In 2014, Southeast Asia inched towards its first billion dollar exit

People love Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba and China’s richest man. Like other successful entrepreneurs, people hang onto his every word (even if they are of dubious origin), and they’re endlessly fascinated by him. How do we know? Articles featuring Jack Ma tend to do well on Tech in Asia and elsewhere.

And that’s why I chose to lead this article with him. But bear with me – I highlighted Ma for another reason: he is single-handedly propping up China’s startup ecosystem. Aspiring tech moguls can now point their parents to the ex-teacher as proof that their startup isn’t a waste of time. Flooded with money, Ma has reinvested back into startups, creating the fabled virtuous cycle so critical to the ecosystem’s survival.

We are still looking for our Jack Ma in Southeast Asia. And while we were still searching in 2014, we are getting close. Here’s a list of key developments in Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem in the past year and what it may mean for 2015.

1. Rise of the founder-investor

Paul Srivorakul (standing up), co-founder and executive chairman of Ardent Capital, is a founder-investor.

The rhetoric towards venture capitalists lacking startup experience has been unkind. Portrayed as ignorant and fickle-minded vultures with no clue about how the tech industry works, entrepreneurs are clamoring for the day when founder-VCs will save the industry from itself. But facts paint a different picture.

A glance at the top ten investors on Forbes’ Midas List shows only four with startup experience. Another writer looked at the top 50 and found only 34 percent with an entrepreneurial background. The rest were either bankers, management consultants, or tech executives. It’s true that good entrepreneurs do not necessarily make good investors, but it can’t hurt to have more of them in the ecosystem, especially in Southeast Asia where investors and limited partners typically consist of real estate, traditional business, or rent-seeking folks who don’t possess the right mindset to invest in startups.

In 2014, we saw a continuation of a trend from the year before where more entrepreneurs got into the investing game, from the seed stage all the way up to series A. The most prominent example is the founding of Monk’s Hill Ventures in Singapore, spearheaded by Match.com founder Peng Tsin Ong. Garena Venture (yes, that’s how it’s spelled) may be considered another example, though it’s unclear how involved the founders are in the investing. Even entrepreneurs from young companies have time and capital to do a little angel investing on the side – RedMart founders backed Edit Suits, while Thailand’s Ookbee invested in edutech company Taamkru.

We’re just seeing the start of this trend. As a new crop of startups in the region list on the public markets or surpass the US$100 million valuation stage, you can expect to witness an accelerated circulation of talent, expertise, and capital through consolidations, pooling of resources, investments, and commercial deals.

See more: Monk’s Hill raises US$80 million, Edit Suits promotes men’s ecommerce, Ookbee invests in Taamkru

2. Government involvement still strong but shifting