Helicap secures investment from Kenanga Group to boost digitalisation

By Gloria Mathias

Malaysia’s investment bank, Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad (Kenanga Group), has announced a partnership with Singaporean FinTech firm Helicap to further its digital initiatives.

As part of this partnership, Kenanga Group, through a fund managed by its asset and wealth management arm, Kenanga Investors Berhad (Kenanga Investors), has collectively taken an 8% stake in Helicap.

The investment forms Helicap’s Series B funding round, which sees Kenanga Group as the lead investor alongside Saison Capital, the corporate venture capital arm of Credit Saison, one of Japan’s NBFCs. Subsequently, Kenanga Group’s stake will be further increased in the near future to approximately 10%, making Kenanga Group the largest institutional investor in Helicap.

Helicap is a FinTech private investment platform specialising in the alternative lending space in Southeast Asia (SEA). It has built its success on innovation and technology.

Kenanga Investors’ Executive Director and CEO, Datuk Wira Ismitz Matthew De Alwis, stated, “Our enhanced partnership with Helicap will enable us to tap into its global network as a source of offshore capital and facilitate deal co-origination and syndication efforts in both Singapore and Malaysia. Ultimately, we believe this will provide a strategic base for Kenanga Group to build further cross-border collaborative partnerships and capitalise on the dynamic growth in the region, as well as the rising income and affluence among Southeast Asian investors.”

From the FinTech firm’s perspective, such a collaboration would seamlessly integrate Helicap’s strengths in private credit with Kenanga Group’s brand recognition and operational capabilities, creating a private credit business.

David Z Wang, Co-founder & CEO of Helicap Securities, stated, “We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Kenanga Group, a pivotal step in bringing Helicap’s investment opportunities to the Malaysian market. This collaboration represents a significant milestone as we unite Kenanga’s robust local market presence and billions in assets with an extensive client base with Helicap’s powerful, sector-agnostic, data-driven platform and proprietary analytics technology. As a leader in Asia’s private credit space, Helicap is poised to drive meaningful growth in Malaysia. Our commitment to financial inclusion and innovative investment solutions remains unwavering as we continue to address the dynamic needs of investors and lenders alike.”