By STEVEN PATRICK

KUALA LUMPUR: SELECTED local angel investors can now tap into the collective wisdom and vast experience of a Silicon Valley-based angel investors group.

The angel investors group, called the Keiretsu Forum, has more than 750 members worldwide. Angel investors are high net-worth individuals who provide capital for startup and other businesses.

Keiretsu Forum and the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), guardian of the MSC Malaysia initiative, are forming a Malaysian chapter of the group.

MDeC hopes the move will help create a more mature angel investor funding environment in the country.

Under an agreement, the Keiretsu Forum will provide a minimum of 15 local angel investors with a structured mechanism for evaluating and funding companies.

It will have regular meetings — once every two months — between its angel investors and their local counterparts to provide advice and guidance.

“There are many high net-worth individuals who want to invest in startups here but don’t have the time, the contacts or the know-how. This will give them some sort of training,” said Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, MDeC chief executive officer.

“The goal is to create smarter, more educated angel investors.”

Colin Wong, a US-based angel investor and member of the Keiretsu Forum, said mentoring (in this segment) is lacking in Malaysia now.

He said a key benefit that he gained from the Keiretsu Forum is the expertise available from its members.

“When a good deal is presented to you, you may not be able to value it. If someone comes up with a Web 2.0 application and your background is in another area, you can’t evaluate it.

“However, when you are a member of the forum, you can team up with someone who can,” said Wong.

Local gems

MDeC declined to comment on the size of the local angel investor community but has identified several for the Malaysian chapter of the Keiretsu Forum on the basis of their business successes.

Among them are Datuk Praba Thiagarajah, chief executive officer of technology services and hardware solutions vendor Basis Bay Sdn Bhd and Goh Peng Ooi, the founder of banking solutions provider Silverlake Sdn Bhd.

The minimum requirement to be a Keiretsu Forum member is that the angel investor must have at least a net-worth of US$1mil (RM3.6mil).

Datuk Maximus Ongkili, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, said local entrepreneurs would benefit from this forum.

“With the Malaysian chapter, local companies are not just limited to funding and grants available in the country but will be able to pitch their products and ideas to chapter members around the world,” he said.

According to MDeC, 300 MSC Malaysia companies need additional funding.

“Each company needs anywhere from RM250,000 to RM1mil. We hope to see these companies funded via this initiative over the next six months,” Badlisham said.

Since its inception in 2000, the Keiretsu Forum members have invested more than US$180mil (RM648mil) in 200 companies in the technology, consumer products, healthcare/life sciences and real-estate sectors in the United States, China, Spain, France and Britain.

“Keiretsu” is a Japanese term to describe a group of affiliated corporations that have power and reach. ++++

www.keiretsuforum.com