DAdvance Agarwood Solutions had successfully raised a staggering RM1.923 million via an equity crowdfunding (ECF) campaign through Fundnel, an ECF platform operator registered with Securities Commission Malaysia.
The funds raised will be utilised by the Company to accelerate research, development, and manufacturing of its in-house inoculation technology, as well as fulfil working capital and facilitate marketing activities in the hopes of increasing the overall economic growth of the agarwood industry in Malaysia. The Company is collaborating with several Universities in Malaysia to improve the agarwood oil distillation process and R&D on agarwood skin care products.
Recently, the company had also firmly established its position as the leader in the cultivated agarwood industry through the breakthrough of its pure oil quality by achieving outstanding results with a 94.76% reading of sesquiterpene and sesquiterpenoid, and free from Dioctyl phthalate and diethyl phthalate and other contaminants, which follows the strict guidelines from the European and the United States fragrance industries. This report had placed the Company’s agarwood oil under the category of grade A plus by Bio Aromatik Research Centre, a research centre that works with major agarwood oil producers around the world with extensive years of research, and also a subsidiary of University Malaysia Pahang.
Furthermore, the Company aims to accelerate the stagnant agarwood industry in Malaysia through its unique joint venture business model. Currently, the Company has successfully assisted nearly 30 agarwood plantation owners with an exit plan for their agarwood plantation.
The funds will also be used for the expansion of the factory in Ayer Keroh, Malacca, by increasing the number of distillation machines from 6 to 30, which will bring a total output capacity to 30 litres of agarwood oil per month. The deployment of these distillation machines is projected to increase the oil output by 500%, which would have a knock-on effect on the company’s overall revenue. In line with the Company’s aspiration to create a greener, sustainable and low-carbon organisation, the Company is currently exploring the feasibility to install solar power in the Ayer Keroh factory.
A key figure in the local agarwood scene since its establishment 15 years ago, DAAS champions commercially cultivated agarwood for more sustainable production, using its all-natural inoculation vaccine — DAdvance Agritech Vaccine (DATV) — to help local agarwood plantation owners increase resin yield in more than 10,000 homegrown trees to 85% through its joint venture business model. The Company is projected to accumulate approximately 50,000 agarwood trees by the end of 2022 with an estimated value of RM 150 million.
The Company has also inked a Memorandum of Understanding with Tropical Extracts Sdn. Bhd. for granting an exclusive right as distributor of the Company in European countries, for instance, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Turkey and Denmark. Tropical Extracts Sdn. Bhd. is expected to grow their sales from 30 kg of agarwood oil in 2023 to 100 kg in 2025, and is projected to double the latter figure by 2030.
Another exciting project in the pipeline is to kickstart the Company’s Agriculture 4.0 project (“the Project”) in collaboration with Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) on 150 acres of agarwood plantation in Temerloh, Pahang, with approximately 100,000 agarwood trees aged at least 3 years old. This will be the first organisation in Malaysia to implement a full spectrum of Agriculture 4.0 on agarwood plantation through Precision Agriculture Solutions which comprises intelligent capacitive sensors and hardware for data collection in the plantation such as humidity, climate, soil and water level to optimise tree growth.
“In line with our vision, we are constantly striving to perfect our vaccine tech for higher resin yields by setting a new standard in the synthesis period from 18 months to 24 months and to further elevate Malaysia’s standing as an agarwood producer. This is why we strongly believe that this ECF is not only a fundraiser for DAAS, but also something that will benefit the local plantations and the industry as a whole. We would also like to thank Fundnel, Entrevestor, and Elevate for their support to make this ECF campaign a success,” said David Liew, founder of DAAS.
It is also a known fact that agarwood is highly treasured within medicinal, jewellery, fragrance and essential oil segments. It is said that globally, the agarwood market trade is estimated to be valued at USD 32 billion, and is expected to double to USD 64 billion by the end of 2029, making Agarwood the world’s most valuable plant species.
“With an industry brimming with potential and a formulation with an undisputed track record of success, we truly believe that this ECF campaign is a timely opportunity for budding investors to get into the agarwood game and grow alongside us,” David continued.
“With the agarwood industry currently valued at USD 32 billion, we are confident that DAAS is able to leverage on this growing opportunity and make an impact in our very own country. Not only we believe in the vision of DAAS in helping plantation owners and overall aim to contribute to the overall economy, but we are also proud to partner with them in this journey like partnering with them in introducing the world’s first signature oud roasted coffee through the collaboration with Union Roastery to bring the benefits of agarwood into our modern lifestyle,” said Eugene Chew, Group CEO of Union Roastery.
“We are strong believers in the qualities of agarwood and plan to feature premium agarwood products in our upcoming Embique Project in Malacca, which will be the first agarwood-based wellness and spa hotel in Malaysia. Therefore, we were especially keen on investing in DAAS and supporting them as an agarwood pioneer to help other industries grow via their agarwood technology,” shared William Lau, Executive Director of HLT Land Sdn Bhd.
Last but not least, the Company is looking to launch an agarwood wellness centre, TCM Wellness Culture, through a joint collaboration alongside their upcoming business partner, which is targeted to launch in 2023.
