KK Fund Sees Huge Potential In Southeast Asia's Media And Entertainment Industry

By Niam Seet Wei KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 (Bernama) -- Singapore-based Venture Capital firm, KK Fund, sees huge potential in the media and entertainment industry in Southeast Asia. Founder and General Partner Koichi Saito said as such, the fund plans to invest between US$300,000 to US$500,000 in the region's media and entertainment industry over the next five years. He said the potential was driven by more end-users willing to pay for entertainment from video streaming sites like iflix, or online gaming platforms. "Consumers were only enjoying free entertainment services two or three years ago. "Today, end-users in Japan, Europe or even in Malaysia, are willing to subscribe for services such as Netflix, iflix, musical or online gaming services," he added. Saito told Bernama this on the sidelines of the World Islamic Economic (WIEF) Foundation IdeaLab 2016 here, Monday. On the investment climate for startups in Malaysia, Saito said the government had lent good support to assist such companies in the country. "For instance, the Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC) is a very good platform for supporting young entrepreneurs here. There are also many potential startups in the country as well," he added. He said KK Fund had invested in seven e-commerce companies in Malaysia, including Kaodim.com and thelorry.com from more than a year ago. "Moving forward, we will continue to focus on e-commerce or online platforms in Malaysia," he added. The WIEF Foundation IdeaLab 2016 is a two-day forum from Monday. It is a startup conference that aims to connect ASEAN startups and global investors for investments ranging from US$10,000 to US$500,000 on technology sectors such as e-commerce, fintech and mobile apps. --BERNAMA