- 1337 no longer limited to back Malaysian founders to solve Malaysian problems
- 1337 invested in 17 companies over two years and recorded one exit, Hata.io
Bikesh Lakhmichand, chief executive of 1337 Ventures, says the Malaysian early round venture capital firm is widening its lens beyond homegrown startups and actively looking across the region for solutions that can address real pain points in Malaysia.
Speaking at Leet Launchpad in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, he said the fund’s approach is no longer limited to backing Malaysian founders solving Malaysian problems. “The focus is on finding the best and most cost-effective products, wherever they are built, so long as they can meet local needs.” For Malaysian startups, that also means the bar is rising. Competing locally is no longer enough if regional players can enter the market with stronger products.
There is still a lot of opportunity for Malaysian-based startups that founders should not overlook. He cites the Securities Commission’s Elevate initiative. 1337 has been working with later-stage companies that are already profitable and generating meaningful revenue where the 19 companies from the fourth batch, completed last year, had combined revenue of RM1.7 billion.
What stood out, he said, “is that many of these companies, while established and financially sound, are not strong in building technology internally.” That opens a clear opportunity for startups to sell solutions to sizeable firms with the ability to pay for their services. Bikesh pointed to companies such as leading F&B chain, Secret Recipe, which he described as a RM500 million business, that, while it has scale, has limited in-house innovation capabilities.
He said this gap between corporate demand and startup supply is one 1337 is trying to bridge by bringing founders and established business leaders into the same room, with the Leet Launchpad being one example, while also encouraging successful entrepreneurs to become angel investors in startups whose products may eventually serve their own businesses.
On fund performance, Bikesh said 1337 has invested in 17 companies over two years and has already recorded one exit. That exit, along with follow-on rounds by several portfolio companies, is helping show investors that early-stage startup bets can produce meaningful returns within a relatively short period. Some earlier backers, he said, have already seen gains of between four and 10 times their initial investment.
Touching on AI, Bikesh said the renewed interest in AI startups since last year has also made it more important to distinguish between what is truly AI and what is pseudo-AI.
“In this part of the world, many investors are fund managers or finance people rather than deeply technical operators, making it harder for them to judge whether a startup is building real technology or simply packaging existing tools. That is one reason many still prefer later-stage companies, where revenues provide a clearer picture.”
He said using AI platforms is increasingly seen as basic infrastructure, much like being online, mobile-first or cloud-based is. “That is no longer enough on its own to justify calling a company an AI startup.”
Still, he notes that Applied AI startups can still be compelling if they solve meaningful problems in specific industries or verticals. But they must also show they can avoid being quickly overtaken by the likes of OpenAI or Anthropic, a risk that is already becoming more visible. “Which is quite scary because you already start seeing that,” he said, meaning the leading players are already going into various enterprise verticals.
A recent trip to India to look at AI startups there also opened his eyes to the stark contrast between the AI startups there and in Malaysia, but also where Malaysian startups have an advantage. “While India’s sheer engineering depth stood out, I feel that Malaysian startups still have an edge in go-to-market execution, and this creates the potential for strong regional partnerships.”
The seven startups
During the launchpad, the startups have pitched their solutions, with four coming from Malaysia, and three coming from the region.
Vigor (Xentr.AI), founded by Victor Lee, is a Penang-based factory intelligence startup developing an operating system that helps manufacturers move from paper-based tracking to AI, linking legacy and modern machines for real-time analytics and automated compliance reporting.
During Covid-19, Lee’s parents, who run a manufacturing company, invested RM4.8 million to comply with industrial policy requirements. Having led that transformation, Lee said he saw the same problems repeated across the sector. “For the last eight months I actually surveyed and also visited 65 factories, they have common problems like 40% of the time actually spent on compliance reports and also cost saving decisions,” he said. He added that factories also struggle with limited IT staff and a lack of unified solutions to connect different machines and capture real-time production data.
Vigor now has seven paying customers. “This proves that the solution can be applied in different industries including healthcare, including medical devices, including rubber, metal, plastic and molding,” Lee said.
From 2026, Vigor will also work with OEM partners, with its software pre-installed on machines before deployment to customers. “We are one of the 20 solution providers that are selected in the northern region to utilise certain funds from the government to help our customers. To give you context, for RM200,000 projects, the government will fund up to half of the cost. We have about a RM1.5 million quota to fund projects for our end customers.”
The funding comes from the The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) Technology Innovation Centre’s Centre of Excellence.
NCER is a special economic region (which covers the northern states of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, and northern Perak.) created by the federal government to attract investments, boost industries, and create jobs. It is overseen by the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority, which manages programs, incentives, and partnerships.
Senang.io founded by Sharian Raj [MY]: An embedded B2B2C financial platform providing a single API for digital apps, e-wallets, and cooperatives to seamlessly distribute micro-insurance, unit trusts, and wealth products.
It is currently set up in Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore, with the first two being the key operating locations.
“Over the past seven years, we have onboarded over 8,000 referral agents, close to 20 cooperatives and banks, and sold over 1.5 million policies last year; and we increase our consumer base by 27%,”
“I’m very happy to say that every year we’re growing at a 30 plus percent to 40 plus percent rate.”
It has been EBITDA positive for the first two months of 2026 and expects to achieve or exceed its targets this year.
Bambi by Ivan Eng [MY]: A B2B performance protection system that uses a scientific psychological framework and data analytics to help mid-sized companies predict, identify, and address employee burnout.
Amalmedik by Dr. Saifulhaziq Noorman [MY]: A value-based primary care clinic network specialising in pain management and rehabilitation that delivers hospital-level expertise with primary care accessibility and affordability.
Navo Health by Joshua Yim [SG]: An AI-powered clinical decision support tool that makes fetal heart monitoring interpretable by filtering out false positives and detecting non-obvious anomalies to prevent maternal and fetal mortality.
Hati Health by Maria Gaitanidou [PH]: A digital-first women’s health platform that provides end-to-end, structured care journeys starting with PCOS by orchestrating consultations, diagnostics, and online pharmacy services in one place.
BriefTech by Vi Cher Chua [SG]: An AI-driven operating system for legal dispute preparation that processes raw evidence into court-ready filings, schedules, and trial bundles up to 10x faster than manual workflows.
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