Gobi Dana Impak Ventures Backs GreatAsic to Advance Malaysian-Owned Custom ASICs and Long-Term Technology Leadership

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Gobi Partners has invested in GreatAsic through multiple funds, including Gobi Dana Impak Ventures (GDIV), a fund backed by Khazanah Nasional Berhad through Dana Impak, as part of GreatAsic’s recently closed US$6.9 million (RM 28 million) Pre-Series A round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India. The investment reflects GDIV's focus, through Dana Impak, on deploying catalytic capital to nurture high-potential companies into emerging Malaysian champions that can scale commercially, deepen local technological capabilities and contribute to Malaysia's economic complexity by moving into higher-value segments of the semiconductor value chain.

Dana Impak plays a catalytic role under Khazanah's Advancing Malaysia strategy by supporting firm transformation, nurturing potential Malaysian champions and catalysing strategic ecosystems, including to strengthen Malaysia’s semiconductor and advanced manufacturing sectors and enhance the country’s long-term competitiveness and resilience. Through GDIV, this translates into growth capital for companies such as GreatAsic to deepen onshore IC design capabilities, drive value creation and support their part towards becoming globally competitive Malaysian firms.

Unlike semiconductor manufacturing, which primarily captures value through asset ownership and production capacity, custom ASIC design generates long-term economic value through end-to-end chip development, deep IC design expertise, and higher profit margins. Companies such as GreatAsic enable Malaysia to participate in the highest-value segments of the semiconductor ecosystem by translating customer specifications into production-ready custom chips, while creating high-value engineering jobs and building deep design capabilities within the country.

GreatAsic is one of three Malaysian companies conditionally selected by the Malaysian government to access Arm Holdings’ semiconductor design platforms under Malaysia’s RM1.1 billion (US$250 million) strategic partnership with Arm. As one of two recipients that secured both Arm Flexible Access (AFA) and Arm Neoverse Compute Subsystems (CSS), the company gains access to advanced Arm IPs and tools that can accelerate the development of next-generation processors for AI, cloud, and data centre applications.

"The Dana Impak mandate asks us to look beyond financial returns and consider what value an investment creates for Malaysia over the long term. High-value IC design is one of the clearest answers we have found, and GreatAsic is one of the pioneers anchoring these specialised front-end capabilities on home shores," said Jamaludin Bujang, Managing Partner of Gobi Partners Malaysia.

“The value in the IC design industry does not sit on the fabrication floor — it sits in the design capabilities, track record, and the ability to recruit and develop people that can continuously innovate and bring next-generation ASIC to market. GreatAsic has all three of these qualities, showing strong commercial and impact potential. This is why not just GDIV but other Gobi funds invested as well,” said Hisham Ibrahim, Managing Director of Gobi Partners.

GreatAsic's founding team brings decades of experience across the global semiconductor industry, having held engineering and leadership roles at companies including Intel, Broadcom, Marvell Technology, Altera, Synopsys, and StarFive. By applying that expertise to locally developed products and platforms, the company is helping build a commercially driven semiconductor design ecosystem anchored by Malaysian talent.

GreatAsic’s end-to-end capabilities span silicon architecture, custom IP development, advanced chip design, software-hardware co-development, and full silicon realisation from concept to production. This integrated approach reduces reliance on external resources during critical development phases, accelerates time-to-market, and ensures that valuable intellectual property, engineering expertise, and technology know-how are developed and retained within Malaysia.

“Malaysia has world-class engineering talent and a once-in-a-generation opportunity to design, not just build, the chips that power the AI era. This funding lets us hire engineers, expand operations and accelerate our planned ASIC projects and build a Malaysian semiconductor design ecosystem that endures,” said Ong Chin Hu, Founder and CEO of GreatAsic.

Global semiconductor revenue reached US$795.6 billion in 2025, according to the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organisation, driven by demand for AI infrastructure, cloud computing, and advanced data centres. PwC projects the market will exceed US$1 trillion by 2030, growing at a compound annual rate of approximately 9%.

Malaysia's National Semiconductor Strategy, launched in May 2024 with a RM25 billion allocation, aims to establish at least 10 local semiconductor design champions capable of collectively generating US$20 billion in annual revenue. Companies that own proprietary IP and system-level design capabilities capture a greater share of industry value than businesses focused solely on manufacturing or assembly.

GreatAsic will use the proceeds to expand its engineering team across Penang and Selangor, accelerate customer engagements in the data centre, Edge AI and automotive segments, and deepen its SoC IP portfolios.

Through its Dana Impak mandate, Gobi Partners aims to back companies that advance Malaysia’s technology ambitions by creating world-class ASICs that are built, owned and commercialised in Malaysia for global markets.

ENDS

About GreatAsic

GreatAsic Technology Sdn Bhd is a Malaysia-based Custom ASIC and AI SoC Platform IC Design company specialising in hardware & software co-design, Silicon IP platform for the data center, Edge AI and automotive markets. Headquartered in Penang with growing R&D operations in Selangor, GreatAsic delivers end-to-end silicon realisation, backed by a team with a proven record of full-mask tape-outs and high-volume production.

Website: https://www.greatasic.com/

About Dana Impak

Dana Impak plays a catalytic role under Khazanah Nasional’s Advancing Malaysia strategy, supporting firm transformation to enhance national competitiveness and resilience, while delivering positive socio-economic impact for the country. Guided by its impact principles, Dana Impak seeks to nurture potential Malaysian champions and catalyse strategic ecosystems through a structured, programmatic approach across its key programmes.

About Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India

Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India is a leading early-stage venture capital firm focused on partnering with high-growth startups across Southeast Asia and India. With a strong network and strategic expertise, they have invested in successful companies such as Grab, FirstCry, Nium, Licious, Kuku FM, Abacus Digital, RPG Commerce and PatSnap, driving innovation and scaling businesses across various sectors.

Website: https://www.vertexventures.sg

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