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211006 Credit Suisse ASEAN Unicorns

ASEAN Unicorns
Scaling new heights
ASEAN Equity Research, 05 October 2021
Research Analysts
Varun Ahuja, Kylie Wan, Dan Fineman, Danny Goh, Nicholas Teh, Andri Ngaserin, Hazel Tanedo, Farhan Rizvi
DISCLOSURE APPENDIX AT THE BACK OF THIS REPORT CONTAINS IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES, ANALYST
CERTIFICATIONS, LEGAL ENTITY DISCLOSURE AND THE STATUS OF NON-US ANALYSTS. U.S. Disclosure: Credit Suisse
does and seeks to do business with companies covered in its research reports. As a result, investors should be aware that the Firm
may have a conflict of interest that could affect the objectivity of this report. Investors should consider this report as only a single
factor in making their investment decision.
Contents
CS ASEAN Research teams ..................................................................... 3
9
Focus charts ............................................................................................. 4
Scaling new heights: ASEAN’s 35 unicorns ............................................. 5
List of ASEAN Unicorns ............................................................................ 7
Reaching take-off speed .......................................................................... 9
A virtuous cycle spawning entrepreneurship and successful startups ...... 15
Key enablers: PE/VC funding, strong demographics, supportive
regulations .............................................................................................. 19
ASEAN digital economy has witnessed an acceleration due to COVID-19 . 24
15
e-commerce: Propelled by migration to digital ........................................... 24
EdTech: Long runway of growth ahead ..................................................... 26
Logistics: Riding the coattails of e-commerce............................................ 29
Deliveries and mobility: “A tale of two halves” ............................................ 32
Digital healthcare at an inflection point ...................................................... 35
Fintech: Propelled by structural and behavioural changes ........................... 37
List of firms ............................................................................................. 40
Indonesia .......................................... 41 Singapore ......................................... 72
Akulaku ............................................. 42 Acronis .............................................. 73
Blibli .................................................. 45 Advance Intelligence Group ................. 75
GoTo ................................................. 46
Carousell ........................................... 77
JD.ID ................................................ 49
Carro ................................................ 79
J&T Express ...................................... 50
HyalRoute ......................................... 81
OVO.................................................. 52
JustCo .............................................. 83
Ruangguru ......................................... 54
Lazada .............................................. 85
Sicepat .............................................. 56
Matrixport .......................................... 87
Tiket.com .......................................... 58
Moglix ............................................... 89
Traveloka ........................................... 60
Ninja Van .......................................... 91
Xendit ............................................... 61
Malaysia ............................................ 63
AirAsia Digital..................................... 64
NIUM ................................................ 93
Carsome ............................................ 65
Secretlab ........................................... 99
PatSnap ............................................ 95
PropertyGuru ..................................... 97
edotco ............................................... 67 Trax ................................................ 101
The Philippines.................................. 69 Thailand .......................................... 103
Mynt.................................................. 70 Ascend Money ................................. 104
Flash Express .................................. 106
Lineman Wongnai ............................ 108
Vietnam ........................................... 110
VNG Corporation (VNG) ................... 111
Vietnam Payment Solutions (VNPay) . 113
2
19
24
CS ASEAN Research teams
Indonesia
Singapore
Andri Ngaserin, Head of Indonesia Research (Banks, Energy,
Metals & Mining)
andri.ngaserin@credit-suisse.com
Nicholas Teh, Head of Singapore Research (Banks, REITs)
nicholas.teh@credit-suisse.com
Deidy Wijaya (Consumer Staples, Healthcare, Retailing)
deidy.wijaya@credit-suisse.com
Gregorius Gary (Banks)
gregorius.gary@credit-suisse.com
Mega Bong (Consumer Staples, Retailing)
mega.bong@credit-suisse.com
Robert Pranata (Automobiles & Components, Building Materials
& Construction, Metals & Mining, Real Estate, Telecom Services)
robert.pranata@credit-suisse.com
Samuel Pratama (Agricultural Products & Agribusiness, Metals &
Mining, Transport, Utilities)
samuel.pratama@credit-suisse.com
Kylie Wan (ASEAN Internet, Banks, Telecom)
kylie.wan@credit-suisse.com
Louis Chua (Real Estate, REITs, Transport)
louis.chua@credit-suisse.com
Shaun Tan (Capital Goods, Conglomerates, Consumer Staples,
Retailing, Tech Hardware, Utilities)
shaun.tan@credit-suisse.com
Terence Lee (REITs)
terence.lee.2@credit-suisse.com
Varun Ahuja (Asia Internet, IT/ITES services, Telecom)
varun.ahuja@credit-suisse.com
Steven Ho (Healthcare, Media, Software & Services)
steven.ho@credit-suisse.com
Malaysia
Thailand
Danny Goh, Head of Malaysia Research (Banks, Capital
Goods, Diversified Financials)
danny.goh@credit-suisse.com
Dan Fineman, Head of Thailand Research (APAC Equities
Strategy)
dan.fineman@credit-suisse.com
Amanda Foo (Consumer Staples, Healthcare, Media)
amanda.foo@credit-suisse.com
Kwanwaree Apichartsataporn (Real Estate)
kwanwaree.apichartsataporn@credit-suisse.com
Danny Chan (Conglomerates, Energy, Hotels, Restaurants &
Leisure, Tech Hardware, Transport)
danny.chan@credit-suisse.com
Paworamon (Poom) Suvarnatemee (Building Materials &
Construction, Chemicals, Energy)
paworamon.suvarnatemee@credit-suisse.com
Jae Ang (Capital Goods)
jae.ang@credit-suisse.com
Siriporn Sothikul (Banks, Capital Goods, Healthcare, Hotels,
Restaurants & Leisure, Media, Transport, Thai Strategy)
siriporn.sothikul@credit-suisse.com
Joanna Cheah (Consumer Staples, Healthcare, Real Estate,
Retailing, Transport, Utilities)
joanna.cheah@credit-suisse.com
Thaniya Kevalee (Banks, Capital Goods, Healthcare, Hotels,
Restaurants & Leisure, Media, Transport)
thaniya.kevalee@credit-suisse.com
Warayut Luangmettakul (Consumer Staples, Diversified Financials,
Media, Real Estate, Retailing, Telecom Services, Transport)
warayut.luangmettakul@credit-suisse.com
The Philippines
Vietnam
Hazel Tanedo, Head of Philippines Research (Capital Goods,
Commercial Services & Supplies, Conglomerates, Consumer Staples,
Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure, Retailing, Utilities)
hazel.tanedo@credit-suisse.com
Farhan Rizvi, Head of Asia Frontier Research (Consumer
Staples, Real Estate, Retailing, Software & Services)
farhan.rizvi@credit-suisse.com
Danielo Picache (Banks, Real Estate)
danielo.picache@credit-suisse.com
Justin Cimafranca (Hotels, Restaurants & Leisure, Capital Goods)
justin.cimafranca@credit-suisse.com
Micaela Abaquita (Energy)
micaela.abaquita@credit-suisse.com
Ha Ngo (Consumer Staples, Real Estate, Retailing, Software &
Services)
ha.ngo@credit-suisse.com
Kim Nguyen (Conglomerates, Consumer Durables & Apparel,
Metals & Mining)
kim.nguyen@credit-suisse.com
ASEAN Unicorns
3
Focus charts
Figure 1: SE Asia PE deal value has largely exceeded
that of IPO since 2014…
Figure 2: ...supporting the growth of unicorns in ASEAN
(US$ bn)
19
20
17
15
13
10
7
6
6
6
6
7
6
8
10
14
12
8
5
by year unicorn status was achieved
16
13
12
Companies (public & private) sorted
18
17
7
9
5
12
10
8
6
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
IPO
SE Asia PE deal value
5
4
4
2010
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
1
2
2
2
1
4
1
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Source: Bain, Dealogic, SVCA
Source: CB insights, DealStreet Asia, company data, Credit Suisse
Figure 3: Sectoral breakdown—Fintech and e-commerce
lead the pack
Figure 4: Strong company formation trends over the past
decade—77% of companies launched in 2011-20
Fintech
3%
e-commerce
3% 3%
6%
26%
Logistics
Diversified internet
Technology
14%
6%
2000-05
2006-10
6%
OTA
2011-15
Real estate tech
Telecommunication
9%
17%
8%
2016-20
Consumers
20%
8%
Food Delivery
60%
11%
Source: CB insights, Dealsreet Asia, company data, Credit Suisse
Source: CB insights, Dealsreet Asia, company data, Credit Suisse
Figure 5: Penetration of consumer services (online/financial)
in ASEAN remains low, while mobile internet is improving
Figure 6: The rise in number of millionaires can spur
entrepreneurship
e-commerce
penetration (2020)
Smartphone
penetration (2020)
e-wallet
penetration (2020)
13%
Debit card
penetration (2020)
7%
4G penetration
(2020)
4%
Banking
penetration (2017)
3%
Credit card
penetration (2020)
1%
Ride hailing
penetration (2020)
50%
Source: BIS, Euromonitor, IMDA, IMF, McKinsey, MCMC, World Bank,
company data, Credit Suisse estimates
4
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Increase of 289k in last 5 years
77
65
76
93
116
122
158
205
192
233
322
350
445
435
424
420
455
541
601
674
68% 71%
('000)
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
91%
Online grocery
penetration (2020)
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
709
EdTech
Indonesia
Thailand
Malaysia
Vietnam
Source: CS Research Institute
Philippines
A-6
Singapore
Scaling new heights: ASEAN’s 35
unicorns
ASEAN’s public markets have yet to provide as much support for startups as seen in other regions, but for
several years private money has taken note of the underlying opportunities in ASEAN’s massive,
underpenetrated TAM. We believe public markets will soon be following the private lead and that Tech+
start-ups can realise the potential of an integrated ASEAN market in ways other sectors have not.
Reaching take-off speed
The number of unicorns in ASEAN has continued to increase
over the last 2-3 years, now adding up to 35 unicorns. While
the sectoral split of the ASEAN unicorns is more diversified,
the country mix is unsurprisingly skewed towards Singapore
and Indonesia, which account for ~74% of the companies. By
sectors, Fintech leads the pack, accounting for 26% of the
companies followed by e-commerce (20%), logistics (11%),
and diversified internet (8%). Most of the unicorns in ASEAN
have consumer led business models (B2C) with very few
companies in the B2B space.
Many unicorns have been launched over the last decade:
77% of the unicorns were formed after 2010 with ~60% of
the companies being formed during 2011-15, highlighting
the accelerated pace of new company formation.
A virtuous cycle spawning entrepreneurship and
successful start-ups
It has historically been a challenge to foster integration
across ASEAN-6’s large and ethnically diverse population,
thus making it difficult to cultivate regional players. However,
companies are now capitalising on these differences to
succeed through “hyperlocalisation” strategies.
Many of the region’s startup founders/co-founders are
alumni of other successful startups/tech companies. The
ecosystem will continually expand as second gen
entrepreneurs increasingly launch their own companies,
which in turn attracts more first gen entrepreneurs inspired
by the former’s success.
Further, SE Asia is still armed with significant dry powder
sitting uninvested, while exit momentum is picking up. The
pipeline for exits is healthier than ever with an increasing
number of options being presented for exit opportunities in
ASEAN amidst a global environment flush with exceptional
levels of liquidity.
Key enablers: PE/VC funding, strong demographics,
and supportive regulations
The middle class has been on the rise, driven by a
consistent increase in GDP per capita over the last decade.
With Indonesia and the Philippines, approaching ‘middle
income country’ status (World Bank definition: GNI per
capita of US$4,046 and above) over the next few years, the
macroeconomic tail wind should continue.
Smartphone penetration in the ASEAN-6 reached >100%
in 2020, led by Singapore and Thailand, while 4G
penetration ranges from 68-135% and is expected to
increase further, led by Indonesia and Philippines.
A surge in PE flows has been witnessed over the last
decade in ASEAN-6, with PE deal value exceeding IPO
since 2014. A large amount of PE activity has historically
centered on Singapore and Indonesia while Malaysia and
Vietnam have also witnessed increased activity of late.
ASEAN Digital economy has witnessed an
acceleration due to COVID-19
E-commerce and Fintech have generated significant investor
interest, with e-commerce being one of the earliest risers
and fastest growing sectors within the ASEAN internet
