“The government is offering a concessionary tax rate of 5% for up to 10 years for eligible funds investing at least 20% of their money in local startups,” Amir said today.

“It is also offering a 10% tax rate for venture capital and private-equity management companies.

“This incentive now extends to onshore limited-liability partnership structures registered with the Securities Commission, further broadening the investor base to deepen the available pool of capital for local startups,” he said.

“Today, our VC ecosystem remains modest, just US$429 million in funding in 2024,” Amir said, adding “Our ambition is anything but”.

“The nation’s central bank will also provide a more ‘efficient and investor-friendly application’ process for venture capital and private equity firms,” Amir said.

Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, and its fund-of-funds subsidiary, Jelawang Capital, named the first five venture capital firms under its emerging fund managers’ programme and regional fund managers’ initiative today.

“They include Vynn Capital and Kairous Capital,” he said.