Analysis

Indonesia’s total retail market is on track to cross $300 billion in the next three years, and with e-commerce just reaching $30 billion in 2020, there are still excellent growth prospects. For example, the largest single share of groceries alone makes up over $70 billion, with estimates of online penetration barely crossing 0.5 percent in 2021.

Venture capitalists TechNode Global contacted opined that political issues will have little impact on investors' confidence in Malaysian tech startups. The tech industry in the country will continue to grow due to the ongoing pandemic which has accelerated digitalization.

The ongoing pandemic has helped to accelerate the uptake of BNPL as commerce increasingly moves online and consumers look for alternatives to better manage their finances.

The control on the physical and digital world that you get from your home is unprecedented and as Paul Chaney wrote in Digital Handshake, we are seeing a melding of electronic and face-to-face interactions, which is now accelerated by COVID-19.

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What will it take to realize Indonesia’s potential as the land of unicorns? In a nutshell, it entails a paradigm shift within Indonesia’s startup ecosystem. Instead of fast returns and quick gains, startups, traditional businesses and investors alike should focus on long-term sustainability.

The growing popularity of NFTs shows the increasing appeal and expanding applications of blockchain technology. It also evidences the growing appetite for digital decentralized investments as well as innovative ways to store value and generate gains or revenues from digital assets.

With the economy improving, and an internet and mobile-savvy market, the Philippines is also showing initiatives to encourage and advance the innovation space.

Firms that introduce disruptive technologies in the tailwind industries such as Digital Wallets, Virtual Worlds, and New Retail are poised to thrive, as their solutions will continue to unlock new growth opportunities in existing markets and/or create new markets.

Startups are easy to start, difficult to maintain and extremely hard to grow because of competition. You will need a lot of capital investment to fuel your startup engine. This sparks the question of the relevance of these options based on the entrepreneur(s) and startup(s) involved.