A founding partner of a venture capital firm said Southeast Asia’s e-commerce ecosystem is still at a “very, very nascent stage” and that many more business models and companies will be built in the region.
“We are talking about single-digit digital penetration rather than overall commerce penetration,” Amit Anand of Jungle Ventures, a Southeast Asian company, told CNBC.Squawk Box Asia” on Thursday.
When asked about competition between likes grab, Sea And go for As for the center of the region’s e-commerce market, he said: “I think they’re still in the opening act of this movie.”
“In no way do I think the success or failure of an enterprise is going to determine the outcome of the industry as a whole.”
Jungle Ventures announced Thursday It raised $600 million to invest in start-ups, more $1 billion in assets under management. This makes them “the first independent, Singapore-headquartered VC firm investing in Southeast Asia and India to reach this milestone,” according to the company.
‘Power of the Internet’
At least 40 million people became new Internet users in 2020 in six countries across the region – Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand, the report said.
The trend of the younger demographic will continue in the “100%, 120% online” sector, Anand said.
“And Covid is only driving more and more consumers, more and more enterprises to work on the Internet.”
For example, social commerce has “huge” potential compared to traditional e-commerce, Anand said. Social commerce involves the use of social media websites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to promote and sell products and services.
“We haven’t even touched its surface … the region has been a very fragmented and diverse geography.”
“And if you want to get the power of the Internet in every nook and corner of the region, partnering with those local influencers, those local agents, and bringing technology to them is the way to go,” he said.
do not hurry?
with high interest rates, inflation and a possible recessionAnand said that three of his companies have postponed their IPO plans. However, the companies will “definitely” go public in the “mid to long term”, he said.
“The promise of being the CEO of a publicly listed company and the benefits that come with it is certainly more appealing than its effort,” he explained.
“It is very promising that tech companies in this sector can do both local and global IPOs.”
Anand said Jungle Ventures’ advice to its companies is not to return to the market recently instability And supply side constraints,
“We’re seeing a somewhat bigger correction … if they can, they should look at it a little bit more before the market comes back so they have a little bit more predictability,” he said.
“Our overall guidance for entrepreneurs in this sector would be that, this is going to be a supply-side-constrained market and [if there is] There is a need to increase the supply, they need to focus more in their efforts.”