Mr. Nuttapon pointed out that Thai startups have the potential to expand internationally, although they still lack sufficient support.
Thailand recorded $300 million in private financing in the first half of 2022, up from $200 million in the same period a year earlier, according to an Asean internet economy report from Google, Temasek and Bain & Company.
The “e-Conomy SEA 2022” report, however, showed that 42 deals were completed in the first half, compared to 59 in the same period a year earlier.
The report indicates that deal value is on the rise, driven by several large Series C investments in the digital financial services (DFS) and e-commerce segments.
According to the report, Asean continues to benefit from robust technology funding, despite investors becoming more cautious in the macro environment, with the average note size increasing by 13% year-on-year in the first half of 2022.
The report shows that venture capital (VC) funds remain invested in the region, with $15 billion in investments in 2021.
Early-stage investments are thriving, but late-stage investments are on a downward trend, affected by weak IPO prospects.
The report shows that Singapore and Indonesia remain top investment destinations in 2022, while Vietnam and the Philippines are seeing increasing long-term interest from investors.
In the first half of this year, DFS overtook e-commerce as the region’s top investment sector.
DFS saw private funding value of $4 billion in the first half, with payments retaining the lion’s share of transaction activity.
The report showed that more than 80% of VCs surveyed plan to focus more on health technology, software as a service (SaaS) and Web 3.0, while enthusiasm for information technology is getting colder.
Meanwhile, according to Techsauce Startup Directory, as of October 26, Thai startups had received $530 million in funding across 35 deals in 2022, already surpassing last year, when $312 million was invested in 60 deals. transactions. In 2020, some $484 million was paid out in 36 deals.
Sarun Sutuntivorakoon, chairman of the Thai Venture Capital Association, said the upgrade of food delivery operator Line Man Wongnai to become a unicorn with new funding, alongside other major deals, showed that the Thailand was still an attractive investment destination despite economic headwinds.
Startups must now focus on increasing revenue and reducing expenses, rather than focusing on energy-intensive growth.
“We see business-to-business ventures and startups that have the potential to expand internationally,” Sarun said.
Yutthana Srisavat, president of the Thai Startup Trade Association, said a survey conducted by the association showed that 70% of local startups surveyed rated access to capital as the biggest concern, followed by lack of tech talent. (40%), lack of a business model that can generate revenue (35%), and insufficient time to grow during the scale period (34%).
In Young Chung, chief financial officer of Line Man Wongnai, said local startups could face a tough time over the next 18 months as investors become more selective, with a focus on startups that have profitability plans.
Nuttapon Nimmanphatcharin, chairman of the Digital Economy Promotion Agency (Depa), said many Thai startups had the potential to expand internationally, but still lacked support.
The government must be proactive, adapt to changing markets and collaborate with the private sector to propel these potential startups, he noted.
Depa and its VC partners recently invested 90 million baht in Series A+ funding for Globish Academia (Thailand), a local edtech startup, which is the largest direct investment by a government agency, Nuttapon added.
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