Is the era of the super app officially over in SEA?

This article summarizes an episode of SEA of Startups’s video series featuring Indelible Ventures managing partner Kevin Brockland

Kevin Brockland runs Kuala Lumpur-based seed-stage fund Indelible Ventures / Photo credit: Kevin Brockland

Kevin Brockland, managing partner of Indelible Ventures and Kim Yeoh, host of SEA of Startups, analyze a shift in Southeast Asia. They argue the region is moving beyond consumer apps to build foundational global infrastructure.

The market is maturing from adapting outside ideas to originating its own. For decision-makers, this signals a pivot in where value is created. The focus is moving from user acquisition to the underlying technology that enables entire digital economies.

The era of chasing the next super app is over

The battleground for innovation has moved. Talent and capital are migrating from consumer-facing products to the essential infrastructure layer. This reflects a realignment towards building the foundational “rails” that will power future services and economies.

The venture focus has shifted.
Both Brockland and Yeoh believe defensible value is no longer found in another user-facing dashboard but in the underlying “plumbing” and “rails” that applications run on.

Brockland outlines the strategy for this pivot, stating, “if you move backwards and get more into the infrastructure layer of what enables a business, you can open up a lot more green space in how you monetize as opposed to just being on the downstream side.”

Value is now in the invisible layer.
Yeoh adds, “we’re seeing a maturity in the ecosystem. It’s a move from building on top of existing platforms to building the platforms themselves. Founders are asking how to own a piece of the core protocol, not just the application that uses it. That’s where the durable enterprise value is.”

Southeast Asia now exports infrastructure

This infrastructure-first model positions the region as a technology exporter instead of a consumer. Companies like Airalo, a startup valued over a billion dollars that focuses on virtual SIM cards, are creating global platforms from Southeast Asia. This reverses the traditional flow of technology from West to East.

The region is building for the world.
Yeoh explains, “look at Airalo. It’s not just a travel app; it’s global telco infrastructure masquerading as one. They are fundamentally rewiring how connectivity is provisioned and sold. This isn’t a Southeast Asian company for Southeast Asia. It’s a global infrastructure player that happens to be based here. From SIM cards to APIs, the region is now an exporter.”

This creates a new competitive dynamic.
Brockland points out this represents a profound shift. For decades, the playbook was to take a western model and adapt it for a local market. Yeoh highlights companies like Arta Finance, a digital wealth manager building what she calls the “AWS of wealth management” out of Singapore, as an example of building new rails for a global audience from day one.

Development is becoming a commodity

This new infrastructure layer has consequences for innovation. The rise of no-code platforms, which allow people to build software without writing code, and “vibe coding,” a term for rapidly assembling applications from pre-built components, democratizes access to technology. However, it also risks creating a homogenous startup environment.

Innovation is being abstracted away.
Yeoh argues, “we are seeing the commoditization of development. With ‘vibe coding,’ a small team can spin up a functional product in a weekend. The upside is speed. The downside is that if everyone is using the same building blocks, where is the deep, defensible innovation? If one platform powers every MVP, differentiation becomes a serious problem.”

Freemium tools are potential lock-in traps

This reliance on third-party platforms creates strategic risk for founders. While freemium models, which offer a basic product for free with paid advanced features, accelerate early development, they can evolve into dependency traps. Startups may find their margins and technical autonomy eroded by vendors they cannot easily replace.

Founders must master strategic optionality