Early-stage investors from Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan share industry insights and advice on how startup founders can accelerate their business growth this year
The past few years have been challenging for businesses, and this trend is set to continue in 2023. Businesses will have to contend with the after-effects of the pandemic as well as economic instability and rapid advancement of technology.
So how can business owners who are looking to raise new funds navigate the headwinds and what are the key industry trends they should look out for this year?
Four venture capitalists from Taiwan, Singapore and Indonesia weigh in with their insights and advice.
Joseph Huang
Partner, Headline Asia
According to Joseph Huang, the sectors to pay attention to this year are e-commerce, fintech and health tech, as the demand for services around online shopping, financial inclusion and healthcare solutions grow in this part of the world. But he sees the biggest area of growth will be in artificial intelligence (AI) and cites ChatGPT's recent rise to the forefront as an example. “Open AI’s ChatGPT has demonstrated its potential to revolutionise the region's fintech industry, affecting retail, trading, government and education.”
As advice for startup founders who plan to raise funds this year, Huang says they must demonstrate the potential for their startups to produce a return on investment even during economic uncertainty. He also suggests startups consider consolidation and aggregation strategies in developing countries to increase liquidity and access to larger IPO markets, which can help them to access funds and expand their business even if there is a recession.
Read more: Davos 2023: Tech entrepreneurs share key takeaways from the WEF annual meeting