'Khazanah will continue with venture capital investments'

PARLIAMENT | Khazanah Nasional Bhd will continue to pursue new investments in venture capitals despite losses of over RM40 million through funds channelled into FashionValet, according to the Finance Ministry.

Finance Minister II Amir Hamzah Azizan said Khazanah is committed to future investments with more stringent governance and oversight, in line with a mandate to support the country’s overall economic growth.

“This FashionValet issue will not affect Khazanah’s intention to pursue investments in venture capitals.

“Khazanah will continue efforts to support the start-up and venture capital ecosystem while improving control mechanisms,” said Amir during Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He noted, however, that venture capital investments often come with high risk but high reward, with no guarantees.

He was responding to Syerleena Abdul Rashid (Harapan-Bukit Bendera) who asked whether Khazanah will no longer make venture capital investments or if there are new strategies in place to prevent similar losses in future.

Due diligence conducted

Amir earlier said Khazanah and Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB)’s initial evaluation of FashionValet was done in 2017 based on the e-commerce fashion platform hosting over 400 brands with 15,000 products, recording sales of over RM60 million ringgit and 100 percent annual growth since 2013.

He also reiterated that both Khazanah and PNB had carried out due diligence, based on strong projected growth for FashionValet at the time.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim had instructed Khazanah on Nov 2 to undertake an internal audit to look into the investment loss of RM43.9 million involving FashionValet, and the MACC had opened an investigation paper over the matter subsequently.

Since then, FashionValet co-founders Vivy Yusof and Fadzaruddin Shah Anuar have stepped down from their positions, made a public apology, and were questioned by the MACC. 

MACC probing cash flow received by FashionValet founders

MACC: Probe to focus on identifying assets procured by FashionValet

FashionValet founders finish giving statement to MACC for today

MACC spots suspicious transactions in FashionValet probe

PAC to grill Khazanah, PNB on FashionValet

FashionValet: MACC freezes founders' company, private bank accounts