Led · Series B · Sep 2021

Socar Malaysia runs two core offerings: the SOCAR app, which provides on-demand car rentals from a fleet it controls, and TREVO, a peer-to-peer car-sharing marketplace that matches private car owners with renters. Launched in January 2018 as a joint venture between SK Inc and Socar Inc, the company has built a fleet of about 2,200 cars spanning 36 models and deployed them at more than 1,000 pick-up locations in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor, Ipoh and Melaka. Its newer TREVO platform has nearly 6,400 vehicle listings across major cities in Malaysia and Indonesia, giving the company a sizable two-sided marketplace. Management plans to channel fresh capital into technology upgrades, clean-mobility initiatives and an accelerated rollout of TREVO to more Southeast Asian markets, supporting its “multiflex mobility” vision. Post-raise, SOCAR reports US$73 million of total cash on hand and a valuation of US$213 million, providing runway for continued expansion. The company aims to create new income streams for car owners while restoring safe, private travel options as the region emerges from COVID-19 constraints.

Led · Equity · Apr 2014

Verdezyne is an industrial biotechnology company based in Carlsbad, California, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, that uses proven and proprietary metabolic pathway engineering tools to develop unique yeast strains for cost-effective production of bio-based chemicals. Its core product offering is renewable chemicals produced via engineered yeast rather than petroleum-derived feedstocks. The company plans to accelerate technology development in the U.S. and to support collaborative projects with Sime Darby Renewables. Management researched the oil palm industry with assistance from the Malaysian Biotechnology Corporation and positions Sime Darby as a partner to help lead the development of sustainable palm-based materials into higher-value downstream renewable products. Verdezyne has arranged a $48 million financing led by Sime Darby and joined by existing investors BP Alternative Energy Ventures, DSM Venturing B.V., OVP Venture Partners and Monitor Ventures. The financing was formalized at a signing ceremony in Kuala Lumpur attended by U.S. President Barack Obama and Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Sri Najib Razak. Verdezyne is an industrial biotechnology company using proven and proprietary metabolic pathway engineering tools to create unique yeast strains for cost-effective production of biobased fuels and chemicals. Its platform has been advanced for the company’s ethanol and adipic acid processes. The company is building yeast metabolic engineering capabilities to produce a pipeline of renewable transportation fuels and platform chemicals. New financing will allow Verdezyne to continue development and deployment of first-in-class engineered yeast strains. Company executives and investors characterized the funding as strategic validation from industry leaders. Current investors include BP, DSM, OVP Venture Partners, Monitor Ventures, Life Science Angels and Tech Coast Angels. Verdezyne develops fermentation processes for industrial chemicals and biofuels using synthetic biology. The company applies proprietary computational and bioinformatics programs to create highly diverse directed mutant gene libraries. These libraries are intended to enhance metabolic engineering tools and serve as a platform for protein and metabolic engineering. Verdezyne says the enhanced capability will be directly useful to life science researchers and to its internal biofuel and biobased chemical programs. The company received a $1.7M grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to advance this work over an 18-month period. Verdezyne is based in Carlsbad, California.