Equity crowdfunding in Malaysia was brought to the mainstream when Securities Commission Malaysia became one of the first within the region to introduce guidelines to regulate the space.
It is part and parcel of the regulator’s strategy to provide a more diverse investment portfolio to the Malaysian public and provide more access for startups and SMEs to raise capital.
Currently there 7 players operating in the equity crowdfunding space in Malaysia with Fundnel being the latest to be granted a license by Securities Commission Malaysia
Since its introduction, 50 SMEs have raised RM 48.87 million through equity crowdfunding. More than half of the investors on the platform are retail investors, signalling a positive participation from the general public.
Unsurprisingly the largest age group that are investing in equity crowdfunding are around the age 35-45 year old. A sweet demographic sweet spot of disposable income and a level of comfort with technology.
Total capital raised has seen quite a decline dropping from RM 24 Million to RM 15 Million
The number of successful deals done by the entire ECF industry dipped from 22 campaigns in 2017 to 14 campaigns in 2018 with pitchIN owning 75% of the market share in 2018.
The most successful campaign seen so far are Commerce.Asia, Fundaztic, and QEOS LED — all of which clocked in at RM 3 Million. Fundaztic’s campaign in particular only took 38 minutes before it was oversubscribed.
All of these issuers raised on pitchIN’s platform.
Overall funds raised since the inception of equity crowdfunding as alternative financing method is largely dominated by pitchIN, with more than half of all funds raised being raised in pitchIN.
Ataplus has seen significant improvement from 2017 to 2018 moving up to second place and tying with Crowdplus.asia.
Meanwhile, players like Eureeca have not seen any activity. Fundnel being the newest entrant have not had any campaigns at the time that the data was compiled.
Source: Securities Commission Malaysia & Stats from ECF providers
Image Credit: Freepik and Flaticon
