The fact that a Myanmar-based domestic flight OTA, Flymya, won the WiT Startup Pitch in Japan is proof that the startup world is indeed flat, and that while ideas and execution may be local, global is the new playground for all aspiring entrepreneurs.
“At WiT Japan & North Asia, the message was clear – funding today knows no boundaries and investors are not bound by geography. Startups have the opportunity to think global from day one. Global doesn’t mean you have to do business in every market but that you have a global mindset from the start,” said Yeoh Siew Hoon, founder, WiT.
Indicative of this trend, WiT has seen its startup competitions grow to attract submissions from all across the world but of course with a particular focus on the region where it is being held.
For the upcoming Startup Pitch in Singapore, the attraction is the South-east Asia market which is increasingly being eyed by investors from North Asia, as well as the US and Europe. With a population base of more than 641 million, this region is seeing its Internet economy power ahead, helped by the most engaged mobile Internet users in the world.
According to Google’s e-Conomy SEA 2018 report, some US$24 billion has been raised through 2,400 Internet economy deals since 2015; $16 billion was invested in South-east Asia’s nine startup unicorns.
By the end of 2018, the South-east Asian Internet economy was worth US$72 billion, of which $30 billion went to online travel. Projections for 2025 have been upped to US$240billion, US$40 billion more than previously estimated.
“This makes the South-east Asian market hard to ignore for investors and startups,” said Yeoh. “Indonesia is the star market and it is getting crowded but there are still opportunities to be carved out. Then there are the emerging markets of Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia where the market is becoming more competitive but remains wide open for a strong local OTA.”
It is against this backdrop that the WiT Singapore Startup Pitch 2019, powered by Amadeus, will host its next round of hopefuls this October, in conjunction with the WiT Conference (Oct 14-16).
“There are some who say there’s no better time to be a startup – funding is global, technology is accessible and you have your home markets to play in. Then there are those who say it’s the scariest time because competition is formidable and you should think carefully before you dedicate the next 10 years of your life to it.
“But in all the entrepreneurs I have met, there’s this glint in the eye that cannot be dimmed. No matter the odds, it makes the success or failure ever sweeter,” said Siew Hoon. “We look forward to hosting these entrepreneurs this October.”
An impressive list of judges has been lined up for the first virtual judging round to whittle submissions down to 10 semi-finalists who will compete on the WiT Innovation Stage on October 14 for three Grand Finals spots on October 16.
The winner of this year’s Startup Pitch will win a place in the Phocuswright Innovators 2019 programme as well as the opportunity to be enrolled into the SIA Accelerator Programme with up to $150,000 development funding.
Split, a payment platform that allows travellers to pay for their purchases in instalments, was last year’s winner and Dylan Tan, CEO & co-founder, said, “Attending Phocuswright Conference helped put the challenges we are trying solve in South-east Asia into a much larger global context.
“Innovation in other regions comes in various forms, but I was able to take away key learnings and grow my network in travel tech – both these were instrumental factors in us raising our first major round of venture capital investment for Split.”
Send in your entries now for a chance to be heard by a global cast of investors and to be mentored by industry coaches. Deadline for submissions is 16 August 2019.
