From left: Bursa Malaysia director of intelligence Wong Chiun Chiek, Bursa Malaysia CEO Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) CEO Datuk Nor Azimah Abdul Aziz and SSM deputy CEO Rezy Izwan Ramly (Photo by Shahrin Yahya/The Edge)

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 23): Bursa Malaysia and the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) have jointly launched the SME X Platform, to provide capital providers with key insights into small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through paid subscriptions.

According to Bursa Malaysia, the platform is designed to facilitate fundraising to support SMEs in their business expansion by connecting them with capital providers.

SME X targets audiences from private equity firms, venture capitalists, investment banks, and financial institutions, allowing them to access the platform on a subscription basis, the bourse said in a statement.

The platform amalgamates market data sourced from the bourse operator and company data sourced from SSM, comprising sectorial performance and key financial evaluation.

Users may leverage the platform to identify companies with potential listing prospects and draw comparisons among companies operating within the same sector, it added.

“In addition, the platform includes detailed insights on companies’ directors and management, shareholding structure and key financials to provide context and a deeper understanding on the financial standing of each company, as well as its subsidiaries and affiliated companies with common shareholders,” Bursa Malaysia said.

At the launch of the SME X Platform, Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift said the platform will be able to increase the contribution of SMEs within the Malaysian economy.

“SMEs constitute an integral component of our economy, collectively making up more than 97% of our nation’s businesses and contributing 38.2% of the Malaysian GDP.

“However, Malaysian SMEs continue to face significant challenges, the most common of which is a lack of access to funding from financial institutions for business growth and expansion,” Umar said.

“With the platform, we are helping to narrow the gap between quality companies with the need to raise funds and parties with capital to deploy in the form of equity through initial public offerings, debt fundraising through BR Capital, as well as private entities, venture capitals, and other financial institutions,” he added.

Meanwhile, SSM CEO Datuk Nor Azimah Abdul Aziz said the commission has contributed the corporate business information data consisting of over 650,000 company data, including financial data from about 200,000 companies that recorded high revenue over the past three years.

“The data contribution from SSM, combined with data from Bursa Malaysia constitutes a significant step towards fostering a robust data ecosystem of companies, enriching capabilities within the platform and ensuring the provision of current and valuable insights for informed decision-making,” she remarked.

The launch of the platform followed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Bursa Malaysia and SSM in November 2022.

The MOU, which aimed to empower SMEs, outlined several core initiatives such as enhancing data analytics for strategic business decisions in line with the National Data Sharing Policy.