Supporting a Sport & Social Client in Their Fundraising Journey

Fast-growing businesses — particularly those in the sport and social lifestyle space — often reach a stage where fundraising becomes essential to scale operations, expand locations, or host high-profile events. For foreign-owned companies operating in Malaysia, this stage brings an extra layer of regulatory, governance, and investor scrutiny. A strong corporate foundation — supported by an experienced company secretary — is therefore critical, not only for compliance, but to give investors confidence in the business.

The Challenge: Corporate Governance Readiness for Equity Crowdfunding

Our Sport and Social client was facing the common challenges of a fast-growing enterprise. As the business gained traction, the client planned to capitalise on market timing by raising funds for expansion, new court development, and service improvements. As a foreign-owned company operating in Malaysia, the fundraising exercise introduced additional layers of complexity, including evolving fundraising structures, onboarding new shareholders, heightened investor scrutiny, and increased statutory and governance requirements.

Managing investor queries, statutory obligations, and potential tax and regulatory implications became time-consuming and risked diverting management’s focus away from core operations and growth initiatives.

In preparation for the fundraising, the client needed clarity, structure, and confidence in its corporate standing to meet investor expectations and regulatory requirements.

Our Role: Company Secretary for an ECF Campaign

When we entered in February 2025, our role was to uplift the company secretarial function from back-office compliance into mid-office strategic support. Our objective was to ensure the client — as a foreign-owned entity fundraising in Malaysia — was fully prepared to meet investor, regulatory, and platform requirements throughout its Equity Crowdfunding (ECF) journey.

How We Supported the Campaign

• Fundraising Due Diligence Readiness: We reviewed, organized, and updated all statutory records and corporate registers to ensure the client was fully prepared for investor and platform due diligence requests.
• Equity Crowdfunding (ECF) Execution Support: We worked closely with the ECF operator and the client’s management team throughout the campaign, coordinating secretarial deliverables, tracking milestones, and ensuring all fundraising-related corporate requirements were met in accordance with regulatory and platform standards.
• Governance & Share Issuance Management: We drafted and facilitated all necessary board and shareholder resolutions, and handled filings to the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) for share issuances, including ordinary and preference shares. By managing the governance "heavy lifting", we enabled the client’s management to remain focused on investor engagement, pitching, and growing their sport and community ecosystem.

The ECF campaign officially commenced on 1 March 2025, with pitching and investor engagement spanning approximately two months.

The Result: RM6.47 Million Raised Through ECF with 78 Investors

Following the conclusion of the campaign that ended on 30 April 2025, the company successfully raised RM6.47 million through its ECF round. The raise involved a mix of ordinary and preference shares, attracting a total of 78 investors, with the largest single investment amounting to RM2 million.

The use of preference shares alongside ordinary shares allowed the company to offer investors differentiated return structures while preserving the founders' governance control — a common approach in ECF campaigns but one that requires careful drafting of share terms and board resolutions.

This funding was critical to the company's growth plan, and has since enabled it to accelerate its expansion, enhance its offerings, and strengthen its position within Malaysia's sport and social ecosystem.

Post-Fundraise Growth: Regional Expansion and Brand Partnerships

With the capital secured and its corporate foundation in place, the company has expanded its footprint regionally. This includes the opening of a new venue in Kuala Lumpur (TREC), a new location in Jakarta, Indonesia, and a forthcoming venue in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

As of the date of writing, the company has also secured a collaboration with a major bank in Malaysia, CIMB Bank Berhad, to host the CIMB Padel Open tournament, reinforcing its brand credibility and visibility within the sports community.

A Trusted Partnership for Growth

"Our client's journey has reminded our team of the importance of good corporate governance, and it demonstrates how having the right corporate support can make a meaningful difference. As company secretary, we are proud to have played a role in supporting their fundraising success, and we continue to provide structured corporate support as the business scales regionally."