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Hi there,
We used to get one hour of computer time in school three times a week, during which my friends and I would play games on Facebook.
Back then, Facebook’s API was quite open, and there were hundreds of games built around it. In a way, Facebook had created an ecosystem where startups were capitalizing on its API.
Zynga, currently valued at US$12.8 billion, was one of the many successful companies emerging from that ecosystem. Now, something similar is happening again, but this time, it’s not a single platform nurturing the ecosystem, but a technology – generative AI.
Everyone seems to be building AI “wrapper” companies – firms that build on top of existing foundational AI models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard.
While VCs in India are still contemplating whether to invest in such generative AI projects, 40% to 50% of the companies Y Combinator (YC) has invested in this year are AI wrapper companies focused on one vertical, said Gary Tan, CEO of YC.
In this week’s big story, my colleague Melissa also highlights a key question that Tan addressed during a recent Tech in Asia event: Why has YC backed fewer startups in Southeast Asia and India in the past two years? Besides this, Tan shared more plans YC had in store.
In our second Big Story, Emmanuel features Erth, a Malaysia-based startup that has built a profitable business by paying people for their electronic waste and sending it for recycling. The Gobi Partner-backed firm is now ramping up plans to expand in the country and region.
As for Token Issue, I discuss the Sam Bankman-Fried courtroom saga and the upto 120 years of prison sentence he could receive.
— Lokesh
THE BIG STORIES
1️⃣ Decline in YC funding to SEA firms ‘not intentional’: CEO Garry Tan
Image credit: Made by Tech in Asia using Midjourney
The VC firm may have funded fewer startups in Southeast Asia in the last two years, but its CEO has a message for founders here: It’s open for business.
TOKEN ISSUE
FYI
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
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