RHL Ventures' Raja Hamzah Shares Fundraising Insights at ASEAN Tech All-Stars Panel

28 November 2025 — Last Friday at The Ship Campus Penang, our Managing Partner Raja Hamzah took part in the Founders & Funders: ASEAN Tech All-Stars Venture Capital panel session titled ‘Jangan Cepat Kahwin: Why You Shouldn’t Raise from VCs, and When You Should’.

He shared the panel alongside Shahril Ibrahim (500 Global), Kuo-Yi Lim (林国毅) (Monk's Hill Ventures), Weisheng Neo (Qualgro Partners), and Hisham Ibrahim CPA, CFA (Gobi Partners). The session was moderated by Ghazanfar Iqbal (Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The panel highlighted diverse perspectives on how profitability influences fundraising, from seeing no direct correlation to viewing profitability as a way to strengthen a company’s position and secure more favorable debt options. The discussion further highlighted that due diligence goes both ways, encouraging founders to vet potential VC partners carefully. As the audience consisted largely of early-stage startups, the session also covered which companies are best suited for VC funding and walked through the typical fundraising journey from initial introductions to term sheet signing.

Shoutout to Shaun Yeoh and Curry Khoo for organizing a fantastic event!

RHL Ventures - LinkedIn