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In focus
- Who’s actually making money in Southeast Asia’s tech space?
- Singapore adds to the legal troubles of Byju’s founder
- How Shenzhen built a robotics powerhouse
Hello reader,
When I started writing about startups 10 years ago, founders who chased profitability early were frowned upon. Why not “move fast and break things” – as Zuckerberg used to imbibe at Facebook – and chase the numbers to support your business model later?
But after years of trudging through the tech winter, the metrics have shifted. Conversations with investors today reveal that when choosing their next bets, they look at three things: product-market fit, scalability, and profitability.
That last metric has become a key milestone startups are chasing to prove their business models are sustainable – and to attract fresh capital.
Our top story is a comprehensive roundup of startups across the region that have reached either net or EBITDA profitability. In the first quarter of the year, several fintech players reported hitting the milestone, including Indonesian investment platform Pluang and Philippine digital bank Netbank.
Meanwhile, the price of moving too fast and raising too much money may be something few understand better than Byju Raveendran. Singapore has sentenced the founder of Indian edtech giant Byju’s to six months in prison in one of the many legal battles he is facing.
In the fast-moving world of tech, profitability and sustainable growth are how founders play the infinite game.
Elyssa Lopez, journalist
Top Story
A list of profitable startups and tech companies in SEA
Image credit: Arsal Ysfin
Fintech startups dominate the list, with digital banks and wealth management platforms reporting that they turned a profit. Check out our full list of Southeast Asian tech companies that are in the black.
From our archives
Shenzhen’s robot vision challenges Silicon Valley’s AI dream
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