The Securities Commission (SC) in its 2022 annual report released today said total funds raised in 2022 decreased to RM140.38 million from RM220.72 million in 2021.

“Similarly, total successful campaigns decreased from 104 in 2021 to 67 in 2022.

“Nevertheless, campaign sizes continued to be of larger fundraising amounts, with 89% of campaigns raising above RM500,000,” it said.

The SC also said there was an increase in larger campaigns, with 21% of campaigns raising above RM3 million compared to 17% in 2021 on ECF platforms.

“The highest amount of funds raised in 2022 by a single fundraising campaign stood at RM17 million,” it said.

In terms of the sectors served, professional, scientific and technical activities continued to receive the most funds in 2022, with total funds raised amounting to RM41.37 million in 2022.

“In particular, the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector grew exponentially, from RM753,750 in 2021 to RM19.32 million in 2022. The number of campaigns for Series A grew from 54% in 2021 to 72% in 2022. In 2022, the majority of campaigns were fundraising for purposes of business expansion,” the SC said.

As at end-2022, the total number of issuers stood at 305, with the number of issuers decreasing to 65 in 2022 from 104 in 2021.

“In terms of business location, issuers in 2022 were predominantly from Selangor and Kuala Lumpur while technology-focused issuers formed 49% of total issuers. The majority of 2022 issuers have been in operation for less than three years,” the SC said.

Since inception, the SC said, the total number of participating investors surpassed the 14,000 mark.

“While the total number of investors decreased in 2022, first-time investors comprised the majority of ECF investors in 2022 at 83%,” it said.