Home-grown Malaysian private equity firm, Bintang Capital Partners Berhad (“Bintang” or the “Firm”), has been announced as winner of the Innovative Investment (for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) category at the ASEAN Business Awards 2023 held on Monday night.
The Innovative Investment award is given to companies that demonstrate outstanding creativity in their investment strategies or financing models.
Hosted by the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (“ABAC”), the prestigious international-level event seeks to identify and recognise ASEAN business enterprises and individuals who have driven growth through innovative solutions, as well as those that prioritise sustainability in their endeavours.
The ABAC first launched the annual ASEAN Business Awards in 2007 to recognise enterprises who have meaningfully contributed to ASEAN’s economic growth and prosperity.
Bintang is the only Malaysian company in the list of winners this year out of twenty (20) companies who received awards at the 2023 ASEAN Business Awards in Jakarta.
Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Bintang, Johan Rozali-Wathooth, shares “The Bintang team and I are elated that our efforts to promote impact investing in Southeast Asia have been recognised by the ASEAN business community.”
He continued, “We are deeply honoured by the award, and we hope that support for the impact investment ecosystem will grow so that ASEAN investors and companies alike will become more responsible stewards of our regions’ future from both environmental sustainability and social justice standpoints in their pursuit of growth and profits.”
“Our Firm is dedicating this win, which is Bintang’s first industry award, to the memory of our colleague, Derek Yin, a Principal within Bintang’s Investments team, who sadly passed away on Saturday 12 August 2023 from osteosarcoma (bone cancer) just a few weeks prior to this award being announced. Derek made very significant contributions during his tenure towards Bintang’s journey as an impact investor, and he would have been very happy to see that the work he so passionately advocated in life has now been recognised by the ASEAN business community”, he added.
The award recipients were selected by the judges based upon a rigorous assessment process in consultation with ABAC’s esteemed knowledge partners, council judges, and expert judges across various industries including the Tony Blair Institute and Mari Elka Pangestu, Former World Bank Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships. The panel of judges included representatives from all ASEAN member states.
In order to qualify for the award, Bintang demonstrated its achievements across a comprehensive set of judging criteria including providing evidence of the depth and width of the Firm’s impact such as awareness raised, number of beneficiaries of Bintang’s investments, number of ASEAN countries impacted, and creativity of Bintang’s solutions in relation to critical issues affecting the region.
Bintang has deployed approximately USD50 million across a variety of impact strategies with a long-term goal of creating 150 B Corporation certified portfolio companies by the year 2050.
Recent investments by the Firm include Involve Asia, a technology company that operates a performance-based marketing platform and Care Concierge, a multi-award-winning provider of elderly care solutions. Both Involve Asia and Care Concierge were recently featured in the 2023 edition of Forbes Asia 100 To Watch, an esteemed list which spotlights notable companies on the rise across the Asia-Pacific region. Out of over 550 contenders, they were two of the six Malaysian companies to make the cut.
Collectively Bintang’s portfolio companies have achieved a Net Promoter Score of around 80 (significantly above the FAANG benchmark average Net Promoter Score of 15), reduced greenhouse gas emissions by more than 650,000 tonnes, and contributed to around 40 charitable and community initiatives with an estimated USD550,000 of monetary impact.
On top of financial returns, Bintang aims to create impact across communities: it established the Bintang Foundation Pledge whereby 10% of Bintang’s profits will be committed to impact, charity, and welfare initiatives in perpetuity going forward.
Furthermore, one third of places within Bintang’s Internship Programs are reserved for high potential youth from under-represented and under-privileged communities.
Bintang is amongst ASEAN’s leading advocates and proponents for a responsible approach towards capitalism by combining purpose with a focus on people and planet to generate profits through innovation.
For more information on the 2023 ASEAN Business Awards, including the selection process, selection criteria, and recipients, please visit www.aseanbacindonesia.id/event/aba-2023.
