Tech in Asia Tour landed in Bangkok. Here are the 4 pitching startups

Thailand’s capital was mercifully not as hot as it could have been, but we got a warm welcome nonetheless in Bangkok at NE8T during this latest stop on our eight-city road to Tech in Asia Tokyo 2015. And we met some exciting startups in the process, one of which will follow us to Japan.

The prize for the top startup in each city is an all-expenses-paid trip to our Tech in Asia Tokyo 2015 conference in September. The winning startup will have the chance to meet potential investors and woo the audience at our Bootstrap Alley, in their free booth. We also tend to have free sandwiches at these things.

In Bangkok, the startups competed for the attention of an expert judges’ panel, consisting of founding partner of Golden Gate Ventures Jeffrey Paine, venture partner at 500 Tuktuks Krating Poonpol, principal evangelist at Builk Patai Padungtin, KK Fund founder and general partner Koichi Sato, and partner at Galaxy Ventures, Adrian Stewart.

Here are the four startups we met in Bangkok, in alphabetical order. Keep on reading to find out the winner.

1. Midas Rezerv

Midas Rezerv uses the blockchain to issue its own MR Coin, a decentralized digital token system backed by gold (the rate is 1 MR Coin = 1 gram of gold). The startup stores the gold bullion assets in third-party, non-bank vaults in Free Trade Zones. The user acquiring the MR Coins can exchange them for cash or items such as jewellery. The founders say the technology can also be applied to silver, platinum, or diamonds, in the same way.

2. Peak Engine

Peak Engine is an online accounting software tool for small- and medium-sized enterprises. It is built to make it easier to wade through the bureaucracy-mired tax system in Thailand. The team has diverse experience in the finance sector, ranging from economics to credit card security.

3. Smipter

Smipter is an online courier and logistics services provider. The startup came up with the model in China, where one of its co-founders spent some time working. Its plan currently revolves around multiple partnerships with drivers and storage space owners to satisfy deliveries.

The team claims its service is already at full capacity, and so it’s looking for ways to grow, along with Thailand’s burgeoning ecommerce environment.

4. Very Local Trip

Very Local Trip is a trip activity booking site. The idea behind it is to use local experts in an area as guides in order to provide authentic travel experiences that don’t feel like your standard packaged tours. It also plans to work with travel agencies to expand its reach.

And the winner is…

Midas Rezerv was the startup the judges finally chose to place their faith in. You can’t lose betting on gold, it seems.

Meet Midas Rezerv and a bunch of exciting startups from all over the continent at Tech in Asia Tokyo 2015, which will be held on September 8 and 9. Tickets are still available for purchase here.

Our next Tour stop is in Tokyo on July 23.

Thank you to our awesome Thai partners