Vietnamese ecommerce looks bright; Indonesian online lending has a dark side

Dear readers,

We continue our in-depth coverage of the action in Southeast Asia.

Last week, we shined the spotlight on a couple of intriguing Vietnamese ecommerce firms. Check out Tiki, which has evolved beyond being Vietnam’s answer to Amazon. There’s also Sendo – which is growing far above expectations.

Will they give regional giants a run for their money?

Tran Hai Linh, CEO and co-founder; Nguyen Dac Viet Dung, chairman; Nguyen Phuong Hoang, deputy CEO / Photo credit: Sendo

Local focus matters as a bulwark against massive funding, provided the underlying economics work. Consider the example of Qoo10 in Singapore, which seems to have held up quite well against rivals. Also, we can’t rule out M&A between these players down the line.

We’ve been consistently giving readers the lay of the land in Vietnam. Track all our coverage here.

Check out some of our favorite pieces on the tech scene in the country:

• Vietnam is shaping up to be Southeast Asia’s next hottest startup ecosystem
• This viral video hitmaker from Vietnam is profitable and worth over $300m
• How Topica overcame early struggles to become Southeast Asia’s biggest edtech firm

Jumping over to Indonesia, we examine the underbelly of its online lending boom, which has seen a number of operators taking advantage of desperate lenders.

We think it’s important to highlight both the positive and negative economic impact of the tech industry.

If you like what you see so far and want us to do more, do consider a subscription. There’s a 1,001 more things we want to do, and we need your support.

In other news, we’re trying out subscriber meetups! Our first one featuring the founder of Sequoia-backed Circles.Life is coming this Wednesday. I hope to see you there.

Finally, check out the rest of our premium content from last week:

• Complete list of tech and startup events in Singapore
• Myanmar lending startup raises series A ahead of fintech boom
• These are the most active investors in Japan’s startups
• Rising startups on Tech In Asia: e-scooters, space debris, and more

Happy reading,

Terence
Chief editor