HSBC Malaysia today (September 12) launched a RM500 million ‘HSBC New Economy Fund’ dedicated to providing high-growth, new economy businesses across Malaysia access to funding solutions to enable them to innovate and scale. The fund was announced at the bank’s second event focused on developing the startup ecosystem in Malaysia titled, “Accelerating sustainability through the Digital Economy – shaping a long-term future”.
The fund will primarily support lending to tech-led businesses and emerging startups from Series B stage and beyond who are tapping opportunities within Malaysia’s growing digital economy. HSBC will continue to offer working capital, treasury management and payments and cash management solutions to meet the needs of these businesses at different stages of their lifecycle.
Dato’ Omar Siddiq, Chief Executive Officer, HSBC Malaysia said, “We are positive on the new economy in South and Southeast Asia and as a Group we are doubling down on our support for new economy players. We have invested US$2 billion globally into Commercial Banking to improve our digital capabilities and to develop more solutions to support our clients.”
“We fully expect new economy businesses to play a more significant role in driving Malaysia’s economic growth and prosperity over the coming years. The ‘HSBC New Economy Fund’, which is a first of its kind in Malaysia, is focused on providing these high-growth, innovative companies with access to funding solutions so that they can continue the next stage of their growth”.
The development of Malaysia’s startup ecosystem is one of the country’s long-term objectives. The various government initiatives laid out as part of the Madani Framework, the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 and the Malaysia Startup Ecosystem Roadmap (SUPER) 2021-2030, are a testament to the commitment to bolster the development of startups in the country and places an emphasis on making Malaysia a digitally vibrant nation. This includes providing enhanced funding, digitalisation grants and capacity building programmes that will be crucial to elevating the position of Malaysian startups on the global stage.
Karel Doshi, Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC Malaysia added, “A key ingredient for tech led businesses and emerging Malaysian startups to scale is the investment to grow. Beyond the incentives provided by the government, for startups to expand and succeed it is crucial to connect them to other parts of the world as well as bring other parts of the world to them – we know Asia very well and have been here for over 150 years”.
“The ‘HSBC New Economy Fund’ demonstrates HSBC’s support for the innovation economy in Malaysia and beyond. In addition to being a trusted advisor towards tech led businesses and emerging startups, we have an unrivalled international network and a specially trained team to deal with startups – this places the Bank in a strong position to support emerging entrepreneurs of today who will spur the next generation of tech innovation companies that will be crucial to the development of the new economy landscape in Malaysia. We are also consistently looking for ways to collaborate with government agencies and ecosystem players to support Malaysia’s new economy ecosystem,” added Karel.
