SG venture capital firm Antler names Frank Kang as MY's country head

Singaporean global venture capital firm, Antler has appointed Frank Kang (pictured) as its country head and associate partner for its Malaysian arm. This comes shortly after Antler announced its launch in Malaysia in July this year, in partnership with Khazanah Malaysia.

According to a statement by Antler, Kang will be taking on the role of country head to spearhead the company’s investment strategy and operations in Malaysia. Carrying with him nearly 17 years of experience, Kang’s role in Antler is aimed at empowering Malaysian founders to think globally and scale their businesses beyond borders.

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Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Antler is aiming to invest in over 30 startups across Malaysia over the next three years. The very first residency program in Malaysia is set to commence in October 2023. Prior to his appointment with Antler, Kang was the venture partner of Vynn Capital and was an angel investor and advisor, as seen on his LinkedIn profile.

His entrepreneurial journey began when he co-founded a social networking service, called Strategic Planning. Subsequently, he ventured into bringing a Twitter service called Koreantweeters in Korea from 2010 to 2011. Thereafter, he moved to TMON, a Korean eCommerce company where he was the head of global partnership from 2013 to 2015. 

Back in Malaysia, he acquired the leading e-commerce platform, LivingSocial Malaysia where he worked from 2011 and 2013 as founding partner, after which he founded Althea, Korea’s premier beauty platform with digitally native vertical brands, where he spent nearly seven years as CEO as gleaned from his LinkedIn profile. 

Kang said that he is excited to support founders to build and scale meaningful businesses that can bring a positive impact to the world. "I believe local talents in Malaysia have a huge potential and we will be able to help them think globally," he added. 

Jussi Salovaara, co-founder and managing partner said that Antler is committed to supporting entrepreneurs and pursuing our vision of making progress inevitable. "With Kang's proven track of building scalable businesses in Asia, his vast experiences are bound to expand the entrepreneurial impact of Malaysians across borders," she explained. 

With the extension of its international footprint, Antler is further establishing its presence across six continents, which already includes Southeast Asia—​​with existing footholds in Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

The partnership with Antler is the latest addition to Khazanah’s Future Malaysia Programme, an initiative under its Dana Impak mandate, which aims to support the local startup ecosystem of entrepreneurs, start-ups, venture capital, and corporate venture programmes through collaborations with domestic and international partners. Dana Impak is a RM6 billion commitment over 5 years and is a key pillar under Khazanah’s 'Advancing Malaysia' strategy. 

The strategic alliance serves to unearth and nurture Malaysia's entrepreneurial talents and provide them access to Antler’s global platform and network, enabling them to establish themselves as the defining companies of tomorrow. By drawing upon Antler's global network of investors, founders, and advisors, this partnership will infuse new opportunities into the Malaysian entrepreneurial scene, subsequently accelerate the growth trajectory of Malaysian entrepreneurs and startups, propelling them towards international expansion and success.

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