Six more partners, Cradle co-investment funds reach nearly US$38mil

• Six new partners and Cradle to bring in US$12.3mil more
• Looking to grow total co-investment fund size to US$48mil by end-2016

CRADLE Fund Sdn Bhd has signed on six new partners for its equity co-investment circle, which will see it and these partners raising another RM52 million (US$12.3 million), bringing the total amount of funds available for co-investment in startups to RM159.2 million (US$37.7 million).
 
The six equity co-investment partners are Marna Capital, Nexea Angels, 1337 Ventures, IV Gagasan (Infinite Ventures), IMJ Investment Partners, and N Capital Partners.
 
Before this latest round, the cumulative funds available under Cradle’s co-investment programme stood at about RM107.2 million (US$25.4 million). It now has 20 co-investment partners.
 
Cradle is an early stage grant provider under Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance that seeks to develop startups and the ecosystem.
 
Its chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan said he is now looking to grow the co-investment programme fund size to RM200 million (US$47.4 million) by the end of the year.
 
“We are targeting to close another nine deals by the end of this year, so we will have 15 partners for this year alone,” he told the media after announcing the new partners in Kuala Lumpur earlier today (Feb 29).
 
“We are immensely pleased to have these six new partners joining our equity co-investment circle as they come from diversified backgrounds, and carry with them vast knowledge and experiences which Cradle may not have.
 
“Such partnerships can be beneficial to Cradle as we will be able to learn and leverage on our partners’ diverse skills and expertise, particularly in securing investment exits,” he added.
 
Nazrin (pic) said that Cradle’s partnerships with regional partners would also help these investors notice the talent and potential that Malaysian startups have always had.
 
“As a result, our entrepreneurs will no longer have to leave Malaysian shores to raise regional or global funding in order to scale or place themselves in new markets,” he added.
 
Since Cradle kicked off its co-investment initiative in 2014, it has funded three startups: Sync Media, MauKerja and Bemalas.
 
The programme is part of Cradle’s strategy to move away from merely awarding grants, and towards equity funding.
 
Its chief investment officer Juliana Jan said Cradle plans to channel 70% of its funding allocation to co-investing initiatives, and retain only 30% for direct grants by 2017.
 
Related Stories:
 
Cradle co-investment fund surpasses RM100-mil mark
 
Sync, MauKerja raise RM1mil each from Cradle co-investment pact
 
Cradle co-investment move hits US$16mil mark with new investors
 
Cradle starts co-investing for equity
 
 
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