KUALA LUMPUR, 30 JULY 2025 – Gobi Partners, a leading Asia-focused venture capital firm, has announced a strategic investment in NanoSkunkWorkX (nSWX), a Malaysian deep tech startup developing manufacturable graphene systems engineered for breakthrough performance in real-world conditions with applications across green hydrogen production, semiconductors, and diagnostics.
This marks Gobi’s first deep tech investment in Southeast Asia and reflects the firm’s continued commitment to building Malaysia’s innovation ecosystem by supporting globally competitive ventures at the frontier of science and technology.
nSWX’s proprietary platform integrates graphene into industrial materials at low cost and with high energy efficiency – enhancing heat management, electrical conductivity, and chemical reactivity. In clean energy, its graphene-enhanced electrodes improve electrolysis efficiency, paving the way for scalable green hydrogen production. nSWX is actively engaging global energy leaders to co-develop system-level platforms and convening consortia to accelerate modular hydrogen deployment.
In semiconductors, the company’s solutions aim to boost chip performance while reducing manufacturing complexity and cost. Its ruggedised biosensor platform, developed in partnership with Malaysia’s Ministry of Health and Universiti Malaya’s Tropical Infectious Diseases Research & Education Centre (TIDREC), is also being adapted for next-generation field diagnostics in collaboration with health and security partners.
Built on wet electrochemistry and sustainable deposition techniques, nSWX’s platform bridges materials science and device engineering-translating lab breakthroughs into industrial solutions.
Founded by Dr. Amani Salim, a former NASA principal investigator, and Iqbal Shamsul, an MIT-trained computer scientist and former energy and derivatives trader at Morgan Stanley, nSWX is translating frontier science into functional, real-world technologies.
“At NanoSkunkWorkX, we evolve ideas from orbital insights into solutions that work on the ground. Science discovers, engineering delivers — that’s our mandate,” said Dr Amani Salim, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer. “This partnership with Gobi and Khazanah Nasional Berhad (“Khazanah”) Dana Impak shows that bold deep tech belongs here at home, driven by our people and ideas.”
Iqbal Shamsul, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, added, “We don’t build to impress, we build to endure. This investment validates not just our science, but our stance: Malaysia can lead at the edge of what’s possible. With Gobi and Khazanah Dana Impak, we’re scaling up not hype, but hard tech that performs under pressure: in the field, in the fab, and in the fight for a cleaner, smarter future”.
The investment was made through the Gobi Dana Impak Ventures (GDIV) Fund, in line with Khazanah’s Malaysia Investment strategy anchored on ‘A Nation That Creates’ framework. It also supports Dana Impak’s strategic objective of advancing Malaysia’s position in the global semiconductor and advanced manufacturing value chain, as part of Khazanah’s broader commitment to Advancing Malaysia. GDIV targets high-potential Malaysian startups with the capacity to scale and deliver meaningful national impact.
nSWX’s recent accolades include being named Grand Champion of TECH Planter Malaysia 2025 and receiving an invitation to present at the 2024 Hilton Head Workshop, a prestigious conference on deep tech, nanotechnology, and semiconductors—reinforcing its position as an emerging leader in advanced materials.
“NanoSkunkWorkX represents the kind of bold, deep tech innovation Malaysia needs to nurture,” said Thomas G. Tsao, Co-founder and Chairperson of Gobi Partners. “This investment reflects our confidence in Malaysia’s ability to produce globally competitive technology from within. Hisham Ibrahim, Managing Director, ASEAN of Gobi Partners, added, “By backing visionary founders like Iqbal and Dr. Amani, we are helping to build a stronger, more resilient innovation ecosystem for the country and establishing Malaysia as a place for deep tech and material science innovation.”
NanoSkunkWorkX embodies the vision behind GDIV—to back homegrown innovation led by exceptional Malaysian talent. The company’s mission aligns with key national priorities: scaling sovereign capabilities in chips, energy, and health—where materials meet mission. Its founders represent the return and retention of top-tier Malaysian talent and reflect the increasing maturity of Malaysia’s tech ecosystem.
About NanoSkunkWorkX
NanoSkunkWorkX (nSWX) is a Malaysian deep tech company advancing a proprietary electrochemical platform to integrate graphene into functional devices. Focused on semiconductors, hydrogen systems, and diagnostics, nSWX delivers breakthrough performance in thermal and electrical conductivity, catalytic efficiency, and biosensing precision. Its platform enables system-level gains at category-defining price-performance points—unlocking architectures previously held back by wafer fab dependency and cost-/emissions-intensive synthesis routes. Founded by NASA alum Dr. Amani Salim and MIT-trained Iqbal Shamsul, nSWX builds for deployment, not display: engineering hard tech that holds up in the field, and in the future.
About the Platform
nSWX’s electrochemical deposition platform is designed for compatibility, scalability, and speed. Whether layered onto semiconductors, integrated into electrolysers, or embedded in diagnostic cartridges, the system is engineered to deliver functional, field-ready outcomes, not just academic promise. Each output advances a single mission: where materials meet system-level gain.
About Dana Impak
Dana Impak plays a catalytic role in Khazanah’s Malaysia Investment strategy, anchored on ‘A Nation That Creates’ framework, in transforming firms to enhance economic competitiveness and resilience, while delivering positive socio-economic impact for the country. This is in line with Khazanah’s broader commitment to Advancing Malaysia through a structured, programmatic approach in key areas such as catalysing Malaysia’s venture capital (“VC”) ecosystem, levelling up mid-tier companies (“MTC”), and strengthening Malaysia’s position in semiconductor & advanced manufacturing. For more information on Khazanah, visit www.khazanah.com.my/our-investments/dana-impak/