FashionValet is no stranger to controversy, having been under fire in 2022 when it announced its pivot away from its own FashionValet fashion platform to focus on its inhouse brands dUCK and LILIT.
Recently, the business came under scrutiny again following an article by a newsletter called Asia Tech Review.
The platform claims that FashionValet “has been taken over by local investment firm NXBT Partners in a fire sale”.
According to Investopedia, a fire sale refers to a situation where securities are trading well below their intrinsic value.
The source that Asia Tech Review cites is Amanz, which reported about the sale in an article dated February 16, 2024.
Vulcan Post did reach out to founder and director Vivy Yusof for comment, but wasn’t able to get a response.
Given the lack of details and proof, we decided to purchase some financial documents from MyData SSM to verify the information ourselves.
1. NXBT Partners is owned by the CEO of TIME dotCom Berhad
Asia Tech Review and Amanz had reported that NXBT Partners is a personal investment vehicle owned by Afzal Bin Abdul Rahim.
To verify this, we purchased NXBT Partners Sdn. Bhd.’s company profile. Indeed, the company is wholly owned by Afzal Bin Abdul Rahim, who is none other than the CEO of TIME dotCom Berhad.
The nature of NXBT Partners is “Activities of holding companies”. A holding company typically exists for the sole purpose of controlling other companies.
A seasoned entrepreneur, Afzal is also a founding board member of Endeavor Malaysia and a senior independent director at CIMB.
2. NXBT Partners owns 2,513,467 ordinary shares in the company
According to the latest annual return of, which was filed June 2024, NXBT Partners is the major stakeholder of FashionValet Sdn. Bhd.
Out of the total shares of 4,904,325, the holdings company owns 2,513,467, which is 51.25%.
It was reported by Asia Tech Review and Amanz that NXBT Partners paid some “US$1.1 million” for those secondary shares.
We couldn’t find confirmation or additional details on when NXBT bought these shares and for how much, though.
Other shareholders include Vivy Yusof and husband Fadzarudin.
A number of corporate bodies also have a stake in the business. There’s Zozo Inc, a Japanese company that operates fashion online shopping sites.
A Bruneian company called Reussi also owns shares in the business. Proven Holding, the company owned by Vivy’s father Yusof Jusoh, is also a shareholder.
MyEG Capital is also a shareholder with 283,246 ordinary shares. MYEG Capital had actually given the company its seed funding of RM1 million in 2012.
As of the end of 2023, Khazanah Nasional still had a 9% stake in the business. But this is not reflected in Fashion Valet’s latest documents, implying that Khazanah sold their shares somewhere between December 31, 2023 and February 16, 2024 when the Amanz article was released.
According to Tracxn, Khazanah, along with Pulau Tiga Ventures and another company, had invested US$9.07 million into the business in 2018.
Reportedly, there was also a follow-on investment of US$2.99 million in this Series C round led by Pemodalan Nasional Berhad, another government-linked Malaysian investment management company.
According to Tracxn, the post-money valuation (valuation of a company after an investment is made) in 2019, after its Series C round investment would have been US$92.4 million.
But if it’s true that NXBT had paid US$1.1 million for 51.25% shares, that would’ve brought the valuation down to around, US$2,146,000.
3. FashionValet has an accumulated loss of RM127,576,371 as of the latest financial statement
So, how is FashionValet doing, though?
Well, for the financial year ended December 31, 2023, the business reported negative retained earnings, with a figure of -RM127,576,371.
Retained earnings are a firm’s cumulative net earnings or profit after accounting for dividends. So, this means that FashionValet has not made profit since the inception of the business.
This figure had been -RM83.4 million when we last investigated the company, for its financial year ending December 31, 2020.
As for their losses after tax, it was -RM34,508,166 for the financial year ended December 31, 2022.
This figure had been -RM12,371,305 for the financial year ended December 31, 2020.
For the financial year ended December 31, 2021, though, business seemingly improved somewhat, with a loss after tax figure of -RM9,625,559.
So, what?
Why is this a big deal, you may wonder? Businesses tend to rise and fall, and incurring losses is part and parcel of being an entrepreneur.
Well, since FashionValet’s pivot in 2022, many netizens’ complaints and sentiments have been similar. They’re dissatisfied with Khazanah’s decisions and performance.
For context, Khazanah Nasional is the sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Malaysia.
According to its website, Khazanah not only aims to deliver strong long-term risk-adjusted returns across their portfolio, but they also contribute towards the nation’s long-term competitiveness and prosperity.
“Ultimately, our activities and investments are anchored towards delivering long lasting impact towards a better Malaysia, responsibly,” they stated.
Understanding this, it might explain why Malaysians are scrutinising Khazanah—because it had invested a sizable amount in FashionValet, which allegedly may have seen a huge drop in its valuation. Meaning to say, Khazanah may have lost money because of this investment.
It’s important to note, though, that Khazanah actually reported a profit of RM5,890,000,000 for 2023. And in fact, a year after Khazanah invested in FashionValet in 2018, it had raked in RM7,360,000,000 in profits.
Ultimately, FashionValet is only one company under Khazanah’s portfolio. That said, some healthy scrutiny over the government-linked investment company is understandable.
However, in an email to Business Times, Khazanah defended its decision to support local founders and the Malaysian startup ecosystem, including its investment in FashionValet.
With all that said, neither FashionValet nor NBXT Partners have issued any statements or clarifications over the situation.
But judging by the documents we purchased, we can verify that NBXT Partners is now the major shareholder of FashionValet. With Afzal Abdul Rahim at the helm now, perhaps some changes in the business are in order.
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Following the events of the fire sale, more investigations have been opened into the finances of Vivy and her husband Fadzarudin, culminating in the couple being charged in court today over a criminal breach of trust (CBT) involving RM8 million.
The Star reported that, in their capacity as company directors, the couple has been accused of dishonestly making a payment of RM8 million from FashionValet Sdn Bhd to 30 Maple Sdn Bhd without the approval of FashionValet’s board of directors.
According to the charge sheet, Vivy and Fadzarudin were entrusted with the monies, which were investment funds from Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Permodalan Nasional Bhd, The Star added. Vivy and Fadzarudin plead not guilty to the CBT charges.
If they are convicted, the couple faces imprisonment of between two and 20 years, whipping, and a fine.
The court set January 22 for mention.
- Learn more about FashionValet here.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Malaysian startups here.
Featured Image Credit: FashionValet
