Dear readers,
Last week, two people I met on the same day assumed that I’m the founder of Tech in Asia. I do get that a lot, which isn’t surprising considering that I’m constantly writing and publishing.
But the truth is that I joined the company as employee number thirty-something. Far from starting the company, I rode on its blistering growth.
Our founder is none other than Willis Wee, who’s focused on being a CEO and dad rather than maintaining a social media presence.
This brings me to my main point today: Often, the most significant or groundbreaking things aren’t the most visible.
As journalists, it’s also our job to bring to the surface hidden stories that truly matter. And we did just that last week.
Although news that ex-Lazada CEO Pierre Poignant has raised US$150 million for his new venture made headlines, we dug deeper to uncover what he’s really trying to do.
His company is part of a new wave of firms that run behind the scenes to acquire and grow ecommerce businesses by taking advantage of economies of scale and shared expertise.
Another big story was the sale of Singapore-based Lomotif for a large chunk of cash.
The deal raised eyebrows because the startup was suddenly revealed to be worth US$125 million despite being mostly invisible. Few in Singapore have heard of the app, which is similar to TikTok. That said, Lomotif has quietly racked up millions of active users.
So we thought it would be a good idea to narrate the startup’s journey up to and following the sale.
Here are more subscriber-only stories that we published last week:
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