Growing Digital Talent and Companies
In line with this effort, partnerships have been inked with Gobi Partners and 500 Global, both of which are internationally recognised venture capital managers with an extensive investing track record and expertise for value creation in Malaysia. Through their international networks, these partners act as a bridge to crowd-in investment from regional venture funds to invest in Malaysian companies, helping Malaysian start-ups expand internationally with the goal of becoming regional champions.
On the corporate venture front, we have come on board as a corporate partner for the PETRONAS FutureTech 3.0 Accelerator Program, which strives to unlock synergies and create business value by fostering collaboration between Malaysian corporates and the start-up ecosystem. We are also working with Plug and Play, a leading global innovation platform based in Silicon Valley, with the objective of establishing an innovation accelerator in Malaysia for corporations. With CelcomDigi Berhad and Sime Darby Plantation Berhad as anchor partners, the programme will provide corporations a platform to access leading international enterprise-grade start-ups, thereby meeting their innovation objectives and reducing start-up risk in driving innovative corporate ventures.
The availability of talent is crucial to the continuous development of any industry. Accordingly, we have also launched the Future Malaysia Skills (FMS) initiative as a talent generation platform to prepare Malaysia’s talent for the Future of Work and spur more local champions. Our work here began with a joint venture with Sunway Education Group to establish 42 Malaysia (42MY), an innovative peer-to-peer computer science school that aims to accelerate the development of 10,000 skilled tech talents nationwide within the next 10 years. The 42 programme is part of a global movement with a network of 47 campuses across 26 countries that offers a unique education opportunity free-of-charge, enabling the participation of those aged 18 years and above, regardless of education and socio-economic background.
The programme’s innovative and scalable education model focuses on peer-to-peer and practical project-based learning approaches that resemble a real-work environment, providing learners the opportunity to learn coding while working on real-life industry projects with 42MY’s participating corporate partners. 42MY will see the expansion of the 42 programme nationwide through new campuses in Johor, Penang and Kuching in the coming years, and potentially across Malaysia.
Ultimately, we believe that FMP, FMS and our other initiatives for the domestic start-up ecosystem and talent landscape will play an integral role in spurring innovation and economic growth in the country, ultimately providing Malaysians with in-demand skills that enable access to higher quality jobs, leading to improved livelihoods and catalysing competitive industries that drive economic growth for Malaysia, complementing the nation’s digital economy development agenda and strengthening its Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0) capabilities.
Supporting Better Aged Care for Malaysians
The seed of FMP began in 2021 when we launched the Khazanah Impact Innovation Challenge (KIIC) to unearth entrepreneurs and start-ups with impactful solutions for Malaysia.
Following the challenge, six start-ups were awarded with an RM300,000 grant each to develop and roll-out their solutions. One of the successful start-ups was Care Concierge, a provider of aged care solutions including in-home care and assisted living facilities. Through the support during KIIC and further funding received from Gobi Dana Impak Ventures, Care Concierge aspires to scale up their operations by an additional 1,000 rooms in the next three years, thereby increasing access to high quality and comfortable living solutions for elderly Malaysians.
Disrupting Southeast Asia’s Used Car Industry
We have supported local startups such as CARSOME, a home-grown company that has grown into Southeast Asia’s largest integrated car e-commerce platform.
CARSOME has raised over USD600 million in funding since its inception in 2015, becoming Malaysia’s first unicorn and transacting more than 260,000 cars to date. During this time, they have also launched the CARSOME Certified programme, which sets the industry standard for car inspection and refurbishment and has received recognition from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs (currently known as the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living).
