Izwan Zakaria

Corporate, TECHNOLOGY, VENTURE CAPITAL AND STARTUP lawyer

Izwan Zakaria is the founder and managing partner of Izwan & Partners, a corporate law firm helping startups and technology companies do business and raise capital in Malaysia and overseas.

Izwan has over a decade of legal experience in commercial transactions. He has acted for online and digital businesses like equity crowdfunding, peer to peer lending, ecommerce, robo advisors, and other disruptive technologies. His involvement in the technology space also extends to advising fintech clients on compliance matters relating to regulatory requirements set out by the Malaysian regulators such as the Central Bank and the Securities Commission. 

Izwan also has extensive experience in venture capital and private equity transactions from funds formation to preparing the fundraising documents. In 2021, Izwan was consulted by the World Bank and co-authored a study on assessing the startup financing ecosystem in Malaysia.

Izwan is a regular writer on issues affecting technology companies and startups in Malaysia, and his articles have been published in leading publications like e27 and The Malay Mail. Izwan is also the founder of Startup Law Blog, a blog covering legal issues and trends affecting technology entrepreneurs and startups in Malaysia. 

Izwan is also active in the startup ecosystem and regularly involved in programmes and events as a legal partner with ecosystem enablers like Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) and Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC). He is currently a member of the Fintech Association of Malaysia and regularly invited to speak at startup events and accelerators on legal and compliance matters. He is also a mentor at The Founder’s Institute (a pre-seed start-up accelerator with a presence in over 180 cities worldwide), MaGiC, Selangor Accelerator Programme, and Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE). 

Izwan can be contacted at [email protected] or by scheduling a call on Izwan & Partners website at www.izwanpartners.com or by connecting with him on his LinkedIn.