economy. Fintech is still relatively nascent given that
25%/50% of the region’s adult population remains
underbanked/unbanked, but the COIVD-19 pandemic has
accelerated the adoption of digital financial services.
Logistics has been riding the e-commerce wave as COVID19 mobility restrictions drove consumers and merchants to
online platforms, resulting in a much larger volume of
parcels in circulation. Deliveries have also witnessed a surge
in usage amidst movement restrictions as consumers take to
online channels for meals and groceries. Demand for
Mobility dampened when work-from-home became the norm,
though a rebound is expected post-pandemic.
For HealthTech, a shift in age demographics coupled with a
growing chronic disease burden will drive ASEAN’s future
demand for healthcare. EdTech is still relatively nascent with
online learning platforms yet to leverage technology to reach
the highest levels of sophistication. Thus, the sector has a
long runway ahead for new innovative solutions to emerge.
39-65% of the respective ASEAN-6 countries’ populations
are below the age of 34, while ~242 mn of the total
ASEAN-6 population (led by Indonesia and the Philippines)
will enter the 25+ year age group and join the workforce
over the next 15 years.
ASEAN Unicorns
5
“
Most of the 35 unicorns were
launched over the last decade, and are
skewed towards Singapore and
Indonesia, while Fintech leads in terms
of sectoral split followed by e-commerce,
logistics, and diversified internet.
6
List of ASEAN Unicorns
Sector
Valuation
Source (Link)
Akulaku
Fintech
~US$1.1 bn (2019)
Dealroom.co
Blibli
e-commerce
>US$1 bn (2021)
Daily Social
GoTo
Diversified Internet
~US$18 bn (2021)
KrAsia
JD.ID
e-commerce
>US$ 1bn (2019)
Tempo
J&T Express
Logistics
US$7.8 bn (2021)
Straits Times
OVO
Fintech
US$2.9 bn (2019)
Straits Times
Ruangguru
Education
~US$800 mn (2021)
Dealroom.co
Sicepat
Logistics
~US$723 mn-1.1bn (2021)
Dealroom.co
Tiket.com
OTA
>US$1 bn (2021)
Bloomberg
Traveloka
OTA
~US$2.75 bn (2020)
Pymnts
Xendit
Fintech
~US$1 bn (2021)
TechCrunch
AirAsia Digital
Diversified Internet
~US$1 bn (2021)
Company
Carsome
e-commerce (car sales)
US$1.3 bn (2021)
Straits Times
edotco
Telecommunication (Towers)
US$2.0-2.2 bn (2020)
Reuters
Fintech
~US$1 bn (2021)
ABS-CBN
Acronis
Technology—Software
US$2.5 bn (2021)
Business Times
Advance Intelligence Group
Fintech
US$2 bn (2021)
Business Times
Carousell
e-commerce
US$1.1 bn (2021)
CNBC
Carro
e-commerce (car sales)
>US$1 bn (2021)
Forbes
HyalRoute
Telecommunication (fibre)
US$3.5 bn (2020)
Failory
JustCo
Real estate tech
US$1 bn (2020)
Business Times
Lazada
e-commerce
US$3.15 bn (2017)
Business Times
Matrixport
Fintech
US$1 bn (2021)
Business Times
Moglix
e-commerce (Industrial Supplies)
US$1 bn (2021)
TechCrunch
Ninja Van
Logistics
>US$1 bn (2021)
Straits Times
NIUM
Fintech
US$1 bn (2021)
Business Times
PatSnap
Technology—SaaS
US$1 bn (2021)
Straits Times
PropertyGuru
Real estate tech
US$1 bn (2018)
Craft.co
Secretlab
Consumer goods (gaming chairs)
~US$1.5 bn (2021)
EdgeProp
Trax
Technology (retail solutions)
US$1.2 bn (2019)
Crunchbase
Ascend Money
Fintech
US$1.5 bn (2021)
TechCrunch
Flash Express
Logistics
>US$1 bn (2021)
Bangkok Post
Lineman Wongnai
Food Delivery
>US$1 bn (2021)
Bangkok Post
VNG Corporation (VNG)
Diversified Internet
US$2.2 bn (2019)
Dealstreet Asia
Vietnam Payment Solution (VNPay)
Fintech
>US$1 bn (2021)
VnExpress
Company
Indonesia
Malaysia
The Philippines
Mynt
Singapore
Thailand
Vietnam
ASEAN Unicorns
7
“
We think public markets will quickly
begin to reflect the changes PEs have
made to the ASEAN start-up scene,
and several factors lead us to believe
that activity is already increasing and
more intense developments lie ahead.
8
Reaching take-off speed
The ASEAN digital economy is in the driver’s seat to rapid acceleration—ASEAN stock indices are starting
to shift towards the new economy, with significant changes already afoot in Indonesia and Singapore.
Meanwhile, private money is also filling up the gap left by public markets, with public markets already
starting to reflect changes PEs have made to the ASEAN start-up scene. These factors have resulted in
the growth of key business lines like e-commerce reaching take-off speed.
ASEAN’s public markets have yet to provide as much
support for start-ups as seen in other regions, but for years
private money has taken note of the underlying opportunities
in ASEAN’s massive, underpenetrated TAM. We believe
that public markets will soon be following the private lead
and think that Tech+ start-ups can realise the potential of an
integrated ASEAN market in ways other sectors have not.
change from the global tech boom. Local markets have
provided limited support for new tech start-ups, and indices
have remained bastions of old economy sectors.
Up until recently, ASEAN stock markets have shown little
Total equity market development in ASEAN has lagged the
region. Whereas the market cap-to-GDP of MSCI
benchmarks in AxJ ex-ASEAN has risen from 108% in
2010 to 118% at present, in ASEAN it dropped 12 pp
(Figure 7). An underdeveloped tech sector explains much of
the disparity. IT sector stock market capitalisation within
MSCI benchmarks has risen from 4.6% of GDP in 2014 to
Figure 7: Market cap-to-GDP—ASEAN lagging
Figure 8: Market cap-to-GDP of MSCI IT sectors
Stock index development has lagged
130%
14%
120%
12%
110%
10%
100%
8%
90%
6%
80%
4%
70%
2%
Asean
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
60%
0%
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
Asean
AxJ ex-Asean
2019
2020
2021
AxJ ex-Asean
Source: Refinitiv Datastream, CEIC
Source: Refinitiv Datastream, CEIC
Figure 9: Number of stocks in ASEAN with market cap of
US$1 bn
Figure 10: ASEAN Private Equity investment deal value
450
382
400
350
314
309
333
300
331
341
370
370
393
294
(US$ bn)
13
14
12
250
10
200
8
150
6
100
4
50
2
0
15
16
12
10
8
6
6
0
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
Source: Refinitiv Datastream
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Source: AVCJ, excluding real estate and infrastructure
ASEAN Unicorns
9
11.4% now in AxJ ex-ASEAN, but has increased from
0.05% to only 1.2% in ASEAN (Figure 8). Of the 10 pp
increase in MSCI market cap to GDP in AxJ ex-ASEAN, 5.8
pp came from IT, whereas the sector has added an
insignificant amount to ASEAN.
Public markets to follow
We think that public markets will quickly begin to reflect the
changes PEs have made to the ASEAN start-up scene.
Several factors lead us to believe that activity is already
increasing and that more intense developments lie ahead:
Growth in new listed stars lagging
ASEAN unicorns have already begun multiplying rapidly.
As shown in Figure 12, the number of unicorns
increased substantially in 2021.
Up to now, growth in new listed stars in ASEAN has lagged
peers. Since 2012, the number of listed companies with
market cap of US$1 bn has increased just 2.5% CAGR
annually (Figure 9).
Markets are assigning high values to ASEAN tech.
Whereas they previously traded at a discount, ASEAN
tech stocks now trade at a big premium to regional peers
(Figure 13). While much of this reflects scarcity value, it
also indicates that more funding will be available for
ASEAN tech investments.
Private money filling the gap
In recent years, private money has filled the gap left by
public markets. Although the trade war hurt flows somewhat
in 2018-19, inflows of Private Equity (PE) to the region
have jumped since 2016 (Figure 10). Two markets in
particular—Singapore and Indonesia—have been particularly
successful in attracting PE, for reasons that will be
explained. Between them, Singapore and Indonesia
accounted for 67% of total ASEAN PE in 2019 (Figure 11).
Figure 11: ASEAN Private Equity deal count by country
9%
As will be discussed later, growth in key business lines
like e-commerce is reaching take-off speed.
Figure 12: Number of ASEAN unicorns has seen strong
surge in 2021
18
9%
43%
16
Singapore
14
Indonesia
12
Vietnam
19
20
10
15%
8
Malaysia
6
Others
4
2
5
4
2
1
2
1
4
1
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021
24%
Source: AVCJ, excluding real estate and infrastructure
Source: CB insights, Dealstreet Asia, company data, Credit Suisse
Figure 13: MSCI ASEAN IT forward P/E relative to AxJ IT
Figure 14: Asean integration not clearly progressing
strongly
-20%
15%
15%
-40%
14%
0%
-60%
-80%
Dec-14 Dec-15 Dec-16 Dec-17 Dec-18 Dec-19 Dec-20
Asean IT PE relative to AxJ IT
Source: Refinitiv Datastream
10
2020
30%
2019
16%
2018
0%
2017
45%
2016
17%
20%
2015
60%
2014
18%
40%
2013
60%
2012
75%
2011
19%
2010
80%
Intra Asean trade as % of total Asean trade (LHS)
Intra Asean4 FDI as % of total Asean4 FDI (RHS)
Source: Haver, Credit Suisse (Asean4: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines &
Thailand)
Regionalisation, finally
Whereas ASEAN integration up to now has been more
dream than reality, we think that a number of unicorns have
a unique opportunity to operate on a regional scale. In many
respects, ASEAN integration has disappointed. IntraASEAN FDI has not shown clear trends, and intra-ASEAN
trade as a percent of total trade has actually fallen in recent
years (Figure 14). Rather than developing an independent,
vertically-integrated regional supply chain, ASEAN
manufacturing operates a hub-and-spoke system, with
China at the hub and components being shipped back and
forth between individual ASEAN countries and China.
The track record of listed ASEAN companies trying to go
regional is at best mixed. Despite heavy investment by
Singapore, Malaysia and Thai banks in ASEAN neighbours,
there is no regional ASEAN bank brand achieving a top 4
position outside of its home market. Although Singapore
Telecom has invested extensively in ASEAN, it has not
rebranded any of its investments, all of which operate on a
largely stand-alone basis. Air Asia and the Lion Air group
have established intra-ASEAN brands that have made big
market share gains, but without the profits to match.
Figure 15: ASEAN 2019 GDP
We think, however, that the business lines of many ASEAN
unicorns lend themselves more readily to regionalisation.
Unlike banking and telecommunications, e-commerce,
internet services and e-gaming are lightly regulated.
Businesses requiring heavy tech investments are easily
scalable and require relatively little local customisation. We
find it significant that Grab, SEA’s Shopee and Alibaba’s
Lazada are the most successful ASEAN regional brands.
Big changes for two indices
While until recently, ASEAN stock indices have remained
resolutely Old Economy, big changes are already afoot in
Indonesia and Singapore. Because it is the favoured HQ and
listing spot for regional businesses, Singapore is attracting a
huge share of PE investments and unicorns. Indonesia is
seeing activity because of the size of its market, which had a
2019 GDP 106% larger than the next biggest, Thailand
(Figure 15). In 2016, the Tech+ sector did not feature in the
Singapore index. It now contributes 14%, and our Singapore
strategist, Nicholas Teh, thinks the share can rise to 35%.
Indonesia had essentially no Tech+ five years ago, but our
strategist there, Andri Ngaserin, expects it to reach as much
as 20% of JCI free float market cap.
Figure 16: Fintech and e-commerce account for 46% of
the unicorns in ASEAN
20%
3%
Fintech
6%
e-commerce
Indonesia
Logistics
40%
Malaysia
Philippines
3% 3%
26%
6%
Diversified internet
Technology
6%
OTA
13%
Real estate tech
Singapore
Telecommunication 8%
Consumers
Thailand
EdTech
14%
Food Delivery
13%
20%
8%
11%
Source: CEIC
Source: CB insights, Dealstreet Asia, company data, Credit Suisse
Figure 17: Singapore and Indonesia dominate regional mix
with over 70% of ASEAN unicorns emerging from them
Figure 18: Over 75% of the unicorns were formed during
the last decade
6%
9%
Singapore
Indonesia
9%
3%
17%
43%
14%
2000-05
8%
2006-10
Malaysia
Thailand
2011-15
Vietnam
2016-20
Philippines
31%
Source: CB insights, Dealstreet Asia, company data, Credit Suisse
60%
Source: CB insights, Dealstreet Asia, company data, Credit Suisse
ASEAN Unicorns
11
35 unicorns in ASEAN
As highlighted above, the number of unicorns in ASEAN has
continued to increase over the last 2-3 years and now
counts for over 35 unicorns. In this report, we highlight
unicorns across various industries and countries in ASEAN.
We have included firms that:
have seen a funding round at a valuation exceeding
US$1 bn;
where the last funding round was at least US$800 mn
some time back and the business momentum has been
strong.
We have excluded firms which are in the process of listing
(such as Grab and Kredivo).
12
While the sectoral split of the ASEAN unicorns is relatively
more diversified, the country mix is skewed towards
Singapore and Indonesia, expectedly, which account for
~74% of the companies. In terms of sectoral split, Fintech
leads the pack accounting for 26% of the companies
followed by e-commerce (20%), logistics (11%), and
diversified internet/technology (8% each). Most of the
unicorns in ASEAN have a consumer led business model
(B2C) with very few companies in the B2B space.
Many unicorns have started over the last decade. It is
noteworthy that ~77% of the unicorns were formed after
2010 with ~60% of the companies being formed during
2011-15, highlighting the accelerated pace of new company
formation.
Figure 19: Geographical spread
Vietnam


