Will Tencent’s approach to super apps work for Sea Group?

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If you look at the Google Scholar landing page, there’s a quote at the bottom that says, “Stand on the shoulders of giants.” Looking to those who have come before is a great source of inspiration, particularly in the face of challenges or when navigating unknown territory. After all, if someone has done something that has achieved the results you want, it would make sense to follow their approach in the hopes of seeing similar success.

Southeast Asian tech giant Sea Group wants to become a regional super app, and when we talk about super apps, China’s big tech companies are the perfect case study.

Today we look at,

• How Tencent built its super-app empire (and what Sea could take away from it)
• An Indonesian startup that certainly isn’t going hungry
• Other newsy highlights such as Gojek’s plans to go green and Waterdrop’s plans for an initial public offering

PREMIUM SUMMARY

The key elements behind Tencent’s super-app success

Southeast Asian internet giant Sea Group seems to be gearing up to build its own super-app empire, with the launch of its new US$1 billion fund called Sea Capital. And as it figures out how to do this, China’s Tencent could prove to be the roadmap.

• Fingers in many pies: Tencent’s investment arm has been going strong since 2008. It backed more than 163 startups in 2020, amounting to US$12 billion in investments, and currently has over 1,200 companies in its portfolio, which includes at least a hundred publicly listed companies. Its “shotgun” investing approach means it takes minority stakes in companies from wide-ranging verticals and lets them operate in relative independence.
• All about the ecosystem: For Tencent, strategic partnerships are more about the ecosystem rather than financial gains. The crown jewel of its ecosystem is messaging platform WeChat, and the platform’s strategic partnerships and mini apps mean that users can get everything they need – think ride-hailing, food delivery, ecommerce, and everything in between – through WeChat.
• Same same, but maybe different: Sea could adopt the same shotgun approach as Tencent in order to grow its ecosystem and expand its reach as a super app. But Southeast Asia is a unique market in itself, and what worked in China may not necessarily work here.

Read more: Sea Group wants to build a super-app empire. Here’s how Tencent did it

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