Elevate Programme graduates see capital market as viable fundraising channels to catalyse growth

• Graduating companies aim to boost growth & market reach
• Aims to help SMEs, MTCs build competencies for capital market fundraising

Capital Markets Malaysia (CMM), an affiliate of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), has concluded the first cohort of its 2024 Elevate Programme. This programme targets the executive leadership of high-performing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and mid-tier companies (MTCs) seeking to accelerate growth, offering them knowledge and competency development to effectively navigate and leverage fundraising options via the capital market.

The ten-day Elevate Programme, with the SC and Bursa Malaysia as strategic partners, was designed by CMM to help SMEs and MTCs reinforce the competencies and skills required to meet the specific nuances of capital market fundraising, whether through an IPO listing or private equity investment. Specifically, the programme’s intent is to enable executive leaders to articulate their vision for growth by building investor confidence in their capacity for scaling up.

Navina Balasingam, General Manager of CMM, said, "SMEs and MTCs are vital to our economy, and it is a priority for us to facilitate accessible pathways to raise funds critical for these companies to achieve scale. CMM’s Elevate Programme is designed for this specific purpose. Through this platform, we hope to support companies that are ready for the next level of growth.”

She added that, done right, this initiative will be pivotal in creating a vibrant and dynamic pipeline of companies en route to listing or private equity investment, whilst positioning Malaysia’s capital market as an attractive destination for both fundraising and investing.

This effort supports the nation’s ambitions, as underscored by the SC’s recently unveiled ‘Catalysing MSME and MTC Access to the Capital Market: 5-Year Roadmap (2024–2028)’, which sets out a goal of increasing MSME and MTC capital market fundraising by more than five-fold, from US$1.4 billion (RM6.3 billion) in 2023 to US$9.2 billion (RM40 billion) by 2028.

Notable graduates from past Elevate cohorts include SNS Network Technologies, which saw accelerated growth since attending the Elevate Programme, listing on the ACE Market in September 2022 and completing its transfer to the Main Market in June this year, and YX Precious Metals Bhd, which listed on the ACE Market in 2022 and has begun the process of transferring to the Main Market.

The latest cohort of the Elevate Programme concluded with the ‘Demo Day’, where participants pitched their equity stories to potential investors and investment bankers, putting into practice the learnings from the four-month programme. Aside from engaging with investors, the companies obtained market-relevant, actionable feedback, enabling them to further refine their plans and strategies to better position their businesses as attractive investments. The graduating companies represent a diverse range of industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, retail, technology, and services, among others, all of which aim to amplify their growth trajectory and market reach.

The participating companies include Fipper Marketing Sdn Bhd, Gourmet Ingredients Sdn Bhd, Great Pyramid Sdn Bhd, i-Chem Solutions Sdn Bhd, Kasut U Sdn Bhd, Imetal (M) Sdn Bhd, and Tera Va Sdn Bhd, to name a few.

The next Elevate Programme cohort, scheduled to commence in September 2024, convenes a similarly diverse group of leaders of high-performing SMEs and MTCs. Companies seeking to join future cohorts may visit https://www.capitalmarketsmalaysia.com/elevate-programme/ for more information on the programme.