Thailand
VNG
VNPay
Ascend Money
Flash Express
 Lineman Wongnai

Philippines


Mynt
Malaysia
Singapore
Acronis
Advance Intelligence Group
 Carousell
 Carro
 HyalRoute
 JustCo
 Lazada
 Matrixport
 Moglix
 Ninja Van
 NIUM
 PatSnap
 Property Guru
 Secretlab
 Trax


AirAsia Digital
Carsome
 edotco


Indonesia
Akulaku
Blibli
 GoTo
 JD.ID
 J&T Express
 OVO
 Ruangguru
 Sicepat
 Tiket.com
 Traveloka
 Xendit


Source: Visme, Credit Suisse
ASEAN Unicorns
13
“
A virtuous cycle may ensue where
increased growth will lead to greater
investment and further development of
the ecosystem that will, in turn, produce
more company founders, co-founders,
and CEOs in SE Asia.
14
A virtuous cycle spawning
entrepreneurship and successful startups
ASEAN’s large population in addition to its ethnic and linguistic diversity were a challenge for regional
players, but some of these unicorns have cracked the code and successfully deployed ‘hyerlocalisation’
strategies in various markets. Alumni of successful startups and tech companies are also increasingly
emerging as founders of new startups, while growing wealth and strong PE exit activity coupled with
significant dry powder will continue to spur entrpreneurship.
The ASEAN-6 region has a large and ethnically diverse
population base comprising ~588 mn people (as of end2020) from hundreds of different ethnic groups. It is also
linguistically diverse with more than 1,000 spoken
languages. These characteristics have historically made it
challenging to foster integration across the region, which in
turn made it difficult to cultivate regional players. However,
the tide has since turned and these challenges no longer
pose barriers given that the region has produced 39
unicorns to date, most of which have utilised localisation
strategies to emerge as category leaders in their various
operating markets.
Figure 20: Company strategies have evolved from single country plays to regional plays
1997-2002
2002-11
2012-18
Era One:
Era Two:
Single-country players Early integration
 Razer (2005)
 PatSnap (2007)
 Trax (2010)
 Garena—Sea Ltd (2009)
 Agoda (2002)
Era Three:
Regional platforms
 Bigo (2014)




Lazada (2012)
Grab (2012)
Carousell (2012)
Ninja Van (2014)
2-3 country players
 Jobstreet (1997)
 jobsDB (1998)
Primarily single
country players
 AsiaSoft (2001)




Happy Fresh (2014)
Sociolla (2014)
Flash Express (2018)
OVO (2018)
Global focus
Pan-Southeast Asia
regional players








