start-up ecosystem of entrepreneurs, start-ups, venture capital, and corporate venture programmes through collaborations with domestic and international partners.
In concert with partners like Gobi Partners, 500 Global, Plug and Play and Petronas Ventures, Khazanah aspires to complement and catalyse Malaysia’s start-up ecosystem.
A recent addition to the FMP is Khazanah’s partnership with Antler, which aims to unearth and nurture Malaysia’s entrepreneurial talent and provide them access to Antler’s global platform and network.
Antler’s venture generation programme addresses a crucial gap within the Malaysian start-up funding ecosystem especially in the pre-seed stage of investing, with a strong focus on scaling Malaysian ideas and businesses to achieve global competitiveness.
“Our unique approach as a Day Zero investor allows us to be the earliest backer that founders can get,” says Jussi Salovaara, co-founder and managing partner Asia, Antler.
“Besides the initial funding of US$110,000 onwards, we are also a long-term capital partner who provides follow-on capital and access to other Tier-1 investors.
Dana Impak carried out an on-ground survey of 3,300 smallholders nationwide to understand challenges faced by smallholders in different agriculture sub-sectors.
“We will empower Malaysian start-ups to build and scale faster with our global community of founders and advisers, as well as expansion support across the world.”
Antler will be launching its new Kuala Lumpur office in October, during which their first programme will be rolled out with the goal of investing in more than 30 start-ups across Malaysia within the next three years. To find out more about the programme and for start-ups to submit their applications, visit www.antler.co/malaysia.
As a whole, the FMP offers comprehensive support throughout the entire start-up funding lifecycle, from pre-seed to growth stage.
Future Malaysia Skills
In playing an integral role in developing Malaysia’s talent pool and bridging the widening skills supply-demand gap, the Dana Impak Future Malaysia Skills (FMS) initiative was launched.
FMS is a talent generation platform to drive talent development and prepare Malaysia for the future of work by spurring in-demand skills and access to high-quality jobs, which in turn spurs competitive industries and facilitates more local champions across Dana Impak’s focused themes.
FMS also complements the FMP initiative by generating a talent pipeline that is critical for the local start-up and corporate venture ecosystem.
One FMS initiative is Khazanah’s joint venture with Sunway Education Group (SEG) in the establishment of 42 Malaysia (42MY) – an innovative peer-to-peer computer science school that aims to accelerate the development of 10,000 skilled tech talents within the next 10 years, providing learners with the opportunity to engage in coding-driven projects while developing crucial soft skills like collaboration, communication, problem-solving and critical thinking.
Nur Almas says 42KL encourages one to ask, teach and work together to learn more.
In line with the recently announced Ekonomi Madani framework, 42MY empowers Malaysians by providing access to free learning and industry relevant opportunities to individuals aged 18 and above, irrespective of their education or socio-economic background. Around 40% of 42MY participants come from the B40 segment, 30% hold only SPM certification, while an encouraging 20% are female.
“At 42KL you are encouraged to ask, teach and work together to learn more. You are also taught that there are many ways to solve the same problem and by enduring trial and error, you will eventually succeed,” says Nur Almas, 20, a participant of the 42MY programme through 42 Kuala Lumpur (42KL).
Nur says she has gained an interest in cybersecurity and hopes to venture into the field as an ethical hacker.
The programme’s innovative and scalable approach emphasises peer-to-peer and practical project-based learning that mirrors real-world work settings, thereby contributing to a sustainable talent pipeline for the nation in the long-term.
Another 42KL participant, Pragathes Moorthy, 25, says: “I am a computer science major and enrolled in 42KL during the pandemic, when my family was financially struggling.”
M. Pragathes says his perspective on learning changed after joining 42KL.
Pragathes says his perspective on learning and coding has evolved after joining the programme and according to him, it is a privilege to be a part of the community which has impacted him in many ways.
SEG and Khazanah are jointly embarking to expand 42MY nationwide with more campuses across states amongst which include the upcoming launch of 42Penang in collaboration with the Penang state government and Digital Penang.
Further campus locations of 42MY include Johor and Sarawak, as announced earlier this year. This would allow students across the nation access to quality education and nurturing tech talents that can propel Malaysia to become a digital economy leader in the region.
“We believe 42MY will further bolster the domestic start-up and tech ecosystem by nurturing and developing Malaysian talents, complementing the nation’s digital economy development agenda and strengthening its Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) capability,” Amirul says.
Those interested in coding or computer science are invited to join the 42MY programme free of charge. Visit www.42kl.edu.my for more information.
Food security
Another key theme of Dana Impak is addressing the nation’s food security.
Initiatives undertaken to address food security include an on-ground survey of 3,300 smallholders nationwide to understand challenges faced across food crops, livestock and aquaculture sub-sectors in Malaysia.
Key findings from the survey include identifying the top three challenges faced by smallholders, namely, high input prices, climate change impact and pest attacks.
The survey findings further highlight the real impact of extreme and unpredictable weather on crops, livestock and aquaculture sectors – including loss of crops, longer production cycles and the impact to the livelihoods of smallholders. The full results of the survey will be made public in the near future.
