COMMITTED FUNDS IN PE AND VC INDUSTRY TOTALLED RM24.7 BLN AT END-2024

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Bernama) -- Total committed funds under management in the Malaysian private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) industry amounted to RM24.7 billion as at the end of 2024.

PE accounted for RM18.01 billion while VC’s committed funds totalled RM6.7 billion, the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) said in its Annual Report 2024.

For PE, the commitments are sourced largely from corporate investors (40.91 per cent), individuals and family offices (16.77 per cent) and financial institutions (13.27 per cent).

For VC, the top three sources of funding were government agencies and investment companies (35.99 per cent), sovereign wealth funds (20.15 per cent) and individuals and family offices (19.55 per cent).

According to the report, the top three registered corporations by amount of investor commitments as at end-2024 were Creador, Gaia Investment Partners and Xeraya Capital.

VC investments last year concentrated on growth stage (44.60 per cent), followed by early stage (35.98 per cent) and startup stage (13.44 per cent) opportunities, the SC said.

Meanwhile, PE investments were primarily channelled into growth stage (83.82 per cent), with some investments made in early-stage opportunities (16.18 per cent).

In total, 90 VC and PE deals were recorded in 2024, it said.

In terms of target industries, the SC said wholesale and retail trade saw the highest share (13.65 per cent) of VC investment in 2024, followed by other service activities (11.92 per cent), and professional, scientific and technical activities (10.94 per cent).

As for PE, it said investments were largely channelled to technology services (19.60 per cent) in 2024, followed by manufacturing (15.18 per cent) and financial and insurance/ takaful activities (7.11 per cent).

The SC said divestments in PE portfolios during 2024 were mainly exits in the growth stage, while the majority of divestments in VC were early-stage positions, followed by growth stage.

“Exits in 2024 were primarily through initial public offering (IPO) or sale to public markets and redemption of shares,” it added.

On equity crowdfunding (ECF), the SC said total funds raised in 2024 fell by 23 per cent to RM97.57 million compared to RM126.28 million in 2023, with a similar declining trend observed in the number of successful campaigns, which dropped to 35 from 51 in the previous year.

“Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles received the highest funding in 2024, amounting to RM24.67 million. Meanwhile, the agriculture, forestry, and fishing sectors experienced significant growth, with the total amount raised doubling to RM17.81 million in 2024,” it said.

The total number of issuers decreased to 35 in 2024 from 51 in the preceding year.

“While 77 per cent of ECF issuers were based in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, growing interest can be observed from issuers outside the Klang Valley, including those from Kelantan and Negeri Sembilan, constituting 6.0 per cent of the total issuers,” it said.

The total number of investors decreased by 24 per cent to 3,099 in 2024 from 4,095 in the previous year.

First-time investors comprised 15 per cent of ECF investors last year, the report said.

On peer-to-peer (P2P) financing, the SC said total funds raised grew by 20 per cent to RM2.51 billion last year from RM2.09 billion in 2023, while total campaigns rose to 34,512 from 31,002.

“Campaign sizes in 2024 continued to be of smaller fundraising amounts, with 66 per cent of campaigns raising RM50,000 and below. Wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles remained the largest sector served in 2024, raising RM1.28 billion and contributing 51 per cent of the total fundraising for the year,” it said.

As at end-2024, the report stated that the total number of issuers stood at 19,956.

In 2024 alone, the total number of issuers decreased by 3.0 per cent to 5,206 from 5,359 in 2023.

The total number of participating investors has exceeded 38,000 since P2P financing was first introduced.

“In 2024, there was a slight increase of 0.2 per cent in the total number of investors to 15,628 from 15,599 in 2023,” it said.

-- BERNAMA