Property Guru (2007)
iProperty (2008)
VNG (2004)
Tokopedia (2009)
Gojek (2010)
Tiket (2011)
Traveloka (2012)
Bukalapak (2010)
 Shopee—Sea Ltd
(2015)
 Zilingo (2015)
 Traveloka (2016)*
 Gojek (2018)*
Note: Company founding date in parentheses, * regional expansion in specified year. Source: Asia Partners, Credit Suisse
Figure 21: ASEAN FDI has grown steadily from 2016-19, but saw a slump in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
200.0
175.0
150.0
137.3
114.1
125.0
100.0
75.0
50.0
25.0
0.0
2012
23.3
2013
2014
2015
Intra-ASEAN (US$ bn)
2016
2017
Extra-ASEAN (US$ bn)
2018
2019
2020
Total (US$ bn)
Source: ASEANstats, Credit Suisse
ASEAN Unicorns
15
Connecting the ASEAN landscape
Leading Southeast Asian companies have developed their
strategies from single country plays to a more regional
approach. Players have successfully established a leading
presence across the region largely as a result of having
“hyper-localisation” strategies by deploying teams on the
ground to understand local markets and their unique traits in
order to serve the varying consumers’ needs in each market.
In addition, foreign direct investment (FDI) flows into ASEAN
hit an all-time high in 2019. Continued strong FDI inflows,
both externally and intra-ASEAN, should continue to drive
greater growth and integration, thereby creating more
opportunities for new entrants and hence fostering a
conducive environment for an even greater number of
potential entrants to succeed in their regional plays.
Further, global big techs have also grown their presence in
ASEAN in the last five years. These include Alibaba,
Amazon, Facebook, Google, and Tencent (among others)
who each have announced and carried out their expansion
plans in Singapore. A number of them, including Bytedance,
Facebook, Google, Tencent, already have their regional
headquarters based in Singapore as well.
The ASEAN ecosystem has been bearing fruit
Asia partners, as of late 2020, there were almost 6,000
founders or CEOs who are alumni of such SE Asian
‘academy’ companies. Consequently, a virtuous cycle may
ensue where increased growth will lead to greater
investment and further development of the ecosystem that
will in turn produce more company founders/cofounders/CEO in SE Asia.
Success begets success in entrepreneurship
The startup ecosystem will continually expand as second
generation entrepreneurs increasingly venture out and start
their own companies, which will in turn attract more first
generation entrepreneurs inspired by the previous
generation’s success. Meanwhile, total wealth in SE Asia
has risen over the past decade, and leading the pack is
Indonesia which has produced the most unicorn startups in
the region with more than ten unicorns to date. Affluence of
the adult population in SE Asia has also been on the rise, as
financial assets started to overtake non-financial assets (as
a share of total wealth) in 2018. Likewise, the number of
millionaires in the region has been growing, and is expected
to increase further—in Singapore alone, the number of
millionaires could surge by 62% from 2020’s 270k to 437k
by 2025 according to CS’ 2021 Global Wealth Report.
These factors could spur further growth in entrepreneurship
in the region.
The early entrants and incumbents have created an
ecosystem that is now bearing fruit as the region is
increasingly witnessing the occurrence of the phenomenon
where ASEAN startup founders/co-founders are alumni of
other successful startups/tech companies. According to
Figure 22: Founders/co-founders/CEOs who are alumni of SE Asian 'academy' companies
Academy'
companies
IBM
Microsoft
Google
Lazada
Oracle
Sea Limited
Grab
Gojek
Apple
Amazon
SAP
Tokopedia
Zalora
Facebook
Uber
Rocket
Traveloka
Yahoo
Booking
Bukalapak
Alibaba
Groupon
OVO
PayPal
eBay
Tencent
SalesForce
LINE
Total
Source: Asia Partners
16
Current or past
at academy in SE Asia
47,051
14,294
7,705
17,045
11,577
23,210
37,009
24,072
11,602
10,085
6,812
7,564
4,852
3,522
5,231
947
4,787
1,433
6,789
4,496
1,996
1,593
2,434
4,116
1,420
1,629
1,486
1,161
265,918
Ratio (% of those that become
a founder/co-founder/CEO)
1.9%
4.4%
5.1%
2.2%
3.2%
1.4%
0.8%
1.1%
2.1%
2.3%
2.4%
2.1%
3.2%
4.2%
2.8%
12.5%
2.5%
7.9%
1.6%
2.2%
4.9%
5.8%
2.4%
1.4%
4.1%
3.4%
3.1%
3.8%
Currently a founder
or co-founder or CEO
893
628
392
371
367
336
312
262
247
227
166
162
155
148
145
118
118
113
111
99
97
93
59
59
58
55
46
44
5,881
% of
total
15.2%
10.7%
6.7%
6.3%
6.2%
5.7%
5.3%
4.5%
4.2%
3.9%
2.8%
2.8%
2.6%
2.5%
2.5%
2.0%
2.0%
1.9%
1.9%
1.7%
1.6%
1.6%
1.0%
1.0%
1.0%
0.9%
0.8%
0.7%
Pipeline for exit opportunities abound on the back of
significant amount of dry powder
PE exit activity had been strong in the few years preceding
2020, generating proceeds in the range of US$2.4-3.2 bn
over 2017-19, but the impact from the COVID-19
pandemic led to a dampening of activity across APAC in
2020. According to Bain, SE Asia was one of the most
affected regions, as no exits were reported over 1Q202Q20 for PE investors, while a multitude of prospective
sales processes were deferred as a result of the ongoing
macroeconomic uncertainty. Indonesia made up the bulk of
2020’s exit value with the ~US$1.2 bn CVC exit of Softex
to Kimberly-Clark. Exit activity, however, has been back on
track in 3Q20, with trade sales accounting for most of the
US$918 mn in exit proceeds.
Furthermore, SE Asia is still armed with significant dry
powder sitting uninvested: US$8.7 bn 2019, in addition to
the US$5.9 bn that was freshly raised in 2020. Exit
momentum is also picking up with at least three of the
region’s most valuable unicorns having plans to go public
this year either through the IPO route or by merging with a
special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Preqin opines
that the pipeline for exits is healthier than ever with an
increasing number of options being presented for exit
opportunities in ASEAN amidst a global environment flush
with exceptional levels of liquidity.
Despite the severity of the impact from COVID-19, the reacceleration in activity in 3Q20 with increased deal process
activity, successful exits and robust fund raising may mark a
possible rebound and an opportunity for funds with unspent
capital in the arsenal.
62%
62%
60%
59%
58%
57%
55%
57%
57%
58%
59%
59%
-19%
-19%
-18%
-17%
-16% 59%
-15% 60%
64%
-19% 55%
-20%
65%
80%
2,500
-19% 54%
100%
3,000
65%
120%
3,500
-18% 53%
(US$ bn)
64%
Figure 24: ASEAN-6’s share of financial assets overtook
non-financial assets in 2018
-17% 53%
Figure 23: Total wealth in SE Asia has surged over the
past decade
60%
2,000
1,500
40%
1,000
20%
0%
500
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
ID
MY
PH
SG
TH
-20%
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Financial assets (%)
VN
Non-financial assets (%)
Debt (%)
Source: CS Global Wealth Report
Figure 25: Millionaires in SE Asia
Figure 26: SE Asia focussed funds PE unspent capital
Source: CS Global Wealth Report
2017
2019
2016
2018
7
9
1
1
1
2013
1
3
2012
1
2011
1
2010
Singapore
6
9
5
3
2009
Philippines
A-6
CAGR '10-'19: 23%
2008
Malaysia
Vietnam
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
2007
Indonesia
Thailand
(US$ bn)
2006
77
65
76
93
116
122
158
205
192
233
322
350
445
435
424
420
455
541
601
674
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Increase of 289k
in last 5 years
2005
('000)
709
Source: CS Global Wealth Report
Notes: Excludes real estate and infrastructure funds; graph includes funds
closed in 2020 with primary focus on SE Asia. Source: Preqin, Bain
Figure 27: Proceeds realised at exit (US$ mn)
3,244
3,500
3,000
931
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,325
1,000
378
239
500
0
250
79
171
2013
708
2014
1,112
9
1,139
35
733
823
370
281
2015
Trade exit (US$ mn)
2,980
2,377
208
168
1,883
2,001
557
2,423
456
430
2016
2017
Known secondary (US$ mn)
918
7
455
2018
IPO (US$ mn)
2019
2020
Note: (i) US$1.65 bn of 2018 exit proceeds accounted for Grab acquisition of Uber SE Asia entities, (ii) US$1.7 bn of 2019 exit proceeds accounted for
YY acquisition of Bigo. Source: Cento Ventures
ASEAN Unicorns
17
“
Strong demographics, high
smartphone penetration rates, the rising
middle class, as well as a surge in PE
flows over the last decade underpin the
growth in high value companies.
18
Key enablers: PE/VC funding, strong
demographics, supportive regulations
Several factors have acted as structural supports that enabled the healthy growth in high value
companies in the region. A young population with high smartphone penetration rates, a fifth of the
population entering the workforce in the next 25 years accompanied by a rising middle class, as well as
robust PE and VC activity, have all been catalysts for the growth in the ASEAN start-up ecosystem.
The robust growth in the number of high value companies
can be attributed to various key enablers that we detail in
the section below: (1) demographic dividend, (2) rising
middle class, (3) increase in smartphone penetration and
data usage, and (4) growth in private equity capital.
by Indonesia and the Philippines) will enter the +25 year age
group and start earning over the next 15 years, and should
be prime targets for digital services.
58% of the ASEAN-6 population is aged below 34
Some of the ASEAN-6 countries also have among the
youngest demographics in the world, with 39-65% of the
total population of respective countries below the age of 34
and, hence, the region is likely to be more willing to adopt
new technologies. Based on demographic data from the
United Nations, ~242 mn of the ASEAN-6 population (led
The other key enabler has been a rising middle class driven
by consistent increase in GDP per capita over the last
decade. With the key economies of ASEAN-6 countries
(Indonesia and the Philippines) approaching middle income
countries level (GNI per capita of US$4,046 and above as
defined by World Bank) over the next few years the macroeconomic tail wind should continue, aiding digital economy in
the region.
Figure 28: Some of the ASEAN-6 countries have younger
demographics compared to the region and world
Figure 29: The percentage of the population entering
earning age (25 years and over) in the next 15 years
25%
20%
30%
15%
20%
10%
10%
5%
21%
18%
15%
23% 24%
20%
World
Asia
India
0%
Singapore
World
Asia
India
US
China
ASEAN-6
Philippines
Malaysia
Indonesia
Vietnam
Thailand
Singapore
0%
19%
27%
24%
US
43%
25% 25%
China
45% 46%
29%
30%
ASEAN-6
55% 56%
Philippines
57%
35%
Indonesia
40%
39%
61%
Malaysia
50%
65%
Vietnam
54%
60%
58% 59%
Thailand
70%
Rising middle class has also been a key enabler
Figure 30: GNI per capital of ID and PH approaching
middle income level (US$4,046 and above)
Figure 31: Ten year GNI CAGR (2010-20) has been strong
for several ASEAN countries compared to peers
World*
China
2.3%
4.8%
Up. middle inc.
2.9%
4.5%
India
Low middle inc.
4.0%
ASEAN-6
2.0%
Singapore
4.4%
Thailand
2.5%
4.3%
Indonesia
Malaysia
3.8%
7.8%
Philippines
11,558
World*
10.0%
9.0%
8.0%
7.0%
6.0%
5.0%
4.0%
3.0%
2.0%
1.0%
0.0%
Vietnam
10,610
China
9,495
2,201
Low middle inc.
* Note: World data as of 2019. Source: World Bank
Up. middle inc.
1,900
10,580
Malaysia
India
7,050
Thailand
4,830
3,870
Indonesia
ASEAN-6
3,430
Philippines
Singapore
2,660
Vietnam
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
9.4%
Note: Percentage of 2020 population between the ages of 10-24 years.
Source: United Nations
54,920
Note: Percentage of 2020 population between the ages of 0-34 years.
Source: United Nations
* Note: World CAGR is for nine years. Source: World Bank
ASEAN Unicorns
19
Mobile and smartphone penetration are relatively high
in the ASEAN-6
Emergence of real-time payment networks across
ASEAN-6
While mobile phone penetration in the region has been
historically high, the improvement in smartphone penetration
has clearly aided in the growth of digital economy given
relatively lower fixed broadband penetration. Smartphone
penetration in the ASEAN-6 reached over 100% in 2020,
with the mature ASEAN economies of Singapore and
Thailand leading penetration rates. Improvement in
smartphone penetration has also been accompanied by
advancement in data networks, with the region migrating to
4G services. Currently, 4G penetration in the region ranges
from 68-135% and is expected to increase further, led by
increasing penetration in the two most populous countries of
the region—Indonesia and the Philippines.
Like India, several countries in ASEAN-6, though at different
stage of evolution, have embraced real time payment (RTP)
networks in order to promote digital payment. Thailand and
Singapore are ahead of the curve (in ASEAN-6) in terms of
building capabilities and adoption of real time payment network.
Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam have also launched real time
payment networks over the last few year but they are in the
early stage of adoption. Indonesia, the most populous country
in ASEAN, is yet to launch a real time payment network.
Further, data usage has also grown substantially in the
region with the decline in data pricing. Hence, improvement
in mobile internet has played a critical role in expanding the
reach of the companies and emergence of new business
models (B2C or B2B).
The launch of real time payment networks has aided in the
improvement of mobile payment, facilitating the growth of the
digital economy. However, ASEAN-6 is very early in the journey
of RTPs and the substantial benefits that the Indian ecosystem
has witnessed (from the adoption of RTPs) may take time to
crystallise. Nonetheless, the underdeveloped public payment
infrastructure has provided opportunities for many Fintech
companies to flourish (as detailed in the later section).
160% 148%
135% 129% 128% 120%
140%
113%
112%
120%
101%
100%100%
90%
100%
68%
80%
46%
60%
44%
40%
20%
0%
120%
Smartphone penetration
100%
99%
101%101%
97%
80%
52%
60%
33%
40%
42%
31%
20%
18%
15%
10%
13% 8%
4G Penetration
Residential FBB penetration
3%
India
Indonesia
Philippines
Malaysia
Thailand
China
Singapore
0%
India
Indonesia
Philippines
Thailand
China
Malaysia
Figure 33: While there is scope for more improvement in
residential broadband penetration (2020)
Singapore
Figure 32: Smartphone and 4G penetration (2020)
remains high for ASEAN-6 nations supporting the digital
economy
Fibre/DOCIS penetration
Source: Company data, World Bank, MCMC, IMDA. Credit Suisse
estimates
Source: Company data, World Bank, MCMC, IMDA. Credit Suisse
estimates
Figure 34: Average data use per smartphone subscriber
(GB/month)
Figure 35: RTP creates shared infrastructure which can
aid in non-cash push; TH is ahead in ASEAN-6
Real-time payment - evolution of features
(GB)
25
Immediate
payment
19
20
17
15
15
12
10
9
10
6
5
112
2
5
4
Philippines
2015
3
00
Singapore
2016
11
2
2
Indonesia
2017
2018
6
5
5
3
0
0
7
6
3
Thailand
2019
3
Finality of
payment
Offline
retail
(C2B)
B2B
payment
24/7/365
availability
VAS such as
bill payment
etc.
Request to pay
Direct
access
to nonbanks
Indirect access
to non-banks
PH provides
access to few
non-banks
currently
1
Malaysia
2020
VN
Source: Company data, World Bank, MCMC, IMDA. Credit Suisse
estimates
20
Use of
aliases
PH
MY
Source: Vocalink, Credit Suisse
SG
TH
IN
UK
Technology innovation and digitalisation in the region
is driving VC funding
The last decade has witnessed a strong surge in PE flows in
ASEAN-6 given the healthy demand for risk capital with the
burgeoning digital economy and the growth in private equity
funding globally as pension and insurance fund managers
switch to alternate assets in their allocations in response to
record low interest rates. As shown in Figure 37, PE deal
value has exceeded IPO since 2014 (aside from 2015). In
terms of country allocation, a large amount of PE activity
has historically centred on Singapore/Indonesia while
Malaysia/Vietnam have also seen increased activity of late.
The domestic venture capital (VC) industry in ASEAN has
expanded significantly over the past decade, with >US$16 bn
in assets under management (AUM) in 2020 compared to
US$2.7 bn in December 2010 according to Preqin. A key
catalyst of this growth in VC deal activity has been the strong
investor interest in the region’s technology innovation and
digitalisation of existing businesses in recent years. This led to
405 successful transactions worth US$8.2 bn in 2020,
second only to 2018’s record of US$8.8 bn over the past
decade, while aggregate deal size in 1H21 was >US$10 bn.
(US$ bn)
8.1
9.6
4.6
5.2
10.0
7.4
8.0
15.0
16.7
6.5
5.9
400,000
6.1
7.0
10
600,000
12.9
15
800,000
5.8
1,000,000
12.0
20
1,200,000
6.2
1,281,182
5
200,000
Apr-18
Jun-18
Aug-18
Oct-18
Dec-18
Feb-19
Apr-19
Jun-19
Aug-19
Oct-19
Dec-19
Feb-20
Apr-20
Jun-20
Aug-20
Oct-20
Dec-20
Feb-21
Apr-21
Jun-21
0
12.0
(Php)
1,400,000
7.3
9.0
Figure 37: SE Asia PE deal value vs IPO
17.1
Figure 36: InstaPay (PH) transaction volume per day
13.0
Over the last decade private equity funding has
exceeded public market IPOs
0
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
IPO
SE Asia PE deal value
Source: BSP
Source: Bain, Dealogic, SVCA
Figure 38: Total SE Asia PE investment deal value by
country
Figure 39: VC deals in ASEAN in 1H21 almost half of
2020s, while average deal value continued its steep
upward trajectory
(US$ bn)
18
600
15
Singapore
Indonesia
2017
Vietnam
2018
Malaysia
40
5.1
2019
2020
0
No. of deals (LHS)
Others
Source: Bain, SVCA
4
2
0
4.9
6
1H 2021
2016
40
100
2020
2013
3.0
100
180
2019
0
6.6
8
170 185
2018
2015
3.2
10.7
1.8
0.5
1.6
200
10
405
390 395
2017
2014
3
2.4
300
2016
5.8
2.5
3.0
0.6
0.9 0.4
1.0
0.6
0.4 1.8
0.2 0.5
2.0
9
2015
6
6
6
8
2014
0.9
1.8
1.1
0.4
400
12
0.5 0.4
1.2
2.2
1.7
3.3
1.8
2013
9
2.0
0.8
0.6
1.1
2012
10
340 355
2011
12
13
2010
15
12
520
500
Avg deal value (US$ bn, RHS)
Source: Preqin, SVCA
Figure 40: 2021 YTD (as of July 2021) aggregate capital raised by ASEAN-focussed VC funds has more than doubled
2020’s levels
(US$ mn)
2,500
2,150
1,950
2,000
1,490
1,500
970
1,000
650
500
50
25
2010
2011
300
230
255
2012
2013
2014
550
525
0
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021 YTD
Source: Preqin, SVCA
ASEAN Unicorns
21
Geographically, Singapore has led the region in VC deal
activity since 2016, followed by Indonesia. Meanwhile, funds
that execute early-stage strategies grew in prominence in
2015, with early stage now accounting for 80-90% of VC
funds. Angel/seed and Series A/Round 1 account for the
largest proportion of deals. Preqin expects the pipeline of
regional unicorns that are exploring exit routes to public
markets this year to propel the VC market to greater heights,
while the low interest rate environment and robust public
market valuations will ensure that the exit pipeline remains
healthy over the next few years.
22
“
The digital economy benefitted from
structural and behavioural changes due
