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Malaysia-based venture capital (VC) firm First Move just secured a big win
Jelawang Capital, the investment arm under Khazanah Nasional, has officially come on board as an anchor investor in its latest fund.
The announcement marks a major milestone for the founder-led VC, which was launched to back Southeast Asia's next generation of builders — especially those harnessing the power of AI to innovate, disrupt, and scale.
"AI has changed the equation. We no longer ask how big the team is. We ask how sharp the founder is, and how effectively they use AI. This fund is about backing these builders early and helping them turn conviction into scalable, category-defining companies," said Joel Neoh, Founding Partner at First Move.
In just two years, First Move has quickly become one of Southeast Asia's most active early-stage VCs, investing in 24 startups across Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and Thailand
With a focus on writing first cheques into high-output founders, the fund has backed early-stage players in AI, healthtech, fintech, enterprise automation, climate, consumer brands, and more.
That bet is already paying off — First Move's debut fund ranked in the top 1% globally for its 2023 vintage, according to Carta's Q1 2025 benchmarks (tracking over 1,700 global funds), with a 2.4x Multiple on Invested Capital.
Some of the standout companies in its portfolio include:
- Decube – A data observability and governance platform
- Welling.ai – AI-powered nutrition and weight loss companion
- Ourteam.ai – AI-native hiring platform for tech and AI roles
- Shieldbase.ai – An AI operating system for enterprise automation
- 3cat – Circular commerce infrastructure for electronics
With fresh firepower from Jelawang Capital, First Move is taking things a step further
This year, it will launch a dedicated AI co-building platform to work hand-in-hand with founders from day zero — turning ideas into scalable companies with capital, top talent, and deep technical expertise.
"We're entering into a new era of company creation. Our builder platform allows us to partner from day zero; combining capital, technical talent, and deep domain expertise to build AI-native companies from the ground up," said Audra Pakalnyte, General Partner at First Move.
Jelawang Capital's investment came through its Emerging Manager Programme (EMP), which supports the next wave of Malaysian fund managers while helping build a stronger, founder-rich ecosystem.
"We began with a systems-driven approach to ecosystem building and, through the EMP, we are excited to support the next generation of Malaysian fund managers, while deepening the pipeline of quality founders shaping our future economy," said Datuk Hisham Hamdan, Chairman of Jelawang Capital.
First Move isn't your typical VC fund
It's a hands-on partner from day one — helping founders launch smarter, grow faster, and build the future of Southeast Asia's tech economy.
At its helm are seasoned entrepreneurs Joel Neoh and Audra Pakalnyte, who previously built and exited Fave (acquired by Pine Labs), Groupon Asia Pacific, and SAYS.
