KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 16): Jelawang Capital, part of Khazanah Nasional Bhd, has launched the second cohort of its Emerging Fund Managers’ Programme (EMP) to boost Malaysian fund managers and the local venture capital (VC) ecosystem.

The new cohort features year-round applications, a simpler process, smaller fund size requirements and more flexibility for early-stage fundraising. Malaysian VC managers raising their first three funds may apply for the programme.

“We are pleased to invite applications for the EMP second cohort 2026, now enhanced with all-year round submissions. Since the selection of the first three EMP fund managers in June 2025, we are encouraged by the early progress, including attracting more than RM30 million from other capital providers beyond Jelawang’s commitments and collectively deploying over RM60 million across more than ten early-stage companies, the majority of which are Malaysian start-ups."

"This reflects EMP’s contribution to supporting the development of emerging fund managers and the domestic venture capital ecosystem,” Khazanah managing director Datuk Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir said in a statement on Friday (Jan 16).

Jelawang Capital, Malaysia’s national fund-of-funds, invests in VC through programmes like EMP and the Regional Fund Managers’ Initiative (RMI) to strengthen the local VC ecosystem.

The EMP supports new Malaysian fund managers by attracting more capital and helping them build institutional-quality funds. The first cohort included Vynn Capital, Kairous Capital and First Move.

These initiatives under Dana Impak and Jelawang Capital support the broader Madani economy framework and form part of Khazanah’s RM1 billion commitment to the government’s GEAR-uP initiative to spur Malaysia’s venture capital ecosystem, nurture high-growth entrepreneurs and crowd-in capital in early-stage fundraising.