to COVID-19 which accelerated the
pace of digitalisation. Most of the sectors
saw a surge amidst mobility restrictions,
while demand for others dampened.
ASEAN Unicorns
23
ASEAN digital economy has witnessed
an acceleration due to COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the pace of digital adoption, as consumers and merchants had to
migrate online amid mobility restrictions. E-commerce, deliveries, fintech and logistics have all witnessed
a surge in adoption over the course of the pandemic, while more nascent sectors such as EdTech and
HealthTech have also been brought to the fore as telemedicine and e-learning had to be widely used.
e-commerce: Propelled by migration to digital
e-commerce has benefitted from the region’s structural drivers (young population, rising income levels, ecommerce penetration), while the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the region’s digitalisation and migration of
offline retail commerce to online. Owing to these factors, we expect the ASEAN-6 e-commerce GMV to hit
~US$238 bn by 2025E from ~US$62 bn in 2020.
E-commerce is a key vertical in ASEAN’s internet economy,
and is one of the earliest risers and fastest growing sectors
within the space. It has also benefitted from the region’s
structural drivers, such as a relatively young population,
rising income levels and retail e-commerce penetration.
of those new consumers residing in non-metro areas.
Consequently, 70% of the region’s population is now online
as of end-2020.
Most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a key
catalyst in accelerating the region’s digitalisation and
migration of offline retail commerce to online as a result of
government mandated mobility restrictions within the
communities that left consumers with no choice but to utilise
digital channels to access essential goods, such as
groceries. Google-Temasek-Bain estimates that 40 mn new
users came online in 2020 alone, taking the region’s total
number of internet users to 400 mn, compared to a 100 mn
growth from 2015 to 2019. A survey conducted by the
authors found that an average of ~36% of all digital service
consumers across the region were new to the service due to
COVID-19, with a majority (excluding Thailand and Vietnam)
Within ASEAN-6, the e-commerce sector is largely
dominated by marketplace platforms. Shopee and Lazada
are the region’s two largest players. Shopee is the ecommerce arm of Sea Limited which is backed by Tencent,
while Lazada is owned by Alibaba. Meanwhile, apart from
online fashion retailer, Zalora (Global Fashion Group), the
remaining marketplace players mostly operate within the
confines of their respective markets. However, these
relatively smaller players have also received strong backing
from notable investors, such as Alibaba, SoftBank, Sequoia,
Temasek, among others. Figure 41 lays out the various key
players and some of their main investors.
Figure 41: ASEAN e-commerce ecosystem—key players
Figure 42: e-commerce penetration by country
ID
PH
TH
MY
SG
VN
Players backed by notable investors
25%
Shopee
Lazada
Zalora
20%
Zalora
JD Central
Sendo
Tokopedia
Beauty Mnl
Advice
PG Mall
Qoo10
Tiki
Bukalapak
Galleon
Power Buy
Go Shop
EZBuy
The Gioi Di Dong
Blibli
Kimstore
Lelong
Shop Back
Dien May Xanh
Bhinneka
Ubuy
Wowshop
Lazada Express
15%
10%
5%
0%
2015 2018 2019 2020 2021E 2022E 2023E 2024E 2025E
ID
MY
Source: Credit Suisse
24
VN
SG
TH
A-6
PH
Source: Google Temasek e-Conomy SEA report, AT Kearney, Credit
Suisse estimates
e-commerce penetration to hit high double digits by
2025E
In addition, retail e-commerce penetration ratios are relatively
low for ASEAN-6, representing strong growth potential ahead.
We estimate that the e-commerce penetration ratio for the
region in 2020 was ~7%, vs China and the US of 31% and
19% respectively. CS expects ASEAN-6’s e-commerce
penetration to further deepen going forward, rising to ~18%
by 2025E.
Food & groceries expected to leapfrog to third place
behind consumer electronics and apparel by 2025
In terms of shopping categories, consumer electronics and
apparel remained the region’s top categories in 2020 (vs
2015), making up 33% and 22% of e-commerce GMV
respectively. However, food & groceries has grown in
popularity among consumers, from 4% of e-commerce
GMV in 2015 to 11% in 2020 as household meal habits
shifted towards home cooking due to COVID-19 mobility
restrictions within communities. This trend is set to continue
beyond the pandemic as 47% of all online grocery users are
new, of which 76% plan to continue using the service postpandemic. Consequently, food & groceries is expected to
overtake home & living and others to be the third-most
Figure 43: e-commerce categories as % of GMV
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
popular e-commerce category in 2025E, while consumer
electronics and apparel will remain first and second
respectively with their share of GMV expected to be 31%
and 24% respectively.
A US$238 bn market opportunity
Owing to a combination of these structural drivers, we expect
the ASEAN-6 e-commerce GMV to grow at a five-year CAGR
of c.31% to ~US$238 bn by 2025E from ~US$62 bn in
2020. We expect the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam to be
the key propellers of this growth, with CAGRs of 48%, 34%
and 31% respectively over 2020-25E.
Shopee is the regional leader
Both Lazada and Shopee are present in all the regional markets
and count as the largest players there. Nonetheless, we believe
that regionally Shopee is the market leader primarily due to its
strong positioning in the respective ASEAN markets. We
estimate that Shopee held 35-56% of GMV market share
across the six markets in 2020 (from 15-33% in 2018). Within
Indonesia, however, competition is tighter between the two.
Shopee may also have overtaken Tokopedia which has a larger
contribution from digital goods in its GMV, while Shopee is the
clear leader when it comes other categories such as fashion,
health & beauty and home & living.
Figure 44: ASEAN e-commerce GMV (US$ bn)
(US$ bn)
19%
16%
14%
4%
6%
10%
11%
6%
12%
15%
22%
24%
33%
31%
100
2025E
50
21%
41%
238
250
6%
10%
CAGR '20-'25E:
+31%
200
150
62
2015
2020
23
6
Consumer electronics
Apparel
Home & living
Beauty & personal care
Food & groceries
Other
38
0
2015
2018
2019
2020
2025E
Source: Google Temasek e-Conomy SEA report, Forrester ForecastView
Source: Google Temasek e-Conomy SEA report, Credit Suisse estimates
Figure 45: ASEAN e-commerce GMV, by country
(US$ bn)
Figure 46: Shopee GMV market share (%)
(US$ bn)
29%
CAGR '20-'25E
114
120
80
34%
25%
1 4
11
1 7
Singapore Malaysia
7
Vietnam
2015
28%
1 4
32
32
28
26
0
0
48%
31%
28
40
20
70%
56%
60%
100
60
80%
1
9
2
The
Thailand Indonesia
Philippines
2020
2025E
Source: Google Temasek e-Conomy SEA report, Credit Suisse estimates
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
42%
30%
49%
33%
44%
33%
38%
25%
34%
27%
15%
Indonesia Vietnam Thailand
2018
The
Malaysia Singapore
Philippines
2020
Source: Google Temasek e-Conomy SEA report, AT Kearney, EIU,
Credit Suisse estimates
ASEAN Unicorns
25
EdTech: Long runway of growth ahead
The relatively nascent EdTech sector was brought to the fore as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic which
resulted in schools shutting down and students migrating to e-learning in place of physical lessons.
EdTech has a long runway of growth ahead as more sophisticated solutions are developed, while high
smartphone penetration, rising internet penetration and government commitment towards education
expenditure will support further growth.
Of the total population in ASEAN-6, a third (~33%) are in the
schooling age group (5-24 years old). There is a clear disparity
in educational attainment across the region, with those aged
25+ having at least completed upper secondary education
making up <40% of the country’s population in Indonesia,
Thailand and Vietnam. Meanwhile, only Singapore has >50%
of its population aged 25+ that has at least completed post-
secondary education. Additionally, school enrolments in
secondary and tertiary education (as % of population of the
corresponding official school age) are lower in Vietnam,
Indonesia and the Philippines, which incidentally also have
some of the largest rural populations in the group.
Figure 47: Population aged 5-24, 2020 (%)—schooling
age group
Figure 48: Rural population (% of total population), 2020
70%
39%
34%
35%
33%
32%
25%
25%
53%
49%
50%
29%
30%
63%
60%
47%
43%
40%
19%
20%
30%
15%
23%
20%
10%
10%
0%
Malaysia
Indonesia
Thailand
ASEAN-6
Indonesia
Malaysia
Philippines
Thailand
Vietnam
Singapore
0%
Source: United Nations, Credit Suisse
Source: Company data
Figure 49: Internet penetration
Figure 50: Smartphone and 4G penetration
700
558
600
588
582
500
360
400
300
400
260
70%
160%
60%
140%
50%
120%
40%
100%
30%
80%
200
20%
100
10%
0
0%
2015
2019
Internet users (mn)
2020
Total population (mn)
Internet penetration (%)
Source: Google, Temasek, Bain & Co., World Bank
26
ASEAN-6
0%
Singapore
5%
Philippines
40%
Vietnam
45%
148%
135%
129%
90%
120%
112% 113%
100% 100%
91%
68%
68%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Singapore Thailand Malaysia Philippines Indonesia ASEAN-6
Smartphone penetration
4G Penetration
Source: Company data, World Bank, MCMC, IMDA. Credit Suisse
estimates
Fast improving internet penetration and high
smartphone penetration led to strong uptake of
EdTech apps
Funding grew threefold YoY in 2019
The COVID-19 pandemic has notably interrupted students’
access to education throughout the region as schools faced
a series of closures due to virus outbreaks. However, this
has also brought about the migration towards and adoption
of e-learning as home-based learning took the place of
physical lessons. Notably, the region’s internet population
grew by 40 mn new users to hit 400 mn in 2020 alone (vs
360 mn in 2019, and 260 mn in 2015), which takes the
overall internet penetration to ~68%. Smartphone and 4G
penetration rates are also high across ASEAN-6. The fast
improving internet penetration rate accompanied by already
high smartphone and 4G penetration rates, and together
with the structural shift towards remote learning has led to
strong adoption of EdTech applications, which grew >3x to
hit 20 mn installations over Jan-Aug 2020 vs 6 mn preCOVID over Jan-Aug 2019.
Figure 51: EdTech deal value (US$ bn)
0.30
EdTech had received moderate but steady levels of funding
over 2016-18 before witnessing growth of 3x YoY in total
deal value to US$0.27 bn in 2019 (from US$0.08 bn in
2018)—most of which went towards online learning
platforms. Meanwhile, the number of deals hit 65 in total for
2019 vs 48 in 2018. More startups are expected to emerge
alongside continued growth in funding as EdTechs further
innovate and incorporate more sophisticated tools to their
learning platforms to offer differentiated solutions to the
EdTech space.
Figure 52: EdTech adoption during lockdown (not an
exhaustive list)
0.27
Heavy adoption during lockdown
72
0.25
60
Teaching
assistant tools
0.20
48
Analytics
0.15
36
0.10
0.05
24
0.08
0.04
12
0.01
0.00
AI assisted grading
…
Some adoption, could be increased
Lesson content,
practice, and testing
Online content
(live, recorded)
Practice/test
question
repository
Interactive/
multimedia
content
Gamification
Virtual
collaboration
2017
Deal value (US$ bn) (LHS)
2018
2019
No. of deals (RHS)
Source: Google, Temasek, Bain & Co.
Video conference
Virtual classrooms
Classroom tech
and aides
Smart whiteboards
…
…
0
2016
Remote learning
medium
Learning
management
system
Reporting
/ tracking
Student
management
Content
management
Source: Google, Temasek, Bain & Co.
Figure 53: Government initiatives for alternative learning resources
Country
Indonesia
Government initiatives
 The Ministry of Education and Culture launched Rumah Belajar, an online portal that provides learning resources and communication facilities
to teachers and students, ranging from Early Childhood Development levels to high school level, as well as vocational education levels.
 The Online Learning System Program (SPADA) supports Learning Management Systems across all tertiary education institutions connected to
it, and is available to all tertiary education students to access online lectures, open lectures and resources and course material.
Malaysia
 The Ministry of Education re-launched its digital learning platform, DELIMa, in Jun-2020 in collaboration with Google Classroom,
Microsoft and Apple, and onboarded 10k schools, 370k teachers and 2.5 mn students as of Aug-2020.
Philippines
 The Education Department in Mar-2020 launched DepEd Commons, an Open Educational Resources platform to support distance
learning in public and private schools, the Alternative Learning System, and Special Education. The platform has served >9.6 mn unique
users nationwide.
Singapore
 The Ministry of Education in May-2018 launched Student Learning Space (SLS), an online learning platform for students and teachers
in the national school system with a curated library of educational resources for students as well as collaborative features for educators.
Thailand
 The Office of Private Education Commission launched in Mar-2020 its online learning platform, Digital Learning Centre, to provide
education via internet connections to the general public and all elementary and secondary students nationwide.
 The Education Ministry rolled out its Digital Education Excellence Platform (DEEP) in Aug-2020, which gives students and teachers
direct access to curriculums and modules via online classrooms, as well as access to Google and Microsoft learning tools.
Vietnam
 Initiatives are primarily on a school level.
Source: Google, Temasek, Bain & Co., World Bank
ASEAN Unicorns
27
Government commitment towards education
expenditure to grow in tandem with digitalisation
This pivot towards online learning in light of the pandemic
has also been occurring on a national level as the respective
governments in ASEAN have rolled out digital learning
resources in place of physical lessons at schools. In addition,
Euromonitor estimates that government expenditure on
education of the ASEAN-6 has grown at a CAGR of ~6%
over 2015-20. These efforts demonstrate the commitment
of governments towards the innovation and development of
the education sector in order to keep pace with the
increasingly digital post-COVID world.
28
Still in its infancy with long runway ahead
The EdTech sector is still in nascent stages as the tools that
have been utilised by online learning platforms have yet to
fully exploit the vast capabilities that tech has to offer. For
instance, the main online learning tools that were adopted by
educators during school closures were “video lectures” via
video conferencing applications such as Zoom or Microsoft’s
Teams, question/test repositories and live/recorded online
content. However, there is immense potential for more
sophisticated tools to address a larger number of use cases,
and EdTech has a long runway ahead for new startups/
solutions to emerge that incorporate innovative features or
layer them over current tools.
Logistics: Riding the coattails of e-commerce
Logistics will continue to ride the wave of e-commerce demand, especially as e-commerce penetration
rates rise from single to double digits over the next few years. The sector still has some ways to go in
improving service quality and delivery lead times. Players will have to leverage technology to overcome
current challenges which will reshape the logistics landscape in a post-pandemic world.
The rise in e-commerce adoption in recent years naturally
gave rise to an increased need to fulfil a much larger volume
of orders entering and circulating through the logistics
system than before. In addition, the ongoing COVID-19
pandemic highlighted the indisputable significance of the
role played by the logistics industry amidst an accelerated
structural shift towards digitalisation, as well as the resultant
change in consumer buying behaviour towards online
channels and offline merchants migrating online amidst
community mobility restrictions. This was exacerbated by
consumers' expectations of quick delivery lead times and
low-cost shipping fees even as global supply chains
experienced unprecedented disruptions and a rise in
shipping costs as a result of the pandemic.
Given that "issues with delivery" remained the single biggest
barrier to e-commerce as cited by consumers in 5 out of the
6 ASEAN countries (according to a survey by GoogleTemasek) during the height of the pandemic in 2020, the
logistics industry evidently has some ways to go in finding an
optimal operational state in terms of capacity and pricing. To
add to the delivery strain, grocery and food orders have also
grown in tandem with e-commerce, creating a larger
impetus for the logistics industry to keep pace with this
growing consumer demand. Consequently, this points to
potential reconfiguration and consolidation activity ahead as
vaccination rollouts in the respective countries progress and
economies start to recover as more countries are able to
cope with the endemic COVID-19.
Shorter term COVID-related impacts still hamper the
industry, such as shipping container and labour shortages
amidst soaring cargo demand, and congestions in the global
supply chains, causing shipping delays. Other factors such
as the relocation of companies' supply chains to ASEAN
resulting from the US-China trade war, China's One Belt
One Road initiative that strives to increase intra-Asia trade,
the shift towards automation, in addition to the strategic
relocation of factories closer to end-consumer demand will
reshape the logistics landscape in a post-pandemic world.
Figure 54: ASEAN logistics ecosystem—key players
ID
PH
TH
MY
SG
VN
Ninjavan
Lalamove
J&T Express
Shopee Express (Sea Limited)
Lazada Express
Janio
Transportify
Lazada Express
Janio
BukaGlobal
Ernest Logistics Corp
SCG Logistics Mgt Co.
TokoCabang
JNE Express
First Logistics
J&T Express
CKB Logistics
BGR Logistics
Kamadjaja Logistics
Linc Group
TIKI
Paxel
Sicepat
Lion Parcel
AAI Worldwide Logistics
Fast Group
Airspeed
K Line Logistics
Royal Cargo
Black Arrow Express
PHLPost
JWD InfoLogistics
LEO Global Logistic
Niko's Logistics
Kerry Express
Thailand Post
SME Shipping
Giztix
Flash Express
Viettel Post
Uparcel
Tiong Nam
Pos Logistics
CJ Century Logistics
GDEX
CLS
TASCO
KGW Logistics
Nationwide Express
City-link Express
Pgeon
Pos Laju
Vietnam Post
SingPost
YCH Group
Keppel Logistics
APL Logistics
20Cube
CWT
J Logistics
GetVan
Roadbull
UrbanFox
EMS
GHN
GHTK
Loship
Vinafco
Gemadept
Transimex Saigon
Speedlink
Indo Trans Logistics
Source: Credit Suisse
ASEAN Unicorns
29
Fragmented landscape to continue
The logistics industry in ASEAN is currently a fragmented
one with a large number of smaller locally-focussed players
