In the final months of 2024, our portfolio companies have been steadily growing and receiving industry recognition for their efforts. Several of our startups in particular, and Southeast Asia as a whole, are well-placed to benefit from anticipated policy changes under the returning Trump administration. One sector is technology-enabled supply chain, where offshoring from China to Southeast Asia is accelerating under an expected China targeted-tariff regime. Another sector is financial technology where looser regulation on banks is projected to drive growth in financial services.
Looking back on the year: Southeast Asia has gone through peaceful transitions of power across the region. ASEAN governments are pro-business, technocratic and future-looking. With the US election now behind us, we expect a more predictable and stable business environment for our region in 2025.
Buyandship, a global logistics services startup, continues to empower users with an easy and affordable way to buy overseas products. The company announced the launch of a state-of-the-art, fully-automated warehouse for centralized pick-pack-ship operations serving Southeast Asia out of Hong Kong. In addition, exciting developments in the integration of AI have enabled faster and more accurate cross-border pricing comparisons to support local buyers and businesses.
PolicyStreet, an Insurtech startup, has emerged as the winner for the Financial Inclusivity Award during the SFF FinTech Excellence Awards 2024! The FinTech Awards, jointly organized by MAS and SFA, celebrates outstanding FinTech solutions aimed at promoting financial inclusion as well as advancing financial services. The awards are judged by an international panel, and highlighted PolicyStreet's contributions of insuring over 200,000 gig workers with approximately RM20 billion in sum insured.
Tonik, a leading digital bank, was recognised as one of 50 Southeast Asia Tech Startups to Watch, in the Destination Southeast Asia Report 2024 published by Founders Forum Group in partnership with the Singapore EDB. Tonik was also recognised as one of Asia's rising stars in Digital Banking in the inaugural Fintech Innovators Asia 2024 list by Fortune.
General Partner Dave recently spoke alongside SGInnovate and moderated by Trirec in the annual FLY ASIA Tech Festival in Busan, South Korea in October. On the panel, Dave shared his perspectives on the latest happening around Artificial Intelligence (AI) and deep tech investment activities in Asia as well as globally.
General Partner Gavin Teo hosted an "Investors Guide to AI" at TechinAsia SYNC in Singapore in October. His roundtable discussion included insights from AI founders who revealed that they generally prefer to prototype new products with ChatGPT due to superior speed, but then switch to other models later.
In September 2024, we hosted our Annual Investor Meeting at the Tanglin Club in Singapore. We invited five founders from our portfolio companies to share their outlooks on Southeast Asia, specifically on scaling cross border and preparing for an exit via M&A and IPO. Key insights included:
1. Quality and Commercial Growth must go hand-in-hand – The early stage of a startup is associated with high-pace growth, but a major challenge is to maintain product quality as the order book grows.
2. Exits need careful planning many years ahead – As start-ups mature, founders often grapple with selecting the most suitable exit strategy.
3. Regulation can be a source of Competitive Advantage – In sectors like insurtech and biotech, regulations should not be seen as obstacles, but as indicators of market readiness.
