Starting from 2020, the average year on year increase in the number of Southeast Asian (SEA) sustainability tech companies is 15.23 percent, exceeding the world average of 10.95 percent by 4.3 percentage points, said analysts at Robocash Group on Thursday.
Robocash said in a statement that the annual increase in funding for these companies is 71.1 percent, a 42.9 percentage points lead over the global trend of 28.2 percent.
In 2022, 2135 out of 73,200 sustainable tech companies had been founded in SEA, accounting for 2.92 percent of their total volume in the world.
Their share in total global investment for such companies in Southeast Asia had reached 0.5 percent, coming to $2.15 billon.
Companies in SEA are putting in a lot of effort to ensure that their operations meet international sustainability standards.
This move not only contributes to the overall growth of the industry but also enhances its appeal for foreign capital.
Singapore and Indonesia are the 2022 leaders in the number of sustainability tech companies, with 723 and 402 companies respectively.
However, Vietnam boasts the highest average growth rate of 22.2 percent per year.
Robocash Group analysts said there are potential risks associated with investing in the sustainable technologies.
According to him, it could be a costly endeavour, requiring significant resources in terms of research, technology and human capital.
Additionally, he said there are various regulatory challenges that come with it.
He said that a number of environmental, social and governance (ESG) experts, such as those from Bain & Company, Deloitte, EY or McKinsey, cite the current legislation in the countries of the SEA region as unstable and incomplete, which may result in unpredictability of returns and payback times.
However, he said the progress in sustainability tech should ultimately lead to the reduction in harmful emissions from production and consumption.
This will increase the population’s life expectancy, make people less prone to disease and strengthen the gene pool, he said.
In addition, he said the formation of the sustainability tech industry has a number of economic effects.
These include reducing production costs and saving resources, developing new markets for goods and services, increasing the country’s competitiveness on the world stage, stimulating innovation and technological progress in general.
The analysis is based on data from Tracxn for the following countries: Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Brunei.
Sustainability tech comprises green funds, sustainable E-commerce, agritech, green transport, green energy, eco manufacturing, air, water and waste pollution management, sustainable finance, circular economy, human resources, green buildings.
Robocash Group is a group of companies, which provides FinTech services in Asia and Europe.
Founded in 2013, the group focuses on providing technological finance solutions for the underserved by the traditional banking system.
All products of the group are built completely in-house using artificial intelligence, machine learning and data-driven technologies to provide precise and comprehensive risk management, comfort and speed for customers and efficiency for business.
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