coupled with a few larger regionally-focussed ones in all
verticals competing against one another to capture a larger
slice of the growing pie. The pandemic has seen new techenabled players emerge especially in the last-mile space to
fulfil the growing volume of e-commerce and even
grocery/food orders. Given that the logistics industry in
ASEAN is still considered to be in the nascent stage, we
expect further market consolidation going forward as players
vie for market leadership in tier 1 cities and beyond.
Challenges faced
ability to progress especially for last-mile deliveries given the
inaccessibility of the region's outlying islands. In addition,
many of the rural areas have poor road infrastructure, and
unpaved roads can be easily damaged by weather elements.
There is also a lack of proper road signage or postal address
systems beyond the developed cities, creating further issues
around accessibility of last-mile fulfilment.
As a result, logistics players have mainly focussed on
tackling the tier 1 cities so far, with tier 2 and 3 cities on the
horizon. To tackle the remaining areas requires the industry
as a whole to innovate and utilise tech-led solutions to drive
efficiencies and reduce costs in order to overcome the
current challenges. Governments and local authorities also
have a part to play in developing the national infrastructure
that is hampering the logistics industry's advancement.
The geographical landscape in Southeast Asia presents
logistical challenges given that the region has >25,000
islands, which requires a multimodal system with both land
and water transport, coupled with the fact that both Indonesia
and the Philippines are located in the Pacific Ring of Fire
where frequent seismic and volcanic activities occur. These
geological factors alone have impacted the logistics industry's
Figure 55: Logistics sector contribution to total GDP
(nominal)
Figure 56: Logistics cost as % of sales (2018)
30.0%
6%
5%
5%
5%
27.2%
25.0%
4%
21.4%
20.0%
4%
3%
16.3%
3%
3%
2%
15.0%
11.1%
2%
10.0%
1%
5.0%
0%
0.0%
Singapore Thailand Indonesia Malaysia Philippines Vietnam
Source: SingStat, Office of the National Economic and Social Development
Council (TH), Department of Statistics (MY), BPS-Statistics (ID), National
Accounts of the Philippines, General Statistics Office (VN)
Philippines
Indonesia
Vietnam
Thailand
Source: Department of Trade and Industry (PH), World Bank.
Note: Data unavailable for Singapore and Malaysia
Figure 57: E-commerce logistics market size, 2020-25E (€ bn)
(€ bn)
Asia Pacific
108.3
North America
4.2
South America
3.6
Caucasus, Central Asia and Russia
Share of
growth (%)
1.2
0.7
1.3
0.0
2.2
1.9
2.2
Sub-saharan Africa
30
12.6
23.7
Middle East and North Africa
Source: McKinsey
24.1
45.6
Europe
57.3
20.0
40.0
60.0
80.0
100.0
120.0
Government initiatives
e-commerce logistics
The respective governments of ASEAN-6 countries have
recognised the need to further develop their nation's
logistics infrastructure not just to keep pace with the
continuing growth in e-commerce orders, but to foster
greater local and global integration. The logistics sector
contributed 2-5% of the countries' GDPs in 2020, with
Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia seeing the largest
contributions. Meanwhile, Philippines and Indonesia have the
highest logistics cost as a proportion of sales at 27% and
21% respectively.
According to McKinsey, the recovery of Asia's e-commerce
logistics sector is expected to outpace other regions: Asia's
e-commerce logistics market size is expected to grow by
~US$127 bn (€108 bn) over 2020-2025E, and account for
~57% of total market growth. Within Asia, Indonesia,
Vietnam, and Thailand are among the markets that have the
highest potential for growth.
The various governments have each released plans or
strategic roadmaps which outline plans, such as:
Indonesia's implementation of the National Logistics
Ecosystem platform which aims to cut logistics cost;
Malaysia's Logistics and Trade Facilitation Masterplan to
position itself as a regional logistics gateway and develop
the logistics industry to further improve productivity and
competitiveness;
The Philippines' Ten Commitments of the Philippines
Logistics Services Sector to make the country's logistics
cost competitive with neighbouring ASEAN countries;
Singapore's Logistics Industry Transformation Map to
reinforce the country's position as a globally leading
logistics hub;
Thailand's national infrastructure development
programme for transport infrastructure and seaport
upgrades;
Vietnam's action plan to improve the competitiveness
and development of the country's logistics industry.
ASEAN Unicorns
31
Deliveries and mobility: “A tale of two halves”
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a tale of two halves for deliveries and mobility. Deliveries saw a
strong boost in adoption as consumers relied on mobile platforms to get their food and groceries
delivered during lockdowns, while mobility demand dampened as remote working became the norm for
many. However mobility is expected to show recovery as economies come out of the pandemic.
The deliveries and mobility sectors have evolved from single
service platforms which aimed to provide convenient and
lower cost alternatives to offline options. This was especially
true in the case of ride hailing, where prior to the emergence
of booking apps, consumers had to either hail a taxi off the
street as the sole on-demand option, or book one in advance
via telephone which would usually incur additional charges. As
for food delivery, there were previously no aggregator
platforms with wide selections of food & beverage outlets for
consumers to order from, and advance orders also usually
took place via telephone. Industry players have now expanded
their offerings across services in “super apps” to provide a
wide range of services, including deliveries of prepared food
and groceries as well as ride hailing.
Similarly, the ride hailing industry is also dominated by Grab
and Gojek, with other players operating nationally. Sea Ltd
also dipped its toes into the industry through Ryde, having
led two earlier funding rounds in 2016 and 2017. We note
that Grab is the only player to be operating in all six markets
in the region in both industries. Despite the seemingly
fragmented nature of both industries, both the large players
and smaller national players have received backing from
notable firms.
Ride hailing companies have raised more than US$14 bn
over 2015-19 according to Google-Temasek, much of
which was by Grab and Gojek, as they sought to further
expand across the region and plough more investments into
new services amidst efforts to build “super apps”.
Seemingly fragmented, but well-funded
The ASEAN-6 food delivery industry is largely dominated by Grab,
Delivery Hero’s Food Panda, and Gojek. Sea Limited further
expanded its presence with ShopeeFood in Indonesia, Malaysia
and Thailand in 1H21, supporting the view that there are further
opportunities yet to be captured in the region. The company has
been operating Vietnam’s leading player, Now, since 2017,
which has been rebranded to ShopeeFood in Aug-2021.
Figure 58: ASEAN food delivery ecosystem—key players
ID
PH
TH
MY
SG
VN
Grab
Gojek
ShopeeFood (Sea Ltd)
LalaFood
Foodpanda
Get Food (Gojek)
Bungkusit
LineMan
ShopeeFood (Sea Ltd)
ShopeeFood (Sea Ltd)
Deliveroo
WhyQ
ShopeeFood (Sea Ltd)
Baemin
GoFood (Gojek)
Lozi
Loship
Note: Now (VN) was rebranded to ShopeeFood in Aug-2021. Source: Credit Suisse
Figure 59: ASEAN ride hailing ecosystem—key players
ID
PH
TH
MY
SG
VN
Grab
Gojek
OWTO
Gojek *
MyCar
Via
Hype
MiCab
GoBike
EZCab
Ryde
* Note: AirAsia has acquired Gojek's Thai business. Source: Credit Suisse
32
Gojek
Comfort
TADA
Ryde
Be
FastGo
Smartphone penetration uptrend to underpin
increased adoption of shared services in the longer
term
With work-from-home being the default for most working
adults during the pandemic, accompanied by the
convenience of ordering food from mobile app platforms, the
COVID-19 mobility restrictions aided in the increased take
up of smartphones of consumers who would have liked to
order their meals in and consume them within the safety of
their homes but did not yet own a mobile device that could
access these food delivery apps. Consequently, smartphone
penetration (of the respective countries’ populations) saw
significant improvements—especially in Indonesia, the
Philippines and Vietnam with CAGRs of 18.3%, 12.4% and
11.6% respectively from 2019-21E. eMarketer expects
further deepening of these countries’ smartphone
penetrations in the longer term, with CAGRs of 3.8%, 3.0%
and 2.2% respectively over 2020-25E.
Figure 60: Food delivery GMV breakdown by player—
market share (US$ bn, 2020)
Figure 61: Food delivery GMV breakdown by country
(US$ bn, 2020)
US$ bn
US$ bn
4.0
7.0
6.0
5.9
3.7
3.5
3.0
5.0
2.4
2.5
• Total GMV: US$11.9 bn
4.0
2.8
• Total GMV: US$11.9 bn
2.0
3.0
2.5
1.5
2.0
2.0
1.2
1.1
1.0
0.6
1.0
0.6
0.7
0.5
0.3
0.0
0.0
Grab
Food
Panda
Source: Momentum Works
Gojek
Deliveroo LineMan
Indonesia Thailand Singapore Philippines Malaysia
Now
Vietnam
Source: Momentum Works
Figure 62: SE Asia food delivery GMV and market share, 2020
Source: Momentum Works
ASEAN Unicorns
33
The continued trend of consumer handset upgrades from
feature phones to smartphones will further underpin
increased adoption of on-demand food delivery services
going forward. Likewise, we also expect this to support a
growth in take up of ride hailing services and drive the
resumption of its upward trajectory when the COVID
situation starts to improve and normalise in the region over
the longer term.
Grab is the regional leader
According to Momentum Works, Grab is the regional market
leader in food delivery, capturing almost half the total market
share of the ASEAN-6 food delivery industry at 49.7% in
2020 and generating a GMV of US$5.9 bn. This is followed
by Food Panda and Gojek with market shares of
21.2%/16.9% and GMV of US$2.5 bn and US$2.0 bn.
Country-wise, Indonesia was the top contributor and made
up almost a third (31.1%) of the region’s total GMV at
US$3.7 bn. Thailand and Singapore contributed
23.5%/20.2% after booking GMVs of US$2.8 bn and
US$2.4 bn respectively.
In terms of annual per-capita spending on food service
consumption, Singapore despite having the smallest
population among the six markets leads the pack and is far
ahead of the other markets at US$1,900 in 2019, 3.0x the
amount in 1998—the same pace of growth as the country’s
nominal GDP per capita over the same period. However,
Indonesia saw the fastest growth and saw the largest jump
in per-capita spend on food service consumption over the
last decade of 7.4x, in line with the country’s nominal GDP
per capita growth of 7.6x.
In mobility, Grab is also the regional category leader in terms
of GMV according to Euromonitor’s estimates, accounting
for ~72% of SE Asia’s ride hailing GMV in 2020, while the
next closest competitor saw significantly less contribution at
~5% of regional GMV.
Figure 63: SE Asia ride hailing GMV (US$ bn)
We see stark contrasts between the two sectors when
looking at the impact from the COVID-19 mobility
restrictions. On the one hand, ride hailing took a big hit
when lockdowns were imposed within the communities and
commuting came to a standstill as schools and workplaces
were shut. Google-Temasek estimates that urban mobility
plunged by up to ~80% at the height of lockdown, and
expects shared transportation volumes to remain muted
through to 1H21. This is in line with Euromonitor’s
estimates of a YoY drop in SE Asia ride hailing GMV of
~US$4 bn in 2020 to US$5 bn. Considering the recent rise
in new COVID-19 cases and the pace of vaccination rollouts
across the region, we expect the transportation sector to
remain challenged until end-2021. However, the sector is
expected to see a rebound to pre-COVID levels in the longer
run and hit a GMV of US$19 bn by 2025, growing at a
CAGR of ~33% over 2020-25E.
On the other hand, food delivery witnessed a surge as a
result of the mobility restrictions, with new users making up
37% of total users during the lockdowns, according to
Google-Temasek. Large numbers of F&B outlets were
onboarded to the platforms through which they had to rely
on continuing to access their customers as well as reach
new ones. Some players also redirected their ride hailing
driver fleet to deliver food and grocery orders amidst the
rush in demand. According to the Google-Temasek report,
buying behaviour saw a shift towards online due to COVID19 lockdowns, as 34% of consumers indicated that they
have used food delivery services more than before. This
resulted in an uptick in SE Asia online food delivery GMV of
+US$4 bn YoY to US$9 bn in 2020 per Euromonitor. This
upward trajectory is also expected to sustain in the longer
term, with the sector hitting a GMV of US$28 bn by 2025,
growing at a CAGR of ~24% over 2020-25E.
Nevertheless, YoY growth in online food delivery GMV was
not able to offset the decline in transport. However, the fall
in ride hailing is expected to be a temporary blip. Countrywise, we expect the growth in both sectors over 2020-25 to
be led by Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
Figure 64: SE Asia online food delivery GMV (US$ bn)
(US$ bn)
(US$ bn)
19
20
18
16
24
20
20
16
11
12
8
7
5
6
3
9
10
6
5
13
5
2
1
2
2017
9
8
15
2016
10
3
5
Source: Euromonitor International Analysis
2025E
2024E
2023E
2022E
2021E
2020
2019
2025E
2024E
2023E
2022E
2021E
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
Source: Euromonitor International Analysis
2018
0
0
34
28
30
25
14
14
4
Food delivery and ride hailing GMV to resume upward
trajectory post-2020
Digital healthcare at an inflection point
The pandemic has brought forward the telemedicine revolution a long way as the service helped ease the
burden of national healthcare systems and reduced chances of COVID transmission as patients could
consult doctors for minor illnesses online instead of commuting to the clinic. Support from the healthcare
community and governments, as well as consumer acceptance, alongside a shortage of physicians will
continue to encourage adoption.
A shift in age demographics, coupled with a growing chronic
disease burden, will drive ASEAN’s future demand for
healthcare. According to Solidiance, total healthcare
spending in ASEAN 6 (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia,
Philippines, Vietnam & Thailand) is expected to reach
US$740 bn by 2025, from US$420 bn in 2017. At the
same time, growth in healthcare cost per capita has
outpaced growth in GDP per capita. The imminent increase
in healthcare cost burden is expected to drive the adoption
of digital healthcare going forward.
The digital healthcare industry in Asia Pacific is predicted by
Graphical Research to be among the fastest growing
globally, and is estimated to grow at a 21.2% CAGR to
reach US$74.0 bn by 2027. We expect Southeast Asia to
grow at an even faster rate given the longstanding problems
of access and unequal standards of healthcare across the
region. Prior to the pandemic, healthtech investment in
Southeast Asia reached a record US$266 mn (+125%
YoY) in 2019, according to Galen Growth data, reflecting
growing maturity in the ecosystem. Singapore and Indonesia
made up the bulk of investment dollars, accounting for a
combined ~93% of the total funding value. Singapore came
in ahead in terms of deal volumes with 54% share, though
having shrunk from 74% the year before, as neighbouring
countries expanded their ecosystems and attractiveness.
Figure 65: Total healthcare spending in ASEAN 6
estimated to reach US$740 bn by 2025
Figure 66: Healthtech investment dollars into Southeast
Asia (US$ mn)
US$ bn
US$ mn
740
800
300
266
250
600
200
420
400
150
91
100
200
50
0
118
54
38
0
2017
2025F
2015
2016
2017
2018
Source: Solidiance
Source: Galen Growth
Figure 67: ASEAN’s digital penetration (2019)
Figure 68: # of internet users in Southeast Asia
%
mn
100%
400
84%
67%
75%
50%
43%
89%
69%
2019
360
260
48%
200
25%
0
0%
Philippines Indonesia Thailand
Source: World Bank
Vietnam
2015
Malaysia Singapore
2019
Source: World Bank
ASEAN Unicorns
35
Healthtech well poised for growth
Among the 50 most funded digital health startups in ASEAN,
telehealth/telemedicine space proved most popular among
investors, accounting for 40% of the total number of
startups. Majority of these top 50 are based in Singapore
(39) and accounted for >88% of all funds raised in the
region. This can be attributed to Singapore’s more
developed start-up and medical ecosystems. A major reason
for these healthtech start-ups to raise funding is to
internationalize and expand to markets abroad. Many of
these start-ups have yet to expand overseas, serving only
domestic markets due to large untapped potential in their
home markets.
Spotlight on telehealth
According to ADB, 15% of the ASEAN population will be in
the 65 years and above category by 050 (~3x of 2010’s
4.8%). At the same time, the shortage of medical
physicians within the region is likely to continue. As such,
telemedicine is likely to play a prominent role on back of its
cost savings and increased accessibility benefits.
Currently, the telehealth space consists mostly of
independent startups that act as aggregators of healthcare
providers. In terms of adoption, Singapore leads it’s the
region thanks to its strong government support and high
internet connectivity. That said, we are seeing governments
take proactive measures to enable the sector since the
pandemic. On the other hand, Indonesia has the most
potential, in our view, given its acute physician shortage and
large population size.
Healthcare leaders agree that the pandemic has brought
forward the telemedicine revolution by a decade or more.
The rapid escalation of Covid-19 cases has prompted the
healthcare community to implement elements of telehealth
in its care delivery model, while at the same time, increased
consumer acceptance following government lockdown
measures and rising fear of infection.
Figure 69: 50 most-funded ASEAN healthtech start-ups
by specialisation
Figure 70: Telemedicine adoption vs internet connectivity
by country
25
90
8
10
5
11
9
Malay sia
Indonesia
30
0
0
Consumer Biotechnology Health
health portal
software /
solutions
Medical
devices /
hardware
0
Telehealth /
telemedicine
Source: UNCTAD
Thailand
Philippines
Low
2
Singapore
India
60
Medium
15
Telemedicine adoption*
High
20
US
China
20
<25%
30
25-70%
60
Internet penetration (%)
Vietnam
>70%
90
*Market size
Source: Credit Suisse, World Bank
Figure 71: Telemedicine industry landscape snapshot on selected ASEAN countries
Criteria
Regulatory guidance
Public funding
Reimbursable by
Paid by private
the government?
insurance / patient
receptive to
OOP?
telemedicine?


