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Hello reader,
One of my favorite games to watch and play right now is Valorant, a first-person shooter with gameplay modeled largely after the hugely successful Counter-Strike series.
The largest competition of the year for Valorant, known as Champions, recently got underway, and one of the biggest names to watch is a team from Southeast Asia known as Paper Rex. It consists of two players from Singapore, two from Indonesia, and one from Malaysia.
What makes Paper Rex such a highlight is that in the previous tournament – which took place a few months ago – the team was not well-known. However, it exploded in popularity after scoring wins against teams from more well-regarded regions like North America and Europe.
Paper Rex narrowly lost in the grand finals, but the team managed to capture the hearts of many viewers with the players’ unusual tactics and humorous personalities.
As someone living in Singapore, I’ve never been more proud. It’s rare that we get to see an esports team from the region do well, much less dominate the competition. The fact that they were considered underdogs and made a crazy run through the tournament nonetheless makes it all the more sweet. Good luck to the team for the ongoing tournament!
Of course, Southeast Asia can’t just be known for its rising star of a Valorant team, can it? In today’s story, we switch our focus back to the startup scene and take a look at the 50 biggest rising names in the region.
Today we look at:
- 50 Southeast Asian startups that are rising through the ranks
- An electric vehicle startup in Indonesia charging up with a US$4.5 million investment
- Other newsy highlights such as Twitter introducing an edit feature and Carro more than doubling its revenue.
— Jonathan
P.S.: We are 100% sold out of Priority Passes for Tech in Asia Conference 2022, but stay tuned – we’re announcing more luncheons, workshops, and other new offers to be included with General Pass tickets!
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