Capital Markets Malaysia (CMM), an affiliate of the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC), welcomes high-growth SMEs to its Elevate Programme, aimed at enabling businesses to successfully fund-raise through the capital market and prepare for the next stage of growth.

Launched with the support of the Securities Commission Malaysia and Bursa Malaysia, the programme lays the foundation for businesses to meet governance requirements and prepare organisations for the nuances of fundraising through the capital market, including potentially listing on the Main or ACE Market, which requires them to be more structured and visible to potential investors and financial intermediaries.

It is further intended to prepare senior leadership to inculcate an innovation mindset, to strengthen their business models and to learn to articulate a vision of growth.

Dato’ Seri Dr. Awang Adek Hussin, executive chairman of SC, and chairman of CMM said, “The SC recognises the importance of SMEs to Malaysia’s economy and the need to address the supply-demand gap in financing. The capital market is well positioned to foster investor confidence and attract capital to support further growth of our high potential small businesses.

“CMM’s Elevate Programme is designed to meet the needs of businesses looking to scale up, raise capital or embark on their IPO journey. Against the backdrop of an increasingly competitive global marketplace, our aim is to accelerate the advancement of Malaysia’s high-growth SMEs.”, he added.

The Elevate Programme is one of several initiatives driven by the SC and its affiliates to support SME access to capital market financing. In 2023 the SC signed an MOU with SME Corp aimed at building a strong pipeline of capital-market ready MSMEs and to boost access to financing for this important segment of the economy.

CMM Board Member, Brahmal Vasudevan said, “The capital market can be uniquely leveraged to grow world-class businesses. Malaysia’s capital market offers many options for growth-oriented companies seeking capital. The key is to ensure the company is ready for investment and to determine the best funding strategy for companies at different stages of growth. CMM’s goal is to support high-growth Malaysian businesses and their leadership with the knowledge and network for their fund-raising needs and advancement.”

The executive leadership programme is tailored for SMEs and mid-tier companies (MTCs) with an annual revenue above RM 5 million and is fully funded by CMM. The programme covers vital focus areas including design-thinking, branding, and marketing strategies as well as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations. Crucially, it exposes SME leaders to the nuances and pitching and building an equity story.

The 10-day programme spanning four months culminates in an investors’ roadshow and opportunities for participating companies to network with and present to investors, venture capital and private equity firms.

The Elevate programme was first introduced in 2020 for MTCs preparing to enter the capital markets. Since then, CMM has expanded the eligibility criteria for the latest instalment of the programme to broaden its reach and efficacy and has enhanced the programme design to ensure increased value for more SMEs and MTCs to derive substantial value from the programme.

Past cohort participants include well-established brands such as Malaysian Yoghurt Company Sdn Bhd (Sunglo), BonusKad Loyalty Sdn Bhd and Bersatu Integrated Logistics amongst others. Notable achievements of companies making strides towards the capital market from the Elevate programme also included ICT Zone Sdn Bhd, which successfully entered the LEAP market in 2020 and aims to transition to the ACE market by 2025.

Other programme alumni that accessed the capital market as a result also included YX Precious Metals Bhd, SNS Technologies and Thumbprints UTD Sdn Bhd.

The Elevate programme kicks off the first of two cohorts for the year in May and participation per cohort is limited to 15 eligible Malaysian MTCs and SMEs. Elevate is open for applications until 8 April 2024. Interested parties are invited to submit their application here.