Less competitive


Competitive


More competitive


Less competitive
1997 was never
enforced


Thailand
Source: Company data, Credit Suisse estimates
36
Market competition Leading companies
telemedicine?
*Telemedicine Act
Singapore
Cultural attitude
Policies regulating
Indonesia
Malaysia
Private funding
Patients / providers How competitive is
the market?
Examples of big
players
HaloDoc, Good
Doctor, AloDokter
Doctor2U, Doctor On
Call, Doc2Us
Doctor Anywhere,
WhiteCoat, MyDoc
Doctor Raksa,
Clicknic
Fintech: Propelled by structural and behavioural
changes
~25% and 50% of SE Asia's adult population are underbanked and unbanked respectively, with
SMEs/MSMEs/informal economy workers accounting for those in the under-served/unserved segments.
The COVID-19 pandemic also accelerated adoption of financial services and these trends are expected to
remain in the longer term given the convenience and lower costs. Regulatory backing and infrastructure
developments can also provide further support, while players can leverage tech to narrow the gap in
financial inclusion.
The ASEAN-6 comprises a bloc of countries, each at
varying stages of their economic evolution and therefore are
seeing differing penetration rates of financial product. The
sub-region's population is estimated to have reached ~589
mn people (end-2020), with ~64% under the age of 40
who are most open to the adoption of digital financial
services. It is also one of the fastest growing markets in the
world, with an average nominal GDP growth of ~+5% over
2015-19, 2 pp higher than the global average. The total size
of the economy was ~US$3 tn in 2020. Furthermore, GDP
growth for the region is projected by the IMF at +9%/+8%
for 2021/2022, vs -5% for 2020.
developments can also provide further support. The financial
services industry can thus leverage tech and digitalisation to
overcome the gap in financial inclusion in the region.
Payments: Government policies supportive of
promoting non-cash usage
In Asia, China and India have been at the forefront of
increasing the adoption of digital payment over the past 3-5
years. In China, digital payment growth has been led by the
tech companies (with minimal government intervention),
while in India various government initiatives (Unified
Payments Interface, de-monetisation, etc.) have
spearheaded the growth. With basic building blocks (in
terms of smartphone penetration and data network) in place,
ASEAN-6 countries have also witnessed a push towards
digital payment driven by both government initiatives and the
launch of services by private companies (including tech and
non-tech).
Google-Temasek estimates that ~25% and 50% of SE
Asia's adult population are underbanked and unbanked
respectively, with SMEs/MSMEs/informal economy workers
accounting for those in the under-served/unserved
segments. In addition, the COIVD-19 pandemic accelerated
the adoption and migration to digital channels for financial
services and these trends are expected to remain in the
longer term given greater convenience and lower costs to
consumers. Regulatory backing and infrastructure
Figure 72: ASEAN-6 nations are ripe for digital payment disruption with rising digital preparedness and low
penetration of traditional financial products
ID
MY
PH
SG
TH
VN
IN
CH
386
107
145
51
140
112
640
6,063
32
6
4
4
9
7
42
1,819
3,922
10,270
3,330
58,902
7,190
3,499
1,965
10,484
Size of consumer cash economy
Retail market size (US$ bn), 2020
e-commerce market size (US$ bn), 2020
GDP per capita (US$), 2020E
Digital preparedness
Population (mn), 2020
Smartphone penetration (%), 2020
4G penetration (%), Dec-2020
Avg. mobile download speed (Mbps), Aug-2021
Financial preparedness
Bank penetration (%), 2017
274
32
110
6
70
97
1,380
1,402
100%
120%
113%
148%
129%
72%
46%
128%
68%
112%
100%
135%
90%
n.a.
44%
101%
22
29
34
92
49
41
18
163
80%
49%
85%
35%
98%
82%
31%
80%
Credit card penetration (%), 2020
6%
31%
10%
119%
34%
5%
3%
53%
Debit card penetration (%), 2020
64%
140%
39%
168%
93%
83%
66%
547%
POS terminals (per '000 people), 2019
4
n.a.
n.a.
48
n.a.
n.a.
4
25
Number of ATMs (per 100,000 adults), 2020
52
56
30
54
115
26
22
88
Bank branches (per 100,000 adults), 2020
15
9
9
7
11
4
15
9
Source: BIS, IMDA, IMF Financial Access Survey 2020, McKinsey GPR 2020, MCMC, Newzoo, Ookla Global Index, VNTA, World Bank, company data,
Credit Suisse estimates
ASEAN Unicorns
37
Governments in various ASEAN-6 countries have released a
host of policies and initiatives to promote digital payment in
their respective countries. We note that the objectives of the
various governments may be slightly different, given their
differing stages of economic development. While Singapore,
Malaysia and Thailand are looking at mobile payment as a
means to increasing non-cash usage in the economy,
Indonesia and the Philippines view it as a means to also
increase financial inclusion considering their low penetration
of traditional banking services.
Key among the several government initiatives have been the
policy or framework on promoting digital payments, the
licensing of e-payment service providers, the
formation/improvement of national payment networks and
regulations on QR codes.
Policy or framework on increasing non-cash usage:
Several governments in the ASEAN-6 have released
policy documents or policy frameworks to increase noncash usage in the economy. For example, Malaysia has
introduced three broad waves of reform measures under
its Financial Sector Blueprint 2011-20. The Philippines
crafted a national strategy for financial inclusion in 2015,
while Thailand introduced its national e-payment master
plan in December 2015 to drive the government's
cashless economy policy.
Licensing: All countries in the ASEAN-6 require
companies to have e-payment licences in order to offer
mobile payment services. The companies may need
additional licences to offer lending, remittance services,
etc. Generally, licensing conditions are not stringent in
the ASEAN-6 as there are many e-payment providers in
each country. That said, few countries such as Indonesia
and the Philippines do place foreign ownership
restrictions on the payment service providers.
various initiatives to create or improve national payment
infrastructures. Indonesia has seen the formation of
national payment networks which are expected to
improve interoperability and reduce costs, while Thailand,
Malaysia, and the Philippines and Singapore have seen
the launch of real-time retail payment systems to
improve the consumer payment experience. We believe
that real-time retail payment systems can be one of the
pillars for promoting digital payments in some of the
ASEAN-6 countries.
QR code: The use of QR codes as a form of payment
has spread across Asia, learning from China's
experience. QR codes are a cost-effective medium for
payment at the retail level given their low cost of
installation and maintenance compared to POS terminals.
ASEAN-6 countries have also embraced QR code
technology following regional peers. The region has seen
coming of standardised QR codes which can play an
important role in the evolution of digital payments in
ASEAN.
e-wallet penetration expected to reach ~10% by 2025
from 4% in 2020
Euromonitor estimates that the size of SE Asia's e-wallet
market was at ~US$39 bn in 2020, and is expected to grow
at a five-year CAGR of ~7% to reach ~US$138 bn by 2025.
Meanwhile, other digital financial services such as insurance,
lending and wealth management are still relatively nascent in
the region and are each projected to grow fourfold by 2025.
Real-time retail payment systems: India provides a
good example of how an effective implementation of
real-time retail payment system can help spur digital
payment growth. The ASEAN-6 has also come with
Figure 73: e-wallet transactions and penetration in SE
Asia have been climbing steadily
160.0
137.8
140.0
113.7
120.0
8.0%
91.3
100.0
70.8
80.0
53.3
60.0
4.0%
38.9
40.0
20.0
24.6
3.7 5.5
11.4
2025E
2024E
2023E
2022E
2021E
2020
2019
2018
2017
0.0%
2016
0.0
e-wallet transactions in SE Asia (US$ bn, LHS)
e-wallet penetration in SE Asia (%, RHS)
Source: Euromonitor International estimates
38
12.0%
Figure 74: Other digital financial services expected to
grow at CAGRs of 18-32% over 2020-25E
(US$ bn)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
CAGR '20-'25E
+32%
84
+32% 92
+18%
35
+31%
2
2
8
Insurance APE/
GWP
11
21
15
10
Remittance
flows
2019
23 23
2020
Investment
AUM
2025E
Source: Google-Temasek-Bain e-Conomy SEA 2020
Lending loan
book
Other fintech verticals are also highly underpenetrated but are at an inflection point
Insurance: A means to improve financial inclusion,
while digital sales channels to remain popular postpandemic
The insurance sector was one of the beneficiaries of the
migration to digital as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic as
in-person sales of policies had to cease while mobility
restrictions were in place and online channels had to be
utilised in order to facilitate sales. Meanwhile, demand for
life and health insurance coverage grew amidst the
pandemic. This trend is expected to remain in the longer
term as consumers recognise the convenience and value of
going digital over the traditional offline channels. Consumer
tech platforms such as Grab have also used Insurance as a
means to improve financial inclusion within the community
(e.g., Micro-insurance products), while government efforts
to encourage the development of differentiated solutions for
consumers also acts as a key driver of growth. GoogleTemasek expects the insurance sector's annual premium
equivalent (APE)/gross written premium (GWP) to grow
from US$2 bn in 2020 to US$8 bn in 2025, a CAGR of
+31% over the period.
Remittance: Convenience and low costs driving
behavioural changes towards electronic channels
Remittances also witnessed a jump in adoption amidst
mobility restrictions, as app downloads of digital remittance
platforms more than doubled YoY in 2020. This trend is
further reinforced by employers turning to digital channels to
pay migrant workers who then go on to transfer the funds to
their families. Similarly, convenience and value are key
drivers in ensuring that these behavioural changes remain in
the longer term, as Google-Temasek estimate that up to
40% of total remittance value will be transacted online by
2025. Remittance flows are expected to grow from US$15
bn in 2020 to US$35 bn in 2025, a CAGR of +18% over
the five-year period.
Investments: Consumer tech platforms widen access
to investing by lowering the minimum threshold
The digital wealth management sector is still at a nascent
stage in the region given that financial literacy is relatively
poor. However, there has been a rise in consumer interest in
robo advisers and online wealth management, while
adoption continues to grow as consumers feel increasingly
at ease with investing online. Meanwhile, consumer tech
platforms such as Grab have enabled digital investment
solutions to be widely accessible to all customer segments
by lowering the required minimum investment amount. Many
platforms also offer free access to resources to educate
consumers on investments. Google-Temasek expects digital
investment AUM to grow from US$21 bn in 2020 to US$84
bn by 2025, a CAGR of +32% over the period.
Lending: A myriad of financing solutions now available
to the under-served/unserved segments
The digital lending market is similarly in its developmental
stages given the relatively low banking penetration and
underdeveloped infrastructure. MSMEs and workers in the
informal economy are still under-served or unserved by the
existing banking system given the lack of credit history. In
order to promote greater financial inclusion and close the
funding gap, platforms such as Grab and Gojek offer
solutions such as SME/micro loans/buy-now-lay-later, while
regulatory frameworks work to improve universal access to
digital lending. Development of infrastructure (eg. e-KYC)
will also provide further support. Google-Temasek thus
expects the digital lending loan book to grow from US$23
bn in 2020 to US$92 bn in 2025, a CAGR of +32% over
the five year period.
ASEAN Unicorns
39
List of firms
“
We highlight 35 unicorns across various
industries and countries in ASEAN, and
include firms that (i) have seen a funding
round at a valuation exceeding US$1 bn;
(ii) where the last funding round was at
least US$800 mn and the business
momentum has been strong.
40
Indonesia
“
Indonesia
ASEAN Unicorns
41
Akulaku
Fintech
Andri Ngaserin
Reason for inclusion: Dealroom.co estimates valuation for Akulaku at ~€909 mn (~US$1.1 bn) in its last funding round in
2019.
Company profile
Akulaku was started by William Li (ex-Ping An Insurance) and Gordon Hu (ex-Tencent, Oracle, Citic) in 2014 with the idea
of revolutionising the digital financial experience of the ASEAN and Indonesian populations. Fast forward to 2021, Akulaku
has a presence in BNPL, cash personal loans, instalments (offline BNPL), P2P lending (Asetku), and merchant solutions. In
2021, it increased its stake in Bank Yudha Bhakti and rebranded it to Bank Neo Commerce (BNC).
Funding history
Since 2014 and up to 2019, Akulaku has raised close to US$220 mn based on Crunchbase. Its investor list includes Ant
Group, Sequoia India, Arbor Ventures among others. Meanwhile, Bank Neo Commerce aims to raise Rp2.5 tn (US$176 mn)
through rights issuance, as reported by Jakarta Post in Sep-2021.
Figure 75: Funding history and valuation
100
80
60
40
20
0
Founded in 2014
2014
1,250
1,000
750
500
250
0
2015
2016
2017
Funding history (US$ mn)
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase, Dealroom.co
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
William Li
CEO
Gordon Hu
CTO
William Li has around 14 years of experience in the finance industry. Prior to
founding Akulaku in 2014, he worked as an investment manager in Ping An
Insurance for three years. He started his career in King & Wood Mallesons, a top
multinational law firm.
Gordon Hu is the CTO for Akulaku and has had 17 years of experience within
technology R&D, engineering and implementation. Prior to founding Akulaku in
2014, he worked in Citic Securities as a senior software engineer in quant and
algo trading. Mr Hu also previously worked in Tencent (senior software engineer),
and Oracle (technical consultant).
Source: Linkedin
42
Figure 76: Key statistics
Valuation
Last valuation
Investors
Key data points
Akulaku—total users 1H21
Akulaku—total users 2021 (C Guidance)
Akulaku—MAU 1H21
Bank Neo Commerce 1H21—customers
Bank Neo Commerce 2021 (C Guidance)—customers
Bank Neo Commerce 1H21 DAU
Select financials
Akulaku total GMV—1H21
Akulaku total loan disbursement—1H21
Akulaku revenue—1H21
Bank Neo Commerce 2021 (C Guidance)–deposit balance
Bank Neo Commerce 2021 (C Guidance)—loan balance
(US$ mn)
1,100 (2019)
Ant, Sequioa India, Arbor
12
23
7
2.3
10
0.69
111%
>~4x
93%
NA
NA
NA
1910
997
275
400
360
86%
>2x
>2x
NA
NA
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Dealroom.co
Full-service Fintech with strong growth
According to Akulaku, 1H21 revenue was US$275 mn or a growth of more than double versus 1H20. This was made
possible by doubling of total loans disbursed and GMV almost doubling as well. In 2021, Bank Neo Commerce (BNC)
launched a digital bank app that has captured 100k account openings per day on average since its launch, according to
company data. Going forward, it intends to roll out more product within Bank Neo Commerce and to increase BNC’s
customer accounts to 27 mn by 2023E from 8 mn in 2021E.
Akulaku has one of the largest fintech ecosystems
Akulaku was started in 2014 and since then its ecosystem now encompasses, Akulaku (loans), Asetku (P2P investment),
Aku asuransi (insurance), and BNC (digital bank). Akulaku claims a platform of 39 mn registered users which has 10 mn
credit users, >5,000 merchants, 32 mn SKUs in store for sale, among others, making it one of the largest fintech presences
by registered users (comparatively, Kredivo disclosed a 3 mn user base per its SEC filing, filed in 3Q21).
Prides itself in agile e-kyc and strong risk model and risk scoring
Akulaku claims 13 mn users with verified KYC information (data analytics, biographic recognition) which BNC is able to
access as a potential addressable market. Akulaku also has a risk score and differentiated risk pricing, taking inputs not just
from financial data but also non-financial data as input to its risk scoring model. Akulaku claims it has tested its decision
engine and risk model for over five years and believes this will help it maintain a low NPL percentage and will become a moat
going forward.
Figure 77: Bank Neo Commerce business overview
Figure 78: Avg 100k accounts per day opening since
launch
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
43
Figure 79: Provide Banking as a service to partners
Figure 80: Akulaku ecosystem—Akulaku, Asetku, Aku
Asuransi
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
Figure 81: BNC product roll out in 2021 and 2022
Source: Company data
Figure 82: Bank Neo Commerce Platform—integrated end-to-end data
Source: Company data
44
Blibli
e-commerce
Samuel Pratama
Reason for inclusion: Daily Social quotes valuation of Blibli at >US$1 bn as of 2021.
Company profile
Blibli was founded in 2011, one of Indonesia’s e-commerce platforms with a business model focussing on B2B and B2C. It
is currently among the top 5 highest traffic e-commerce sites in Indonesia as of 1Q21, according to iPrice. The company
states on its website that it has a network of over 100k business partners with products ranging from electronics, primary
goods, lifestyle products and others. The company’s logistics are supported by over 20 warehouses and 32 hubs across
Indonesia. Blibli has also started its Omni Channel solution and services through click collect by partnering with big retail
brands including Samsung, Alfamart as well as Blibli mitra with over 15.7k mitra partners. Blibli has also built loyalty and
reward programmes with over 500 partners in over 5,000 locations.
Funding history
Blibli is internally funded by the Djarum group with over 90% of the company still owned by the group.
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Kusumo Martanto
CEO
Previously worked in I2 technologies for six years, Intel corporation for three years
before Djarum group.
Source: Company data
Figure 83: Blibli app
Figure 84: As of 1Q21, Blibli is in the top 5 in website
visits
Source: Company data
Source: iPrice
Market leader in Mobile, IT and consumer electronics
