SEA

The theme of CIS 2023, "Accelerating Growth While Saving the World," highlights the importance of sustainable development for businesses, countries, and the region. It goes beyond simply applying technology and innovation to achieve exponential business growth, and instead focuses on developing businesses while concurrently fostering sustainability.

Peak XV’s rapid scale-up program Surge has on Monday launched its ninth cohort of early-stage startups featuring 32 inspiring founders across 13 startups. Surge’s curated community of startups now includes nine cohorts, 330+ founders and 140+ startups across 16+ sectors in less than five years.

United States-listed payment firm PayPal Holdings, Inc. has on Thursday announced that it has invested in Sweef Capital's Southeast Asia Women's Economic Empowerment Fund (SWEEF) and Quona Opportunity Fund to support their shared mission to advance women's inclusion in the global economic and financial system.

CompareAsia Group Capital (MoneyHero), a financial products platform in Greater Southeast Asia, has completed its previously announced business combination with Bridgetown, a special purpose acquisition company formed as a collaboration between Pacific Century Group and Thiel Capital Thiel Capital. The completion of the business combination values…

Southeast Asia has a lot of potential with governments looking to boost EV adoption with aggressive targets, VinFast Chief Executive Officer Le Thi Thu Thuy said.

Vietnam’s Green and Smart Mobility JSC. (GSM) has imported 150 VinFast electric cars into the Lao market in preparation to launch its electric taxi service under the brand Green SM. Green SM plans to introduce its electric taxi services in Laos by 2023, with 1,000 VF 5 Plus and VF e34 electric cars making up its fleet.

Society Pass Inc. (SoPa), the Southeast Asia’s (SEA) next generation, data-driven, loyalty, fintech and e-commerce ecosystem, has announced an equity line of up to $40 million to invest into operating subsidiaries projected to go public in 2024.

TikTok has recently come under scrutiny in Southeast Asia. Last week, Indonesia's government has halted transactions on its platform following a ban on e-commerce trade on social media.

In the interview, 917Venture Head of Ideation and Acceleration Glenn Estrella also shared PetPal’s short-term and long-term plans, the potential and opportunities the company sees in the pet care market in the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia, among others.

In Southeast Asia, about 70 percent of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) started their business with seed money raised from their personal savings and from family and friends’ financial support, said a report published by Funding Societies, a Southeast Asia’s unified SME digital finance platform.