<h2>Mid-2021 Market Overview</h2><p>Halfway into 2021, and the Southeast Asia region has already seen its second-highest level of M&A activity ever, at $707.7bn, up 75% from 1H 2020.</p><img src="<https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/68641259aad82a17eab80f42/686544a3c73f5b187cd97a856837ed2fd055a4443841f55842cd4387-fb06-bd79-cac0-b34aa189b6b0.jpeg>" alt="Southeast Asia commerce trends"><h2>The Overarching Theme: Access, Access, Access</h2><p>Southeast Asia as a region continues to present great opportunities for democratizing access to products, services and basic goods while leveraging uniquely Southeast Asian characteristics.</p><p>The first wave was the emergence of D2C models. Amazon, e-bay, XiaoHongShu and Alibaba are the stalwart names in this space and we saw an explosion of new D2C companies selling everything from sneakers, fashion, beauty and even fresh produce and FMCG goods.</p>
