Yimie Yong

To date, Pace has over 5,000 points-of-sale across the Asia region and is on track to meet its goal of 1 million users by the end of 2022. Pace also aims to have an annualized Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) of $1 billion by end 2022.

Gojek had acquired the stake in 2019 when it plans to expand into the Philippines.

Grab operates across almost 500 cities in eight countries in Southeast Asia. Its operations include ride-hailing, food and grocery delivery services, digital payments, lending, insurance, wealth management among others.

The company is gauging interest from potential investors, one of the people said. The startup had been weighing a $1 billion Hong Kong initial public offering after preparations for a US debut stalled.

Southeast Asia super app Grab and Sea Ltd’s e-commerce platform Shopee have started providing BNPL options in Malaysia since last year. Advance Intelligence Group’s Atome, Pine Labs’ Fave, Allectus Capital-backed Hoolah, 500 Startup-backed Split are among the FinTech startups that provide such services in the country.

Consortiums partnering with financial institutions and e-wallet operators will have an upper hand in securing a digital banking license in Malaysia, according to analysts.

Shopee reportedly said in its statement it would work "to support local seller and buyer communities and our local team to make the process as smooth as possible".

FinTech will continue to be one of the hottest sectors in Southeast Asia after investors pumped record amounts into the region’s FinTech firms last year.

Indonesia is one of the world top-10 markets by the number of users for social media firms including Youtube, TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Whatsapp. Indonesia is also the world's fourth most populous country.

In Part 2, we focus on the challenges faced by drone tech startups, the Malaysia government’s initiatives to support the industry and some suggestions from drone tech companies.