(Bloomberg) — RHL Ventures, a Malaysian private investment firm supported by the country’s finance ministry, expects its assets to more than triple to 1 billion ringgit ($239 million) over the next five years, its top executive said.
“There are talks to launch another fund in the fourth quarter, where we are targeting $200 million,” Raja Hamzah Abidin, RHL’s co-founder and co-managing partner, said in an interview. RHL is in talks with North Asian institutions and pension funds, which have traditionally been its anchors, he said. RHL’s Hibiscus fund has more than 300 million ringgit in assets at present.
The Kuala Lumpur-based firm is looking to deploy at least 150 million ringgit to 200 million ringgit in Southeast Asian startups this year, he said. Firms with good ESG scores and those in the health-care and financial services sectors carry the most growth potential, he added.
“We aim to invest at least 50% of our funds into organizations with ESG at their core,” Raja Hamzah said.
RHL has invested in more than 30 companies over the past couple of years, including online grocery platform HappyFresh and flower delivery firm Flower Chimp, according to its website. Another three to four investments will likely be finalized in the coming months, Raja Hamzah said.
“We are looking to build and support innovative private tech companies, which have the potential to disrupt and transform markets,” he said.
Founded in 2016, RHL counts Malaysia’s finance ministry unit Penjana Kapital as a supporter. Penjana was set up in 2020 under the ministry to operationalize the Malaysian government’s matching fund-of-funds program, according to Penjana’s website. RHL also works with South Korea’s KB Investments Co., according to Raja Hamzah.
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