Khazanah Impact Innovation Challenge | Khazanah Nasional Berhad |

Climate change poses an imminent threat to the agri-food sector globally. Prolonged dry spells, heatwaves, intense rainfall, and floods are already ruining food production across continents, leading to plummeting crop yields and the destruction of livestock and food stocks. Projected 5% – 32% decline in crop yields by 2050⁽¹⁾ due to climate change with a 60% increase in global food demand by the same year driven by population growth, may exacerbate the situation.⁽²⁾ Entering its second instalment, Khazanah Impact Innovation Challenge (“KIIC”) 2023, themed “Tackling the Climate Challenge for Malaysia’s Food Security” is looking for Malaysian-based business entities with innovative and commercialised solutions which are economically viable and investible. We seek innovations both from a climate mitigation and adaptation perspective that address the adverse impacts of climate change to safeguard Malaysia’s food security and enable sustainable and resilient agrifood systems.

Sources: 1. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 2. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

This may include innovative solutions such as alternative animal feed sources, alternative fertilisers, on-farm technologies, financing, and supply chain solutions to enhance efficiency and productivity in the agri-food industry.

Application is now closed.

KIIC FINALISTS

Company	Focus Areas	Brief Description
	Alternative Protein	Utilising biomass fermentation of mycoprotein as a potential plant-based meat as an alternative source of protein and fibres.
	Alternative Protein	Utilises cultivated meat technology as a sustainable and efficient method for production of beef meat. Their technology aims to expand Malaysia’s diversification of protein sources and ensure that the protein supply-chain is less susceptible to climate-induced disruptions.
	Alternative Protein	Utilises biomass fermentation of mycoprotein as a potential plant-based meat as an alternative source of protein and fibres. Their product leverages on its zero-cholesterol, non-GMO, gluten-free and high fibre content.
	Farming Solutions – CEA	Production of vanilla in a controlled environment setup. Through the introduction of their advanced farm management system, they have incorporated data-driven insights and precision agriculture techniques in the production of vanilla.
	Farming Solutions – Alternative Feed	Utilises black soldier flies as a food/biowaste management solution where its outputs are translated into animal feed and fertilisers.
	Farming Solutions – Crop Planting	Development of a rice production system that analyses soil degradation to avoid the destruction of soil structure and produce more consistent yields. The firm is additionally generating mutant rice varieties that are herbicide tolerant, allowing for quick harvests.
	Regenerative Agriculture Solutions & Agri Tech	Technology currently used to treat Basel Stem Rot disease in oil palm trees, which can additionally be scaled to treat root rot diseases in other cash crops in Malaysia (such as rubber, coconut, and banana) that currently do not have a disease prevention solution.
	Regenerative Agriculture Solutions & Agri Tech	Utilises quantum dots-technology to increase plant growth, shorten crop cycle, reduce excessive fertiliser usage, and increase nutritional value of crops. Furthermore, their technology aims to avoid over fertilising, aiding farmers to grow crops in a sustainable manner.
	Animal Feed Solutions – BSF	Utilises black soldier flies as a food/biowaste management solution where its outputs are translated into pet food and fertilisers. Their two-prong strategy aims to accommodate waste management on a smaller-scale level (urban locals) and macro-level (plantations, resorts, towns).
	Animal Feed Solutions	Development of a virgin coconut oil-based multivitamin used to provide nutrition to poultry, with the aim to increase its survival rate, production of antibiotic free-range chickens and reduction of breeder cost for medication by c.70%.
	Marketplace	Providing market access and financing solutions to farmers. The technology platform focuses on the agricultural sector, providing financial and market accessibility to smallholder farmers through the Ag–Fund and Ag-Market.
	Marketplace	A farm management, record keeping and MYGap reporting and certification platform provider. Also provides a marketplace to match producers to end consumers.
	Technology & Training Solutions – Crop Planting	Production of branded, high-quality and value-added pineapple products. The firm processes zero-value off-grade pineapples, which have been rejected sunburned or undersized fruit, into various products including jams, sauces, cookies, and snacks.
	Post farming business solutions & Marketplace	Providing post farming business solutions to the farmers and further connected a B2B marketplace to widen farmer’s market accessibility throughout South East Asia.
	Robotics	Provider drone as a service (oil palm plantations), farming as a service (chili and rock melons), and robot as a service (oil palm fertiliser and collection).

Dana Impak is pleased to bring together partners from various sectors to explore opportunities to collaborate with, and tap into the wealth of talent and expertise among Malaysian startups and MSMEs within the agri-food space. As climate change poses an increasing threat to food security in our country, we hope that through this challenge, we can offer the necessary support and a wide-reaching platform to attract capital for innovative and sustainable solutions for the identified theme, which is aligned with our long-term strategy of Advancing Malaysia.

