Australia’s fintech company Raiz Invest is shutting down its Malaysian joint-venture micro investment app business Raiz Malaysia after operating for four years.
Raiz Invest says the decision to shut down Raiz Malaysia was made following the completion of a strategic review of its Malaysian business.
Raiz Malaysia is a joint venture between Raiz Invest and Jewel Digital Ventures (JDV), a unit of Permodalan Nasional, Malaysia’s largest fund manager.
The Raiz mobile app was launched in Malaysia in mid-2020. The app allows users to invest their spare change in unit trust funds.
“The Malaysian entity has sufficient capital to fund the expenses relating to the closure, with JDV having previously committed a further 3 million ringgit (US$0.64 million) to ensure a structured, coordinated and timely wind down process. A comprehensive and orderly closure process will be implemented in phases to ensure the secure and efficient handling of client assets,” Raiz Invest says in its filing to the Australian Securities Exchange on July 8.
Brendan Malone, managing director and chief executive officer of Raiz Invest, says the decision to close the Malaysian operations “will enable Raiz to focus on strengthening and expanding its Australian business”.
“With our continued product innovation and our marketing campaign, we are confident the Raiz Australian business will continue to grow and deliver a strong economic performance for shareholders. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank our partner for their role in the joint venture partnership over the last four years,” Malone says.