Khazanah Nasional's venture capital fund-of-funds Jelawang Capital has appointed Howard Soh as chief executive officer, effective October 1, 2026, ending a leadership gap of approximately 15 months. The appointment marks a significant move to expand the fund's work with Malaysian and regional venture capital managers as Malaysia's national fund-of-funds accelerates efforts to develop the country's startup ecosystem. Jelawang Capital Chairman Datuk Hisham Hamdan said the appointment would help guide the fund's strategic direction and strengthen its investment approach through partnerships with fund managers.
Soh takes the helm following the departure of Bryan Lim, who left Khazanah at the end of June 2025 after more than 20 years at the sovereign wealth fund. Lim had led Jelawang Capital since its launch in October 2024 as the entity consolidated Malaysia Venture Capital Management and Penjana Kapital. No search firm involvement was disclosed in the appointment announcement. Board members emphasized Soh's institutional investment background and operating experience in Malaysian technology companies as well-suited to support Jelawang Capital's expanding programmes, particularly its Emerging Fund Managers' Programme, which opened applications for its second cohort in January, and its Regional Fund Managers' Initiative.
Soh brings two decades of investment and venture-building experience primarily across Malaysia and Southeast Asia. He previously served as chief executive officer of Sea Malaysia, a division of Singapore-listed Sea Ltd, and as director of investments at Ekuinas, the government-owned private equity firm. Earlier in his career, he founded and led the early Malaysian operations of major e-commerce and food-delivery platforms Lazada, Zalora and Foodpanda. Before his work in the region's technology sector, Soh worked as a management consultant at McKinsey and Company and at CIMB, Malaysia's second-largest investment bank. He holds a master's degree in business administration from Harvard Business School and a master's degree in law from Tsinghua University. Most recently, Soh served as group chief investment officer at LemmaTree, a Singapore-based venture builder founded by Temasek, Southeast Asia's sovereign wealth fund.
Jelawang Capital operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional, Malaysia's sovereign wealth fund established in 1993. Khazanah, with total assets of 176.2 billion Malaysian ringgit as of 2025, invests across Malaysian companies and international markets while pursuing strategic and catalytic investments aimed at strengthening the nation's economic competitiveness. Jelawang Capital is seeded with a one billion ringgit commitment from Khazanah as part of its Dana Impak initiative, focused on investing in catalytic sectors that unlock growth opportunities. The fund-of-funds has already supported more than ten startups through its first five fund managers, catalyzing over 30 million ringgit in crowded-in capital.
Soh's appointment signals Khazanah's determination to accelerate Malaysia's venture capital development after a prolonged leadership vacuum. His dual expertise spanning institutional investment and technology entrepreneurship suggests the board sought an executive who can navigate both the capital-provision side of fund management and the operational realities of emerging tech companies. That said, whether Soh can effectively bridge the gap between fund-manager development and startup ecosystem growth likely depends on his ability to attract additional regional and international investors to crowd in capital alongside Khazanah's RM1 billion commitment, particularly as Jelawang Capital competes for deal flow with more established venture ecosystems in Singapore and other regional hubs.
