7 predictions for Southeast Asia's tech scene in 2017

2016 was the year of Brexit and Trump, and the year Uber exited China

2016 ended, and it came with some unexpected surprises.? Everyone has been asking, “What will happen in 2017?

1. Southeast Asia will become a bigger internet market than America

The ASEAN region will register over 300 million smartphone users in 2017, compared to America which only has 225 million. What that means is that every global app or service you can think of (email, social media, chat, etc.) has more users in Southeast Asia than in all of America. What this also means is that internet companies in our part of the world can – and should – be bigger than our US counterparts in time!

2. Funding will be harder to get – so conserve what you have
 

In 2017, fundraising is going to get harder for most companies. Recent news items talking about a tough VC climate, flat rounds, and a challenging fundraising environment are correct. The money is out there, but investors and VCs are going to be a lot more demanding on the caliber of companies worthy of further funding. Simply closing funding based on increases in revenue when your unit economics remain negative isn’t going to cut it. If you don’t know your CAC intimately (or even what it is), you have no chance of raising further funding (whereas 12 months ago you could, because even then, most VCs didn’t know what it was either!).

3. At least three companies will raise 9-figure rounds ($100 million+)

2017 will be the year of big funding rounds for a select few companies that are creating massive disruption. Go-Jek and Grab were not one-offs in 2016. We really are in a region creating great massive companies. Smart entrepreneurs will scale quickly requiring that next funding boost to wipe out the competition (most often, from outside the region).

This is an excerpt from Tech in Asia. You can read the full article here