Malaysia’s national oil company, Petroliam Nasional Bhd or Petronas, plans to expand its corporate venture capital arm by as much as US$200 million as early as April, Reuters reported on Friday, quoting two sources with knowledge of the matter.
Petronas will focus on making innovation and technology investments across Asia-Pacific, the sources reportedly said. The extra funding could change as the plan is still being finalized, one of the sources added.
The oil company said in a response to Reuters that it “plans to allocate additional funds to Petronas Ventures, increasing the size of its venture capital arm from the $350 million previously announced in 2019”, but did not say by how much.
Malaysia’s government has been wanting to boost and support the local startup ecosystem with various initiatives and policies. On Thursday, Malaysia’s sovereign fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad announced the launch of the Future Malaysia Program to support the local start-up ecosystem of entrepreneurs, start-ups, venture capital, and corporate venture programs through collaborations with domestic and international partners.
Chang Lih Kang, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation of Malaysia, told TechNode Global in December last year at a private event that the Ministry’s target set by the previous administration to create five tech unicorns by 2025 remains unchanged. Malaysia-headquartered used car e-commerce platform Carsome is the only tech unicorn that hails from Malaysia.
Petronas, the country’s only Fortune Global 500 company, has been looking to diversify amid volatility in oil markets. The state oil company first set up a venture capital arm called Petronas Corporate Venture Capital in 2019, according to the report.
The arm was later renamed Petronas Ventures and has invested in companies including Malaysian agriculture technology startup Braintree Technologies and US-based waste-to-energy company Ekamor, information from its website showed.
Petronas Ventures’ main goals include scouting for niche innovative technology to enhance the group’s core operations and growth areas that could become its new sources of revenue, the company said on Friday.
Petronas has also been expanding in renewable energy, with the launch of its clean energy unit called Gentari in June. In February it bought Australian renewables firm Wirsol Energy, which owns solar farms and battery energy storage.
Keyword: Petronas plans to expand corporate venture capital arm with up to $200M - report