To enhance insurance accessibility, PolicyStreet recently launched the foodpanda Protect+ additional protection feature for foodpanda delivery partners.
In bridging the gap between smallholders and their challenges, Khazanah recently launched its second edition of the Khazanah Impact Innovation Challenge (KIIC) 2023, focused on Tackling the Climate Challenge for Malaysia’s Food Security.
Launched in July 2023, this initiative intends to attract innovative agri-food start-ups and MSMEs that are actively tackling problems arising from the impact of climate change on the agri-food sector.
Additionally, support will be provided to the selected participants to enhance their readiness and knowledge in securing funding and propelling their businesses to the next level of growth.
Ultimately, the programme seeks to strengthen the profile of Malaysia-based agri-food start-ups and MSMEs with the aim of creating socio-economic value for the country.
KIIC 2023 finalists will receive awards in the form of grants and the opportunity to pitch for potential equity investments and/or debt funding from Khazanah and its funding partners.
To learn more about the KIIC and the challenge, visit www.khazanah.com.my/kiic/.
MSME digitalisation
A significant facet of Dana Impak’s mission involves strengthening and empowering local MSMEs, with particular focus on accelerating digitalisation and improving access to essential services, including financing and protection.
A recent notable investment in this regard is PolicyStreet, a full-stack insurance technology (insurtech) company that delivers digital and customised insurance solutions to both consumers and businesses.
PolicyStreet plans to narrow the protection gap in Malaysia and enhance the nation’s insurance penetration rate, which at 5.3% currently trails behind global counterparts such as Singapore (9.3%) and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (9.4%).
Moreover, PolicyStreet aims to expand insurance coverage among underserved segments – ultimately enhancing financial protection, household resilience and overall financial well-being.
Part of Khazanah’s Future Malaysia Skills programme is a collaboration with Sunway Education Group to create 42 Malaysia (42MY) – a peer-to-peer computer science school to fast-track the growth of 10,000 skilled tech talents over the next decade.
PolicyStreet has demonstrated its dedication to empowering underinsured businesses and individuals, boasting a reach of over half a million B40 gig workers and 50,000 SMEs.
“Since our successful Series B funding, PolicyStreet has been making headway in bridging Malaysia’s protection gap,” says PolicyStreet co-founder and chief executive officer Yen Ming Lee.
“We are addressing the barriers to being insured by deepening our partnerships with leading brands for wider reach, introducing more variations of insurance to address the different needs and budget constraints of the underserved, as well as constantly improving our tech platform development capabilities for better user experience.”
In line with its commitment to enhancing insurance accessibility, PolicyStreet recently launched foodpanda Protect+ – an additional protection feature for foodpanda delivery partners. Priced at RM3 per month, it’s currently one of the most affordable and holistic accident insurance in the market, offering 24-hour worldwide protection and covering delivery riders even while they are off duty.
According to PolicyStreet, the protection also extends to the riders’ families, narrowing the protection gap further.
Moving forward
“As we forge ahead, Khazanah remains steadfast in contributing to national development and ensuring a sustainable future towards Advancing Malaysia.
“We believe that an all-of-society approach is crucial and should be at the heart of any Dana Impak initiative, to successfully deliver socio-economic impact for the country,” Amirul concludes.
START-UPS UNDER FMP
EARMARKED notable investments in Malaysian homegrown start-ups under the Future Malaysia Programme portfolio include:
> Ejen2U: A homegrown cloud-based agent management platform that offers a digital platform for Malaysian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) product owners and resellers to manage their reseller network and businesses. Ejen2U’s platform currently serves more than 340,000 resellers across Malaysia. Led by co-founders Sheikh Ezaiddin, Imran Hadi and Taufiq Zakir with over 50 years cumulative experience in the entrepreneurship and reseller industry, Ejen2U has enabled income generation which has been a source of empowerment for women, with around 600 women leaders on the team and over US$77mil in sales.
> KiddoCare: An on-demand care service platform that connects parents with trained and vetted Malaysian carers. Founded by two working mothers Nadira Yusoff and Muhaini Mahmud, KiddoCare has served around 30,000 families with over 8,000 women empowered economically as professional carers. In-line with its aspirations of becoming an end-to-end care solutions provider, KiddoCare aims to venture into eldercare starting with its initiative to develop the next generation of eldercare carers through its partnership under the Khazanah Youth Development Programme.
> Pandai: An education technology start-up which aims to deliver accessible, quality and personalised education to students. Co-founded by Khairul Anwar, Suhaimi Ramly and Akmal Akhpah, Pandai has thus far helped over 630,000 students using gamified quizzes aligned to the national curriculum. Via Pandai Education, a registered social enterprise, the group pledges to offer free versions of its tech-driven learning solution and to reach out to underserved communities in remote areas.
> Boomgrow: A vertical indoor farming solutions provider that aims to deliver fresh produce directly to the consumers through its proprietary machine container farming model. Founded by Jayanthi Naidu, Murali Desan and Shanmugavel, Boomgrow’s modular machine container farming model improves efficiency, produces consistent crop yields while enabling scalable farming at various locations, including rural or remote areas. BoomGrow is also training data driven agronomists to meet its expansion plans.
