KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's geographical position is great for startups who are looking to scale up regionally, said Gobi Partners.

With a 22-year history and a global portfolio of 400 startups, Gobi Partners has played a key role in boosting Malaysia's startup scene.

Its co-founder and chair Tom Tsao said with support by prominent partners such as Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, and Employees Provident Fund, Gobi Partners has injected nearly RM400 million over 40 Malaysian startups, fostering job creation and revenue generation.

Tsao's decision to establish Gobi's Southeast Asian headquarters in Kuala Lumpur in 2015 was strategic, capitalising on Malaysia's unique advantages as a "PentaHub" - a gateway to five key markets.

"Fourteen years ago, most of my peers in the venture capital industry were trying to link the US and China, the two biggest economies in the world and that made a lot of sense.  

"But at Gobi, we identified a different opportunity: to connect Northeast Asia with Southeast Asia. We called this 'Crouching Panda, Hidden Tapir'.  So while others focused on East to West, we were building bridges between north to south.

"In 2015, I believed in this strategy so much that I relocated my whole family from Shanghai and set up our Southeast Asian HQ in Kuala Lumpur because I saw the potential of Malaysia as a 'PentaHub'," he said at the KL20 Summit today. 

PentaHub refers to a concept introduced by Tsao to describe Malaysia's strategic position as a connector to five significant market opportunities. 

He said Malaysia offers many key advantages to entrepreneurs such as startups benefiting from a shared language with Indonesia, making it easier to enter the Indonesian market. Malaysia's cultural diversity also serves as a gateway for expansion into markets like India and China. Moreover, Malaysia provides an easy entry point for Western markets and is poised to tap into the growing global Muslim economy.

Tsao acknowledged the initial hurdles faced in Malaysia but expressed optimism, citing recent initiatives like the MyStartup Single Window, which streamlines investor-founder connections and fosters innovation.

"As someone who strongly believes in Malaysia, we are constantly on the lookout for impactful startups. Impactful startups are always searching for great talent," he added.

https://www.nst.com.my/business/economy/2024/04/1041780/malaysias-great-startups-looking-scale-regionally-gobi-partners