Dato’ Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir Managing Director, Khazanah Nasional

Khazanah Nasional (“Khazanah”) conducted a nationwide survey comprising over 3,000 smallholders from aquaculture, crops, and the livestock sectors. A key outcome of the survey showed that climate change threats are one of the top 3 challenges that smallholders face in Malaysia. We call upon visionary entrepreneurs and innovative startups to join our accelerator programme and develop climate-smart agrifood solutions.

Climate change is inevitable and could exacerbate Malaysia’s food insecurity and quality of rural livelihoods. Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and increased frequency of extreme weather events like droughts and floods are likely to have severe implications for our domestic food production systems. It is imperative that we embark on a journey to make our food system climate resilient, achieved through fervent efforts in R&D and innovations.

Dr Sarena Che Omar Deputy Director of Research, Khazanah Research Institute (KRI)

About KIIC

KIIC is a business competition organised by Khazanah, via its Dana Impak to discover and support new business models and facilitate strategic value creation based on the theme of challenge towards achieving Khazanah’s goal of Advancing Malaysia.We see KIIC as a fresh platform for us to identify / crowdsource ideas to address problem statements that are pervasive to deliver the impactful economic potential for the country, in addition to playing a role to help address this. KIIC2023 is organised by Khazanah in partnership with its programme partner, Plug and Play APAC (“PNP”), outreach partners, Impact Circle and Cradle Fund’s MYStartup, and funding partners Gobi Partners, 500 Global, and Agrobank. KIIC2023 is themed around “Tackling the Climate Challenge for Malaysia’s Food Security”. It aims to achieve the following:

Uncover innovative agrifood startups and Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs),
Boost participants’ readiness and knowledge in navigating fund-raising to take their business to the next stage of growth; and
Profile/showcase Malaysia based agrifood startups and MSMEs to the broader investment community.

The inaugural KIIC was held in 2021 with the theme “Enhancing Ageing Services for Malaysians” where six finalists were selected to receive RM300,000 grant each and five other finalists received RM20,000 each. Further, the challenge also resulted in one of the finalists, Care Concierge receiving investments from Gobi Dana Impak Ventures Fund. Please click here to know more about KIIC2021.

The Award

Ten (10) finalists of KIIC2023 have a chance to receive an award of up to RM500,000 each in the form of grants. Khazanah and its partners reserve the rights on the final grant amount, and disbursement schedule to the shortlisted finalists, subject to the execution of the KIIC Grant Agreement by the finalists.
The KIIC2023 Demo Day would provide a platform for finalist(s) to pitch for: (i) potential equity investments from Khazanah and its funding partners; and/or (ii) debt funding from our debt financing partners.

(Note that funding will be provided on an opportunistic basis with the funding decisions made at the discretion of each funding party)

Malaysia ranked 41^st out of the 113 countries being evaluated for food security under Global Food Security Index (“GFSI”). However, Malaysia’s low score for the sustainability and adaptation metric of GFSI emphasises the need to find innovative solutions to address climate change-related challenges in the agri-food industry. Dana Impak is committed to this cause, and is excited to be working with like-minded partners to uncover the wealth of innovative ideas, talent and expertise among Malaysian startups and MSMEs. We hope our initiative will catalyse the fundraising journey for the successful participants, by providing them with the necessary skillsets and a wide-reaching platform to attract capital.

Bryan Lim Executive Director Head, Dana Impak and Head, Healthcare

Solutions We Are Looking For

The KIIC is looking for submissions from Malaysian-based business entities with innovative and unique solutions which deliver:

Measurable impact for Malaysians

A sustainable business model

Solutions that can be replicated across Malaysia

Considerations in preparing your solutions: Climate Change has intensified the issue of food security, making it more critical than ever before. To address this challenge, enhancing food production is a crucial factor to ensure sufficient food supply for everyone. KIIC is looking for Malaysian-based entities with innovative and commercialised solutions which are economically viable and investable. We welcome participants to challenge the boundaries and thinking to tackle climate challenges to food security in Malaysia. The list below serves as a non-exhaustive list of guiding focus areas that help accomplish the overall objectives.

1. Farming Solutions
  - Drought tolerance
  - Smart irrigation, Internet of Things (“IOT”), and remote sensing
  - Controlled Environment Agriculture solutions (Greenhouse & vertical farming)

1. Animal Feed Solutions
  - Alternative feed inputs

1. Regenerative Agriculture
  - Bio-fertiliser & soil enhancers (Algae, plant-based, insect-based, mycorrhizal fungi and etc.)
  - Biochar
  - Cover crop solutions
  - Pests control solutions
  - Other biological/chemical solutions

1. Technology & Training Solutions
  - Embedded Agriculture education services
  - Marketplace
  - Supply chain

1. Other solutions
  - Adaptive crop planting solutions
  - Other climate mitigation and/or adaptation solutions for agrifood

KIIC2023 is made possible with the support of our partners:

Programme Partner

Outreach Partners

Funding Partners