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APAC has become the shelter for numerous startups, with many emerging giants in various industry sectors.
FREMONT, CA:From the factory of the world, the Asia-Pacific region has become a space with great potential for start-ups, especially for digital businesses. It is home to a growing population, workforce, and consumer class, with increasing digital literacy. There has been a rapid acceleration in digitalisation adoption in the last few years caused by the pandemic, posing growth opportunities for startups, particularly digital businesses.
Studies show that emerging and developing markets in APAC will rise 20 per cent faster than the global average. With improved consumer access to the Internet and education, a new digital entrepreneur class has emerged. It is also found that over 6000 tech startups are potentially emerging giants in 12 key markets with valuations of up to 500 million USD. Most of APAC’s emerging startups are concentrated in mainland China, with 32.8 per cent of APAC’s market share.
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Today, startups diverge from traditional sectors commonly associated with startups, such as fintech and biotech, and NFTs are emerging. With the recent interest in the metaverse and digital assets, more companies are taking steps to integrate them into their businesses. A software company recently completed a capital raise of 75.32 million USD to fund strategic acquisitions and advance the open metaverse.
The increasing focus on the metaverse and digital assets has been creating more investments for startups along with attracting top talents, prompting governments to increasingly bring about improvements to their digital infrastructure in APAC. Recently, the Malaysian government launched the Malaysia Digital initiative to assist local tech companies in becoming Malaysian Champions and successful international players and attracting high-value digital investments, among others.
Local governments' public investment will have a multiplier effect, bolstering the confidence of private investors. APAC growth companies comprise nearly one-quarter of the world’s total private investment dollars, with startup businesses valued at over one billion USD. These nascent organisations will significantly impact the global economy in the near future.
Sustainability subsectors are also crucial within the startup ecosystem, with firms emphasising sustainable packaging, and fashion. Consumers also focus on businesses’ sustainability efforts, gathering investors’ interests. Recently, content-to-commerce food brands committed to investing 10 million USD in food technology companies developing the sustainable, animal-free, global food ecosystem and scaling commercialisation.
Other popular sub-sectors are virtual events and auto commerce, where virtual events have gained popularity during the pandemic and still maintain their vogue in the post-pandemic era.
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