Investors urged to consider supporting the biogas industry

By Rosemarie Khoo Mohd Sani

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 -- Malaysian Bioeconomy Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (Bioeconomy Corp) is calling on all private and institutional investors, including angels and venture capitalists, to consider investing in the biotechnology sector, in particular the biogas industry, as it moves towards achieving sustainable development goals while contributing to the circular economy.

Chief operating officer Mohd Khairul Fidzal Abdul Razak said although the industry was still considered to be in its infancy, it had a great potential to be successful and provide positive returns on investment.

Citing the success story of Green Lagoon Technology Sdn Bhd (GLT), a biogas technology provider, he said funding raised through CrowdPlus.Asia, an equity crowdfunding (ECF) platform, in 2016 had managed to make GLT the first bio-based equity crowdfunded company in Malaysia.

Formed in 2010, GLT is a one-stop solutions provider for biogas harvesting, storage, treatment, utilisation and carbon reduction monitoring for palm oil mills in Malaysia and Indonesia. It successfully saw the exit of a group of investors three years after the ECF launch.

“We are grateful that our facilitation between GLT and CrowdPlus.Asia has reaped rewards for GLT. Investors have received profits from their investments as well as annual six per cent dividend payouts from 2017-2019.

“Some of the investors have converted into permanent shareholders of GLT while some were bought out by GLT between September 2018 and October 2019, reflecting that they have confidence in the company’s growth potential, strength and sustainability,” he told Bernama here today.

Khairul Fidzal said moving forward, it would continue to work with both parties to engage in continuous education programmes to increase awareness on ECF and help biogas companies to secure more funding options.

“We have also identified 16 biogas / renewable energy companies in our pipeline that have the potential to benefit from ECF,” he said.

However, he declined to elaborate on the companies.

Bioeconomy Corp, owned by Minister of Finance Incorporated and the Federal Lands Commissioner, has been under the purview of the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry since November 2018.

Meanwhile, GLT director Raymond Cheah Wai Chun said while biogas projects in the country were proving to be lucrative, financing remained a major challenge.

“We need cheaper sources of funds to make the projects viable. The industry not only helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for the palm oil industry, but also creates many rural technical job opportunities,” he said.

-- BERNAMA