Southeast Asia is booming. Where are the opportunities?

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Hello readers,

If I had known I would be working from home for 3/4 of this year, I would have started a gaming chair business, just so I can stop ogling at US$800 chairs every week, ship myself one at cost price, and make a ton of money reselling them. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen since I’m no Doctor Strange.

But we here at Tech in Asia have another superpower of our own: We’ve identified the biggest opportunities for startups and investors in Southeast Asia in the next decade.

Today we look at:

• The key verticals that would shake up Southeast Asia in the next 10 years
• Gojek proclaiming that it’s generating positive gross margins
• Other newsy highlights such as Indonesia’s courting of Tesla for an investment and Zuoyebang’s 50 million user growth in the past year

PREMIUM SUMMARY

These verticals are poppin’ in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia is hot in the eyes of investors, because holy smokes: In 2019 alone, at least US$7.7 billion was invested into the region’s startups. But the big question is, what are the verticals that would come up on top in the next decade?

• Logistics and transportation: And it’s not just because of Gojek and Grab. This sector still remains largely inefficient with its opaque pricing, door-to-door inquiries, and spreadsheet-reliant operations. One of the few trends we highlighted in the report: Upstream logistics solutions.
• Ecommerce: This industry doesn’t need any introduction. I mean, just take a look at Shopee’s reportedly 200 million monthly active users across the region. But aside from the typical B2C marketplaces, offline commerce, B2B commerce, and social commerce could also become huge.
• Content: With 655 million people in Southeast Asia who are increasingly digital and mobile-first, this industry is going to be huge. The online video industry alone in the Asia Pacific is estimated to reach US$50 billion in revenue in 2024. In the next few years, we would likely see more homegrown content and acquisitions made.

Dive deeper into the five other top verticals as well as the other challenges: As Southeast Asia enters a golden age, here are the key opportunities

NEWS SPOTLIGHT

Gojek close to profitability?

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