Paper tiger fund that ate itself
A decade on, Malaysia’s flagship CVC survives on paper value and a closed loop of fees.
Today’s midweek short is a peek under the hood of the Axiata Digital Innovation Fund (ADIF), the corporate venture capital (CVC) paper tiger.
On Monday, I rolled out a new section called Southeast. Think of it as a minimum viable product (MVP). Basically, a test run.
I’m testing two things: first, the ceiling for Malaysian content, and second, whether there’s appetite for regional coverage.
Southeast will run weekly. No fixed format (yet), but it’s for everyone — monthly, annual, and founding subscribers.
For me, it’s also a chance to stretch beyond Malaysia. Worst case? No uptake, and Southeast just sits in the archives. Not too bad lah, right?
As always, here are the ICYMIs (the second one’s for founding members):
You’re reading a paid version of The Malaysianist, a newsletter on money and power by writer and journalist Emmanuel Samarathisa.
I run monthly and annual subscriptions. There’s also the atas or founding member tier where you get all the perks of an annual subscription and more, such as an annual or founder’s report and insight into how this little corner of the internet fared throughout the year.
🚨 The founding member tier is a sliding one, meaning it starts at US$60/year and you can raise it as high as you want — in case you want to give more, which I welcome anytime.
Group subscriptions are on the table, if you’re mulling over purchases for your organisation or for family members.
ADIF is a natural rabbit hole to dive into, given I’ve been publishing stories on VC funds here.
Back in the day, this was the fund that made headlines — a CVC spearheaded by the government-linked telco Axiata.
Its charter ended in July 2023, later extended to July this year. There’s talk it may be stretched for another two years. The clock, however, is ticking.
More bad news? Well…