Handouts and holdups
A rewind edition.
Two stories coming in late:
SME Corp picks its two Dana Pemangkin managers, both names this newsletter flagged last month, into a market already crammed with state money chasing the same SMEs.
An EPF-backed redemption at Involve Asia has sat unfinalised for months. What’s going on?
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Last Thursday, SME Corp named the two winners of its Dana Pemangkin initiative: Hartamodal, the venture arm of Tradeview Capital, and OSK Ventures International.
Both were on the shortlist of five I reported last month — the others being Mekar Capital, Cope Private Equity and Nexea — when I noted only two would get an allocation.
SME Corp said the pair were picked from 21 applicants, with the money split equally and the total still being finalised under the five-year 13th Malaysia Plan.
Everything else tallied.
It’s a PE/VC-style vehicle where the manager matches the government’s money one-to-one and invests it in Malaysian SMEs through equity, debt or hybrid instruments.
The government’s share doesn’t come in a lump sum though, but depends on the Treasury.
Annual allocations were tied to the federal budget tabled each October, SME Corp chief executive Rizal Nainy told The Edge when announcing the recipients.
Aside from the cash, finding SMEs worth backing will be tough, especially since that field is now overcrowded with other government-linked and private investors.
KWAP runs Dana Pemacu (PE) and Dana Perintis (VC), where recipients are already casting for the same fish.
In an earlier report, Navis, a Dana Pemacu recipient, tried and failed to land one.
Khazanah has its own mid-tier SME programme under Dana Impak, plus Jelawang Capital’s stable of VC managers.
Ekuinas invests in SMEs to fulfil its mandate of grooming good picks for the mothership, Permodalan Nasional Bhd.
The whole thing runs like a relay race where an agency nurtures an SME, then hands the baton to an institution for the takeover.
It’s taking off at the state level, too, especially Selangor.
The Tanjung Innovation Fund, due to launch in the third quarter this year, is pitched as the “hybrid” of private-equity rigour and venture-capital innovation that traditional SMEs supposedly can’t find elsewhere.
It’s backed by Selangor’s venture arm, Permodalan Negeri Selangor Bhd (PNSB), with The Hive and AxeHedge as co-general partners.
And private players such as Ikhlas, which I’ve reported is eyeing SMEs with newly launched, GLIC-backed funds, are crowding in too.