Khazanah opens applications for EMP second cohort

Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Berhad and its subsidiary, Jelawang Capital announced Thursday the opening of applications for the Emerging Fund Managers’ Program (EMP) second cohort. This reflects Khazanah’s continued commitment, through Dana Impak, to catalyze Malaysia’s venture capital (VC) and startup ecosystem in fostering innovation and supporting economic growth, Khazanah said in a statement. “We are pleased to invite applications for the EMP second cohort 2026, now enhanced with all-year round submissions, “Since the selection of the first three EMP fund managers in June 2025, we are encouraged by the early progress, including attracting more than MYR 30 million ($7.39 million) from other capital providers beyond Jelawang’s commitments and collectively deploying over MYR 60 million ($14.78 million) across more than ten early-stage companies, the majority of which are Malaysian startups,” said Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir, Khazanah Managing Director. According to him, this reflects EMP’s contribution to supporting the development of emerging fund managers and the domestic venture capital ecosystem. “Strengthening Malaysia’s venture capital ecosystem remains a crucial component under our Advancing Malaysia strategy for 2026, “Through Dana Impak, we remain committed to building a deeper and more vibrant venture capital ecosystem,” he added. As Malaysia’s national fund-of-funds, Jelawang Capital channels its investments through VC fund managers under the EMP and Regional Fund Manager’s Initiative (RMI) which employ a programmatic approach to nurture and strengthen the VC ecosystem. The EMP is designed to support the next generation of Malaysian fund managers through crowding in capital and institutionalizing fund managers. The first three EMP fund managers in the first cohort are Vynn Capital, Kairous Capital and First Move. The upcoming EMP cohort introduces several refinements including a rolling Request for Proposals (RFP) and a streamlined submission process that enable year-round applications, a lowered minimum fund size for pre-seed and seed strategies, and greater flexibility during the application phase in relation to early fundraising progress. Khazanah and Jelawang Capital invites eligible Malaysian VC fund managers raising their first, second or third fund to apply for the EMP. These initiatives under Dana Impak and Jelawang Capital support the broader Ekonomi MADANI framework and form part of Khazanah’s MYR 1 billion ($250 million) commitment to the Government’s GEAR-uP initiative to spur Malaysia’s venture capital ecosystem, nurture high-growth entrepreneurs and crowd-in capital in early-stage fundraising, said the statement. Khazanah to support more than 100 Malaysian MTCs via Dana Impak