Academics in Thailand are hoping to establish a fund to help finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Thailand to the tune of 1 billion baht. The proposed fund is intended to help local companies secure investment in time for the opening of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), which will take place next year....
Thailand and Malaysia are a pair of emerging Asian “Tiger Cub” economies that each have their own system for encouraging foreign investment. To attract foreigners to set up businesses in each country, we have the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) promotion one one side and the Malaysia Labuan Company on the other. Each of...
The first meeting of Thailand’s new Board of Investment (BOI) was held on Wednesday, June 18. After taking over control of the country in a military coup, Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha assumed chairmanship of the new 18-member board. The old BOI had accumulated a backlog of projects awaiting approval. Mirroring the quick action it has...
In Thailand’s western neighbor Myanmar, only 10 percent of the population currently owns a mobile phone. Nevertheless, Qatar based telecom Ooredoo sees this not as an obstacle but rather as an area ripe for incredible growth in the coming years. In order to fulfill this vision, it is launching the Ideabox Startup Incubation Program...
In the 2004 letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet made the comment that we should strive to “be fearful when others are greedy and greedy only when others are fearful.” If that advice resenates with you, it might be a good time to start a company in Thailand. Thailand has recently...
This week I gave a presentation at Webmob led by the organizer Bart who is also the organizer of Bangkok Entrepreneurs and founder of Venuehub Thailand. I gave a presentation based on my experience fundraising in Southeast Asia. If you are looking to raise funds for your company in Asia – check out Horizon.VC...
Singapore based Monk’s Hill Ventures announced their launch with news of a $80 million fund to focus on investing in early stage startups in Southeast Asia. The venture capital firm is brand new, but composed of highly experienced partners Peng T. Ong, Kuo-Yi Lim and Stefan Jung, along with Thomas Clayton as a special...
YogaTrail was founded in 2012 by a husband-wife team who just happen to both be named Alex. They are joined by German partner Sven Ernst, Managing Director of Buzzwoo!, which has operations in Thailand under the BOI company setup. They’ve seen steady growth in their user base since launching last year, and will turn...
Withlocals is a new marketplace for travelers to connect with local people in Asian countries to get a more genuine and unique travel experience. They currently have listings in 7 countries: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam. Users can chose to book with local residents in three areas: Eat Withlocals, Tours...
Dzung Nguyen is the head of Vietnam and Thailand operations at CyberAgent Ventures, which is a subsidiary of CyberAgent Group, which has its headquarters in Japan. He is in charge of venture capital investment in these two Southeast Asian countries, giving support to Vietnamese portfolio companies and seeking opportunities to invest in Thailand startups...