VentureTECH grooms industry leaders
Sdn Bhd is geared towards its commitment to contribute to the country’s economy by growing local industry players in high value-added and hightech sectors with socio-economic multipliers.
An investment company mandated by the government through the Economic Planning Unit (now Economic Affairs Ministry) to encourage the participation of Malaysian businesses in strategic high growth industries, VentureTECH primarily invests in local companies.
Its managing director Dr Norida Abdul Rahman said the Malaysian economy had reached a defining moment in its development path.
“This comes with the risks of being left behind unless the various industries that are contributing to the nation’s growth move up the value chain to become producers or manufacturers of higher value products and services,” she said.
“To keep abreast with these developments and to unlock the shift in industrial value chain, VentureTECH was established to support the government’s pursuit to empower local companies to grow and evolve specifically in the three high growth industries — bio-based, emerging and green.
“We are committed to providing not just growth capital but to successfully build the local industry by providing support for capacity building and market positioning. We forge a culture of partnership with entrepreneurs and stakeholders in building a sense of trust, and an alignment of goals with long-term purposes of creating value and delivering returns to the community at large,” she added.
Norida said having a good understanding of the dynamics of the ecosystem and industry value chain would provide the advantage of addressing key development and competitive issues.
It also allows industry players to recognise where, how and by whom the economic, social and environmental values are created and distributed.
“To date, we have invested in 13 local tech-driven businesses, with RM300 million total portfolio revenue. The numbers may seem smaller compared to other incumbent players, but we believe in quality impact investment that emphasises generating both commercial and societal returns,” she said.
As an impact investor, VentureTECH is highly driven to achieve inclusive societal as well as environmental results, evident through the creation of 1,500 highly skilled jobs, generating aggregate revenue of more than RM300 million, and spillover benefits to the local communities.
On its investment to date, she said VentureTECH prides itself in the performance of its investee companies for being able to establish footings in some of the most challenging markets abroad, adding that these local companies were equipped with superior competence and products led by the leading technologist in their market space.
“Some of these companies include Prestigious Discovery Sdn Bhd, listed among the top 15 companies in the world in remote terminal units; Ain Medicare Sdn Bhd, a pharmaceutical manufacturer dominating 40 per cent of the local market; Clinipath, a pathology company supporting the nation’s digital healthcare agenda; DreamEdge Sdn Bhd, a design and engineering service solution provider for wide sectors; MyBiomass Sdn Bhd, a manufacturer of biomass high value material and chemical products, and others like Selia-Tek Sdn Bhd, Detik Aturan Sdn Bhd, CMC Group Sdn Bhd, Extra-Built (M) Sdn Bhd and Maerotech Sdn Bhd.
“We have proven our capabilities especially in finding our way in a field dominated by established investment and private equity companies, and we would like to partner and grow with more local enterprises in the future,” she said.