PUTRAJAYA, May 22 — Tech innovator Datuk Pua Khein Seng said today that his local startup, MaiStorage Technology Sdn Bhd, is slated for an initial public offering (IPO) by 2028, as part of efforts to retain trained Malaysian talent and reverse the country’s brain drain.

Pua, widely credited with inventing the first single-chip USB flash drive, said the IPO’s top priority is to offer shareholding opportunities to employees and other stakeholders.

“If I can train these engineers, are they going to stay in their homeland?

“Unfortunately, most engineers when they mature, they leave. So how do we retain them? The only way is by IPO,” he said in his speech during the official launch of MaiStorage at Le Meridien Putrajaya here.

Since beginning operations in August last year, Pua said MaiStorage has made significant progress in establishing its base in Malaysia.

To date, the company has hired and trained 60 young integrated circuit (IC) design engineers, and achieved break-even profitability in under a year of operations.

“Once the company goes for an IPO and starts making money, they get dividends and returns from the market.

”The staff can then enjoy the benefits of the company going public like better housing and improve their lives,” Pua added.

He said countries such as the United States, China, Taiwan and South Korea still lead in the field of IC design.

With much of the talent pool concentrated outside of Malaysia, Pua said technology sharing between MaiStorage and his Taiwan-based Phison Electronics Corporation would ensure Malaysia will no longer remain reliant on foreign expertise by transforming the country into a regional IC design hub.

At a press conference later, Pua explained that the IPO’s main goal was to give more incentive to employees and that the company’s net asset value has now exceeded its initial capital investment of RM100 million after posting RM4 million in profit.

Pua said MaiStorage is already looking ahead to ensure that it can achieve its goals of putting Malaysia on the global semiconductor and tech stage, with a proposed expansion of a research and development centre (R&D) in the near future.

Backed by parent company Phison Group, MaiStorage said it is focused on NAND Flash Controller IC R&D in Malaysia, AI applications and Edge AI solutions for regional markets; and collaboration with the Ministry of Education – AI Classrooms for Schools.

In February, Pua’s Phison Group joined forces with Lonestar Data Holdings to achieve a groundbreaking feat by putting the first-ever physical data center on the surface of the moon.