15 biggest tech stories in Southeast Asia in 2016

Before we turn the page to 2017, let’s take a refresher on the most talked about events of this year.

From one startup’s spectacular failure to Alibaba’s shopping spree, here are the top tech stories in Southeast Asia in 2016:

1. Alibaba’s huge Lazada purchase

Alibaba this year bought a US$1 billion controlling stake in Rocket Internet-born Lazada, the largest online department store that’s billed as Alibaba’s and Amazon’s counterpart in Southeast Asia. The deal makes it easier for Alibaba to further expand overseas and hit its goal of getting at least half of its revenue there.

The deal couldn’t have come at a better time.

Southeast Asia holds huge potential with its rising middle class and growing smartphone usage and internet adoption. Yet the region is also a tough nut to crack so having a partner who understands and navigates it well gives Alibaba a legup.

The deal couldn’t have come at a better time: Lazada was reportedly running out of money and didn’t have much luck in its fundraising efforts beginning the previous year.

Nevertheless, experts said its acquisition was a “validation” that the region is very attractive to strategic investors, and it would trigger others to look at Southeast Asia for investments.

2. The Alibaba vs Amazon face-off

Alibaba continued its quest to conquer Southeast Asia with yet another acquisition via Lazada: online grocery provider Redmart.

Redmart was supposedly also a target of Alibaba’s US rival Amazon, which is planning to enter Southeast Asia early next year, according to a TechCrunch report. Amazon is said to be hiring staff and quietly buying assets like refrigerated trucks in the region.

If things push through as planned, a big face-off between the two ecommerce titans will happen soon.

3. Ensogo’s collapse

In June, Ensogo of Catcha Group announced the shutdown of all its ecommerce sites across Southeast Asia and Hong Hong, marking one of the most controversial startup failures this year.

4. Rakuten’s closure in Southeast Asia

5. Grab’s series F funding

6. Go-Jek’s funding

7. Rocket Internet losses

8. Google’s first Southeast Asian acquisition

9. The ugly Grabgas controversy

10. The world’s first driverless taxis

11. The Pokemon Go craze

12. Netflix’s much-awaited launch

13. When Rocket internet sold Foodpanda

14. Garena becomes the most valuable startup

15. Indonesia’s and Malaysia’s battle for Jack Ma