Malaysian civil service pension fund Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP), which manages almost 170 billion ringgit ($41.22 billion) of assets, has invested in a homegrown startup for the second time this month, this time in a coffee chain operator.
The pension fund, along with Singapore private equity firm KV Asia Capital and Indonesian food and beverage company Kapal Api Group, participated in a fundraising by ZUS Coffee, which raised a combined $250 ringgit from the three investors.
ZUS Coffee announced the fundraising in a statement on September 10, which quoted Hazman Hilmi Sallahuddin, KWAP’s chief investment officer, as saying that the pension fund is “proud” to a partner in the consortium “to support a Malaysian brand onto its next stage of growth”.
“On our home ground, the focus will be on helping ZUS Coffee solidify its presence by expanding its nationwide store network and to continuously contribute to the community through job creation and local initiatives,” Hazman says. “Internationally, we are excited to assist the brand in expanding its footprint into new markets globally, further propelling ZUS Coffee, and Malaysia as a significant player on the world stage.”
Established in 2019, ZUS Coffee now has over 550 outlets in Malaysia and 50 in the Philippines.
The company says it aims to be a market leader in Malaysia in the next three years, and plans to expand to Singapore and Brunei Darussalam this year.
KWAP recently also invested in local startup Bateriku, a provider of roadside assistance services such as car repair and battery replacement, which announced on September 6 that it had raised $7.4 million from the pension fund and other investors in a funding round.
The pension fund said a year ago that it aimed to invest up to 500 million ringgit into Malaysia’s venture and startup ecosystem by the end of 2025 through a fund called Dana Perintis or Pioneer Fund that was set up for such investments.
