Inspiring journey of SkyeChip

THE hottest initial public offering (IPO) for the year in terms of interest, performance and hype is none other than SkyeChip Bhd.

At a 95 times oversubscription rate, this technology company’s Main Board listing has taken the capital markets by storm.

At an IPO price at 88 sen, the share price hit a high on the opening day to a peak of RM3.80 with a market capitalisation of RM6.8bil before normalising at RM2.89 with a market capitalisation of RM5.19bil as of May 27, 2026.

For a company that is less than eight years old (founded in 2019), the exponential growth of the business and valuation is not short of a miracle by Malaysian standards.

However, I will not dwell into the financial aspects of the company as many media outlets have reported on it.

For full disclosure, my fund company Tradeview Capital did not obtain a single share of pre-IPO allocation for SkyeChip despite putting in a RM20mil bid.

So, writing on this company is simply because I would like to share the entrepreneurial journey of SkyeChip and how it will serve to inspire local dreamers.

Overcoming doubts and persevering

I had the opportunity to speak with one of the founders of SkyeChip, Datuk Fong Swee Kiang (S K Fong) on Dec 6, 2025 in Kuala Lumpur.

During the almost two-hour session, I was able to gain insights into the arduous journey they had to go through since the inception of the company in 2019.

To put things in context, Malaysia has been part of the global semiconductor value chain for many decades.

Where we are strong is the back-end of the supply chain mainly focusing on outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (Osat), capturing roughly 13% of the global market and serving as the world’s sixth-largest semiconductor exporter.

SkyeChip back then was a young entity and championing moving up the value chain to be a front-end player specifically in integrated circuit design, specialising in silicon intellectual property which could be licensed to its customers to be integrated into their chips.

The company also designs and develops custom semiconductor chips.

Unfortunately, despite the long-standing corporate track record of S K Fong, a startup is still a startup. Not many believed that a new startup could become a front-end semiconductor player. This painful journey of educating, advocating and persuading stakeholders was not all rainbows and sunshine.

Today, things make a lot of sense because of the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) and the huge demand for high computing power chips.

Yet, back then, it required a great amount of faith to believe in a local startup’s vision when it was still ahead of the curve.

S K Fong mentioned that he is very grateful to Datuk Seri Wong Siew Hai, the president of Malaysia Semiconductor Industry Association – also the independent non-executive chairman of SkyeChip today – for opening doors, convincing stakeholders and helping him put forth the case for SkyeChip when it was still starting out.

Sacrifice and long-term vision

After an illustrious career spanning 30 years with Intel, Altera and Broadcom, S K Fong decided to venture into this startup when most would be happily opting for retirement.

This would not have been an easy decision for most people because of the pressure and stress in building a new business from scratch at that age.

While younger at 48, co-founder and chief technology officer of SkyeChip, Teh Chee Hak, also had 20 years of corporate experience as a principal engineer and chief architect with Intel and Altera.

The opportunity cost of giving up a stable remuneration package and ploughing head first into a startup is not an easy decision to make for the majority of people.

Money was definitely not the main motivation for them both.

This is quite telling from the IPO itself, where there was zero offer for sale.

Essentially, this means both the founders were in a no way cashing out, which is a common practice for Malaysian IPOs to have some element of share sale by the majority shareholders.

Additionally, what impresses me most is the collective interest that SkyeChip represents.

The success lies not only with both the founders but the entire workforce itself.

The structure of the company exhibits this where key employees (total 117) are grouped into various entities known as SKC Team holding cumulative shares of up to 18% of the company pre-IPO respectively in a pre-determined percentage.

This binding collective interest and alignment of goal is what has spurred the company’s growth to the next level.

S K Fong is also a believer in young talent and giving them an opportunity has translated to great execution on many levels.

A good example is a young finance manager by the name of Galvin Wong who has been able to lead the finance team and handle the fundraising and the entire IPO process despite being only 33 years old.

There are many more stories like this within the company where the young talent are all millionaires today by virtue of their participation in SkyeChip as pioneer employees.

If anything, the success of SkyeChip is entirely accrued to the employees and the management, not the subsequent venture capitalists or cornerstone investors who came in and benefitted only at the much later pre-IPO stage.

Innovation at the forefront

The important thing for the government is to recognise this and provide all necessary support to companies which are leading the country’s advancement through Malaysian ingenuity.

For one, SkyeChip’s pioneer status tax incentive is expiring soon. It is imperative that the government, specifically the Finance Ministry, does the necessary to extend the tax incentive as otherwise, our regional peers like Vietnam will wrestle the best semiconductor companies to their country.

While Malaysia still maintains pole position in the region, we must not take things for granted and assume it will always stay that way. Regionally, every country has recognised the importance of the semiconductor sector with the AI boom as the backdrop.

Bureaucracy needs to be minimised while the speed of execution has to take precedence, be it for talent retention, foreign direct investment or domestic direct investment for that matter.

With innovation in Malaysia at the forefront, clearly demonstrated through the existence of a company like SkyeChip, the government must be prepared to channel resources and support more companies emerging from within the value chain.

Fostering entrepreneurship, funding innovation and encouraging reinvestment through investment tax allowances are the power only the government can deploy.

Malaysia’s got talent

SkyeChip is beyond technology, semiconductor chips and AI revolution.

It is a testament that Malaysia, albeit a small country, has amazing talent who will time and again achieve remarkable breakthrough on the global stage.

The wealth that comes along with it is just a byproduct of enterprise and perseverance.

Both the founders are not overseas Ivy League graduates. In fact, they completed their undergraduate course with a First Class Honours Degree in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia.

They are truly homegrown talent that made far-reaching dreams possible with hard work, effort and grit.

Their success totally dispels the “elitism myth” that the best talent in our country must come with an overseas education. Malaysia’s got talent, and it all comes down to the opportunities and resources given.

It may be in the form of funding, technological access or simply the belief that “Malaysians Boleh”. If anything at all, it is my ardent wish to see more SkyeChips emerging with the path ahead paved by this trailblazer.