PETALING JAYA: Khazanah Nasional Bhd has made two strategic investments to drive greater growth and innovation in Malaysia’s Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) technologies and capacity development, as well as to boost research and development (R&D) in artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors.
The sovereign wealth fund made the investments via its RM1bil Dana Impak.
Khazanah, in partnership with co-founders of Vitrox Corp Bhd
and Southern Capital Group, became an anchor investor in the Cambrian Fund which raised RM100mil in its first closing.
The Cambrian Fund is dedicated to support entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), focusing on IR4.0 technologies such as machine vision, AI and robotics.
Khazanah, in a statement, highlighted that the fund will play a key role in transforming Malaysia's semiconductor and advanced manufacturing ecosystem by unlocking growth opportunities, nurturing greater local participation, and supporting innovative entrepreneurs and SMEs to scale and compete regionally.
Additionally, Khazanah made an undisclosed investment in California-based AI company Syntiant Corp, a global leader in providing innovative hardware and software solutions for edge AI deployment.
Syntiant’s purpose-built silicon and machine learning models are deployed globally across various consumer and industrial sectors.
Syntiant has committed to establishing a world-class AI R&D centre in Malaysia, driving technological innovation and supporting Malaysia's ambition to move up the semiconductor value chain while participating in the growing global AI industry.
