Bursa Malaysia Berhad has launched the SME X Platform in collaboration with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM), to further support corporate fundraising and business investment opportunities.
The SME X Platform ensues from the memorandum of understanding signed between Bursa Malaysia and SSM at the end of 2022, which among others was to enhance data analytics for strategic business decisions in line with the National Data Sharing Policy (NDSP).
The SME X Platform is designed to facilitate fundraising to support SMEs in their growth and business expansion, by connecting them with capital providers such as private equity firms, venture capitalists, or other financial institutions seeking to invest in companies with good financial standing and growth potential.
Datuk Muhamad Umar Swift, CEO of Bursa Malaysia, said, “As a multi-asset exchange, we are constantly looking at innovations to grow the market, and better serve stakeholders’ needs, by employing data and technology.
“The launch of the SME X Platform supports a key imperative of the exchange to help companies raise funds for growth expansion.
“With the platform, we are helping to narrow the gap between quality companies with the need to raise funds, and parties with capital to deploy in the form of equity through Initial Public Offerings (“IPOs”), debt fundraising through BR Capital, as well as private entities, venture capitals, and other financial institutions.”
Meanwhile, Datuk Nor Azimah Abdul Aziz, CEO of SSM, said that in facilitating the seamless integration of data within this Platform, SSM has contributed the Corporate Business Information Data consisting of over 650,000 company data, comprising key statutory information on companies, which includes financial data from about 200,000 companies that recorded high revenue over the past three years.
“The data contribution from SSM, combined with data from Bursa Malaysia constitutes a significant step towards fostering a robust data ecosystem of companies, enriching capabilities within the Platform, and ensuring the provision of current and valuable insights for informed decision-making,” she said.
Wong Chiun Chiek, director of Bursa Intelligence, remarked, “As part of our data acquisition plans, at Bursa Malaysia, we now have rich and varied datasets from our various collaborations.
“Our repository of data spans the capital market, fund flows, private entities (in collaboration with SSM), macroeconomic insights (in collaboration with Department of Statistics Malaysia), and our Centralised Sustainability Intelligence platform that consolidates Environmental, Social, and Governance-related data, all hosted under our newly deployed enterprise data platform.
“We are always open to more strategic collaborations with partners to bring further innovation to support our stakeholders and develop our markets.”
SME X is an online platform that enhances decision-making for financial institutions and investment entities by offering a blend of Bursa Malaysia market data and data from SSM, comprising sectorial performance, evaluation of key financials, indicators of companies with the potential to list, and make comparisons of companies within the same sector.
In addition, the platform includes detailed insights into companies’ directors and management, shareholding structure, and key financials to provide context and a deeper understanding of the financial standing of each company, as well as its subsidiaries and affiliated companies with common shareholders.
The platform is currently in its initial roll-out phase, accessible on a subscription basis. Interested parties keen on accessing the Platform may contact infoservices@bursamalaysia.com. For more information on the SME X Platform, please visit http://bit.ly/SMEXVideo.