MTDC and Gobi Partners invest US$1.1mil in Malaysia's leading ECF platform, pitchIN

• Co-investment supports potential high growth Malaysian tech firms
• pitchIN to launch slew of new products, including IEO, expand regionally

The Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) a wholly-owned company of Khazanah Nasional Bhd has joined Gobi Partners as co-investor in a US$1.16 million (RM5 million) investment in Pitch Platforms Sdn Bhd (pitchIN) to assist it to expand its equity crowdfunding (ECF) platform, launch the first initial exchange offering (IEO) in Malaysia, introduce a secondary market platform and expand regionally.
 
The pitchIN ECF is a Registered Market Operator (RMO) with the Securities Commission. To date it has successfully funded 154 deals for 150 companies, the most among all ECF platforms in Malaysia. pitchIN has raised over (US$65.3 million) RM280 million to date for the 150 companies that used its platform, with over 7,600 investments made into fast growing Malaysian companies.

MTDC’s CEO, Mohammad Hazani (pic) welcomed this co-investment with Gobi Partners as it will support potential high growth Malaysian technology companies to expand their business, locally and internationally.
“We support and believe that this co-investment will benefit Malaysia’s technology companies as their capability to sustain and grow their business in the wake of the recent pandemic is another reason for our continued partnership with them. MTDC would also like to invite other investors to co-invest alongside us, specifically in the technology sector.”
 
Pitch Platform’s CEO, Sam Shafie said, "We are pleased to welcome two strategic corporate investors into pitchIN. MTDC and Gobi Partners both bring experience and market reach and we are confident that their investment will lead to more growth at pitchIN. We thank them for their confidence in our vision and look forward to working with them as we roll out upcoming services and planned expansion."

The investment is made through MTDC’s Business Growth Fund (BGF Fund) and Gobi‘s Superseed II Fund (Gobi SSII Fund).

Prior to this, MTDC had signed a MoU with Pitch Platforms in 2020 to collaborate and cooperate in the areas of ECF. The MTDC-pitchIN ECF Programme allows MTDC to participate in equity crowdfunding investment of up to 30% in eligible prospective companies per campaign.

With this additional investment in pitchIN, MTDC will be able to further facilitate fundraising for local technology-based companies through their crowdsourcing online platform. MTDC will also provide its integrated support services for the companies funded which includes Technology Centre Management, Technopreneur Training Academy (TENTRA), Centre of 9 PillarsÒ (Co9PÒ) and advisory services such as mentoring, soft-landing, branding, fund raising, international collaboration and networking.
 
Meanwhile, Gobi Managing Partner (Malaysia), Jamaludin Bujang (pic) highlighted that the co-investment partnership will allow entrepreneurs, especially startups and SME’s, to receive additional funding which will come in handy in the challenging economic landscape.
 
“With the launching of pitchIN’s Secondary Market and IEO platforms this year, this is a key inflection point on the increased popularity of ECF in Malaysia and that is the reason why Gobi and MTDC are investing in the best ECF platform in the country.”