KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 — Malaysia Debt Ventures Bhd (MDV) and Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd have established a Fintech Fund, with a target fund size of RM300 million to support the growth of financial technology (fintech) companies in Malaysia.

MDV chief executive Nizam Mohamed Nadzri said the company is looking to fund fintech companies with scalable and sustainable business models that provide innovative and disruptive technology-based product offerings.

"With the country’s urgent need to leverage technology advancement to drive economic recovery, MDV and Kenanga Investment are confident that the new fund will be able to contribute positively to Malaysia’s technology and start-up ecosystem.

"This is given the many advantages of venture debt and venture capital financing as an attractive and complementary source of capital for technology companies in achieving sustainable and profitable growth,” he said in a statement today.

The fund will see MDV and Kenanga Investment taking up the role of joint managers and co-investors on a pro-rata basis.

In the initial investment phase, both MDV and Kenanga Investment will equally contribute RM25 million each as seed capital towards the fund, which would primarily be used to finance fintech companies at various stages of its lifecycle to its pre-initial public offering.

Meanwhile, Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd group managing director Datuk Chay Wai Leong said the fund will enable unicorn companies of the future to flourish and entrench technology in pole position to drive Malaysia’s post-Covid-19 recovery. — Bernama