Blibli has continued to grow its brand through better customer services and additional value-adds including extended
warranties, installation, insurance and service centres. Blibli also expended its retail expansion to allow for better customer
experience.
Increase brand partnerships
Blibli has continued to grow its business by increasing more brand principals and authorised distribution agents to allow for
better growth not just from the B2C segment but also to tap into the B2B/G segments. Additionally, it has continued to
scale up to help improve unit economics and allow for more fulfilment capabilities for its brands and partners.
ASEAN Unicorns
45
GoTo
Diversified Internet
Varun Ahuja
Reason for inclusion: KrAsia quotes valuation of GoTo at US$18 bn in 2021.
Company profile
The GoTo Group is a merger between Gojek and Tokopedia in May-2021. The GoTo Group combines e-commerce, ondemand, and financial services.
Gojek
Gojek is one of the leading diversified internet companies in Indonesia, providing a wide range of services including transport,
payments, food delivery, logistics, and others. Founded in 2010, Gojek started as a call centre to connect consumers to
delivery courier and ride-hailing services with a fleet of only 20 motorcycle-taxi drivers. Gojek’s app was launched in 2015 for
users in Indonesia to provide four main services: motorcycle ride-sharing (GoRide), courier (GoSend), food delivery (GoFood),
and shopping (GoMart). In 2016-17, Gojek launched e-money and mobile payment (GoPay), and on-demand car service
(GoCar). Gojek has transformed into a one-stop platform with more than 20 services in Indonesia. It expanded across the
Southeast Asia region, including to Vietnam and Singapore in 2018. Gojek also entered Thailand in 2019, but divested its
Thailand business in July 2021. According to the company, Gojek has a total of 38 mn monthly active users across
Southeast Asia as of end 2020, with a total of more than 190 mn total downloads across the region since 2015. Gojek has
been connecting users with over 2 mn registered driver-partners and 900,000 GoFood merchants. Gross transaction value
(GTV) has reached US$12 bn in 2020 (+10% YoY), based on a Techinasia article dated Nov-2020.
Tokopedia
Founded in 2009, Tokopedia is one of the leading e-commerce marketplace platforms in Indonesia. Tokopedia provides a
C2C business platform for merchants and buyers, as well as B2C business for well-known brands through online official
stores. Tokopedia provides a wide range of products, including electronics, computers, mobile & gadgets, home & living,
beauty & fashion, food & beverages, and others. In addition, Tokopedia also provides digital products such as credit, BPJS
payments, utility payments, telephone payments, credit cards, flight tickets, event tickets, games vouchers, and others. In
2020, Tokopedia also launched Dhanapala, which is a fintech P2P lending service.
Funding history
Gojek
Gojek has raised a total of US$5.3 bn in funding based on Crunchbase, and is reported by KrAsia to have a valuation of
US$10.5 bn as of 2021. Key shareholders are Tencent, Google, JD.com, Mitsubishi Corporation, Visa, Kohlberg Kravis
Roberts, Warburg Pincus, Facebook, Golden Gate, PayPal, Telkomsel, and Astra International.
Tokopedia
Tokopedia has raised a total of US$2.8 bn in funding based on Crunchbase, and is reported by KrAsia to have a valuation of
US$7.5 bn as of 2021. Key shareholders are Alibaba Group, SoftBank, Google, and Temasek.
Figure 85: Gojek funding history and valuation
3,000
Founded in 2010
12,000
2,000
8,000
1,000
4,000
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
Source: Crunchbase, Techinasia, TechCrunch, Refinitiv, KrAsia
46
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
2018
2019
2020
2021
Figure 86: Tokopedia funding history and valuation
1,200
Founded in 2009
8,000
900
6,000
600
4,000
300
2,000
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Funding (US$ mn)
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase, Techinasia, TechCrunch, KrAsia
Management profiles
Name
Position
Andre Soelistyo
CEO of GoTo Group
Kevin Aluwi
William Tanuwijaya
Profile
Andre Soelistyo joined Gojek in 2015 and served as co-CEO since Oct-2019. Prior to
joining Gojek, he was the executive director at Northstar Group. He previously served
as the head of corporate finance at Delta Dunia Makmur. He earned a Bachelor of
Science in information technology degree from University of Technology Sydney.
Co-founder and CEO of Since co-founding Gojek, Kevin Aluwi has held significant leadership roles within the
Gojek
organisation. Prior to his role at Gojek, he worked at Zalora Indonesia as head of
business intelligence. Earlier in his career, he worked in business development at the
Indonesian investment firm Merah Putih Inc. and also served as investment banking
analyst at Salem Partners LLC. Mr Aluwi obtained his bachelor’s degree in corporate
finance, entrepreneurship and international relations from University of Southern
California’s Marshall School of Business.
Co-founder and CEO of William Tanuwijaya is the co-founder and CEO of Tokopedia. Earlier in his career, he
Tokopedia
worked as a software developer in companies including TelkomSigma and Sqiva
Sistem. He has a bachelor’s degree in information technology from Bina Nusantara
University.
Source: Company data, Linkedin, CNBC
Figure 87: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
(US$ mn)
Gojek:
Tokopedia:
Key data points
GTV (2020)
Total transactions
Registered driver fleet (Dec-2020)
Merchant partners (Dec-2020)
MAU
18,000 (2021)
Tencent, Google, JD.com, Mitsubishi Corporation, Visa, Kohlberg Kravis
Roberts, Warburg Pincus, Facebook, Golden Gate, PayPal, Telkomsel,
and Astra International.
Alibaba Group, SoftBank, Google, and Temasek
(US$ bn)
(bn)
(mn)
(mn)
(mn)
>22
>1.8
>2
>11
>100
Source: Source: Company data, Crunchbase, KrAsia
One of Indonesia’s largest diversified internet companies
Under the new structure, GoTo group is one of the largest diversified internet companies in Indonesia. GoTo Group
comprises three main business arms, namely Gojek, GoTo Financial and Tokopedia. As reported by TechCrunch (dated 17
May 2021), GoTo Group claims that it had total group gross transaction value (GTV) of over US$22 bn in 2020, over 1.8 bn
transactions in 2020, over 2 mn total registered driver fleet as of Dec-2020, over 11 mn merchant partners as of Dec-2020,
and over 100 mn monthly active users.
Expanding range of product and services
Gojek has evolved into an integrated platform with more than 20 services in Indonesia, including transport and logistics, food
delivery and shopping, digital payments, news and entertainment and other on-demand services. Meanwhile, Tokopedia has
been adding new product categories and market segments as well as other services. In 2019, Tokopedia launched
TokoCabang, which is a warehousing service for merchants. Following the acquisition of a wedding marketplace named
Bridestory and app for children activities named Parentstory in 2019, Tokopedia launched various services in 2020, namely
Tokopedia Wedding, Tokopedia Parents, Tokopedia Print, and Tokopedia Clean.
ASEAN Unicorns
47
Developing fintech ecosystem with GoTo Financials
GoTo Financials includes various businesses, including GoPay, GoPay Later, Gobiz Plus, GoStore, Midtrans, Moka, Selly,
Mapan. Launched by Gojek in 2016, GoPay is now one of Indonesia's leading e-money wallets. GoPay can be directly used
for transactions in Gojek as well as online payment in many other merchants. In addition, there are many offline stores and
restaurants that also support GoPay payments.
Figure 88: Gojek services
Source: Company data
Figure 89: Tokopedia Website
Source: Company data
48
JD.ID
e-commerce
Varun Ahuja
Reason for inclusion: Tempo quotes JD.ID to have reached valuation of >US$1 bn since 2019.
Company profile
JD.ID is an e-commerce company service based in Indonesia. JD.ID started operating in Indonesia since 2015 with a focus
on electronic products and gadgets. Since then JD.ID has expanded its product categories to include: fashion, luxury,
mother & baby, mobile & gadget, computer, camera & audio, home & living, household appliance, grocery, beauty, sports,
toy & gaming, automotive, as well as digital products. According to iPrice research, JD.ID was ranked 9th in terms of visitor
traffic among Indonesia’s e-commerce players in 2Q21, with estimated monthly visits of around 3.7 mn. JD.ID is selling
more than 350k SKUs (as of 2018) which has grown significantly compared to 100k in 2016 and 10k in 2015. Furthermore,
it has nine warehouses in Indonesia (as of 2018).
Funding history
JD.Com is one of the subsidiaries of JD.com in China. The key shareholders of JD.com are Hillhouse Capital Group, DST
Global, Walmart, Google, Alwaleed Bin Talal, Kingdom Holding Company, and GGV Capital.
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Zhang Li
CEO
Zhang Li has been with JD.ID since 2015. Prior to joining JD.ID, Zhang Li served
as the senior director of merchandising of JD.Com for around five years.
Source: Company data, Linkedin
Developing online-to-offline ecosystem
JD.ID has expanded into the online-to-offline business, as part of its strategy to differentiate from other major players. In
2018, JD.ID opened its offline shop in Jakarta, named X-Mart which uses artificial intelligence in the store, such as facial
scanners and RFID scanners to recognise the customer’s order. In Sep-2021, JD introduced E-Space store with an area of
around 1,300 sq m, offering thousands of types of products from various brands of smartphones, gadgets, laptops as well
as brands of home appliances, home living and furniture. JD.ID has opened a total of five physical stores in Indonesia.
Offering ‘Nearby Shops’ feature
JD.ID launched the ‘Nearby Shops’ feature on its platform in Nov-2020. With this feature, a vendor can open one store on
the platform with many separate locations stored within that store and customers can choose the store location that is
closest to them by distance. In addition, the customers can also check the inventory of store items. Customers can receive
deliveries in as fast as 30 minutes, or pick up on site at the closest location.
Figure 90: JD.ID website homepage
Figure 91: JD.ID’s E-Space store in Indonesia
Source: Company data
Source: Company
ASEAN Unicorns
49
J&T Express
Logistics
Varun Ahuja
Reason for inclusion: Straits Times quotes the valuation of J&T Express at US$7.8 bn as of 2021.
Company profile
J&T Express is a freight service company founded in 2015 by Jet Lee and Tony Chen. The company is generally engaged in
logistics and package delivery. After starting out in Indonesia in 2015, J&T Express has expanded into the Southeast Asia
region including Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Cambodia, and most recently into China. J&T
Express focusses on shipping services for e-commerce business. J&T Express in Indonesia partners with the largest ecommerce platforms, namely Shopee, Tokopedia, and Bukalapak, among others. J&T Express in Indonesia offers a variety
of freight services, including J&T Eco (5-14 days estimated arrival time), J&T EZ (2-3 days estimated arrival time), and J&T
Super (1-2 days estimated arrival time). J&T Express states on its website that it has nearly 100 gateway centres with
professional equipment, while also having more than 4k operating points and thousands of fleets to support delivery services
across cities and islands throughout Indonesia. J&T Express has more than 350k employees globally.
Funding history
J&T Express received US$2 bn investments in Apr-2021, and has raised a cumulative of US$2.2 bn in funding according to
Crunchbase. J&T Express is reported by Straits Times to have a valuation of US$7.8 bn in 2021. Key shareholders are Boyu
Capital, Hillhouse Capital Group, and Sequoia Capital China.
Figure 92: Funding history and valuation
Founded in 2015
2,400
9,000
1,600
6,000
800
3,000
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Funding (US$ mn)
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase, Straits Times
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Robin Lo
CEO
Robin Lo is CEO of J&T Express Indonesia. Prior to joining J&T Express, he
worked at OPPO Indonesia as general manager. He holds a bachelor’s degree in
business administration.
Source: Company data, Linkedin
Figure 93: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Key data points
Avg. daily parcels in
Indonesia (2021)
Avg. daily parcels in
Indonesia (2020)
Avg. daily parcels in
Indonesia (pre-COVID)
employees globally
Figure 94: J&T Express Indonesia website homepage
(US$ mn)
7,800 (2021)
Boyu Capital, Hillhouse Capital
Group, and Sequoia Capital China
(mn)
2.5
(mn)
1.7
(mn)
1
('000)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Straits Times
50
350
Source: Company data
One of the fastest growing express delivery companies in SE Asia
According to a Straits Times article in Sep-2021, J&T Express delivered one million parcels daily on average in Indonesia
prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The delivery orders have been growing significantly, driven by consumers turning to online
shopping amid the pandemic. As a result, parcel delivery rose by 40% during the early pandemic period, and reached1.7 mn
packages daily by end-2020, two-thirds of which were contributed from e-commerce platforms and especially from its key
partners Shopee, Tokopedia, and Bukalapak. Parcel delivery has further increased by 25% YoY in 1H21. J&T Express
currently delivers 2.5 mn parcels each day. Meanwhile, J&T Express has been growing rapidly in Singapore as well. The
number of daily deliveries nearly doubled during the circuit breaker period.
Developing delivery services and infrastructures
In Mar-2021, J&T Express expanded its fleet to include an all-cargo aircraft in Indonesia in order to enable greater domestic
connectivity and ensure next-day delivery for local consumers. In Apr-2021, J&T Express launched a new service, J&T
Super, a delivery premium service whereby the package arrives on the same-day for same city delivery and within 48 hours
for cross city delivery, to complement its existing regular services as the demand for fast delivery has been increasing.
In order to meet rising demand for deliveries in Singapore, the company is accelerating its expansion plans for its warehouse
network, has extended daily delivery hours and hired more drivers. In Dec-2020, J&T Express opened its third Singapore
warehouse less than a year after launching in Jan-2020. The company is also increasing its fleet of small vans and large
trucks to handle parcels of varying sizes. In Mar-2021, J&T Express also launched 4-Hour Express Delivery for its customers
in Singapore using its fulfilment and warehousing solutions.
Overseas expansion in SE Asia
After starting in Indonesia in 2015, J&T Express expanded in the Southeast Asia region including to Malaysia and Vietnam in
2017, the Philippines and Thailand in 2018, Singapore and Cambodia in 2019, as well as to China in 2020. While J&T
Express has already covered most of the major countries in Southeast Asia, the company aims to expand further into other
countries.
Figure 95: J&T Express Indonesia delivery services
Figure 96: J&T Express’ 4-Hour Delivery in Singapore
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
51
OVO
Fintech
Steven Ho
Reason for inclusion: Straits Times quotes the valuation of OVO at US$2.9 bn as of Mar-2019.
Company profile
OVO was established in 2016 as an app that offered payments, loyalty points and other financial services. It was primarily
backed by Lippo Group and was built in partnership with BCG Digital Ventures. It then received a licence to operate as a
fintech company towards the end of 2017. With strategic partners in Tokopedia and Grab, OVO has become the designated
e-wallet platform for the e-commerce and ride-hailing giants, propelling its base to more than 120 mn users in 2019. As of
Dec-2020, the company has six major shareholders: Grab (39.2%), Tokopedia (36.1%), Tokyo Century Corporation (7.5%),
Lippo Group (7.2%), Wahana Inovasi Lestari (5%), and Ide Teknologi Indonesia (5%).
Funding history
The company was only funded by several investors. One of the first was Tokyo Century Corporation which invested US$116
mn in 2017 for around 20% of the company. OVO then received more investments from Tokopedia and Grab as strategic
partners with an undisclosed amount and valuation.
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Jason Thompson
CEO
Jason Thompson joined OVO as CEO in Jan-2018. Before that, he spent seven years at Microsoft
Corporation in sales and operations roles, with stints at Canon UK Limited, Radica Games, and
Acclaim Entertainment. Mr Thompson also served as senior managing director of Grab Financial
from Jan-2017 to Jun-2020.
Karaniya Dharmasaputra has been OVO’s President for the past two years, while simultaneously
serving as Co-Founder and CEO of Bareksa (an investment platform offering mutual funds, retail
bonds, and gold online) and Commissioner of Taralite. He is also the Vice Chairman of the
Indonesia Fintech Association.
Sharly Rungkat joined OVO as CFO in Sep-2019. Prior to OVO, she was a partner at PwC
Indonesia, CFO at GroupM and a project leader at Boston Consulting Group.
Karaniya Dharmasaputra President
Sharly Rungkat
CFO
Source: Company data
Figure 97: Key stats
Figure 98: OVO shareholding structure as of FY20
Transaction
volume (market
share)
29%
Transaction
value (market
share)
33%
Transactions
per month
14.4
OVO
25%
24%
13.5
GoPay
21%
19%
13.1
Dana
20%
18%
12.2
6%
6%
8.2
ShopeePay
LinkAja
5%
Source: NeuroSensum, Mime Asia
Grab
Tokopedia
Lippo Group
5%
8%
39%
7%
Tokyo Century Corporation
PT Wahana Inovasi Lestari
PT Ide Teknologi Indonesia
36%
Source: DealStreetAsia
#2 digital payment platform in Indonesia by market share
According to OVO’s Head of Corporate Communications in an interview, the OVO application is already used on 115 mn
devices throughout 2020. OVO users also grew by 267% and merchants by 95% in the same year as a result of people
switching to digital services during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey by NeuroSensum on 1,000 respondents in the period
from Nov-2020 to Jan-2021 showed that OVO ranked #2 by transaction value and volume, as well as in terms of
transaction frequency.
52
Creating a fintech ecosystem
OVO acquired Taralite in 2019, a local P2P lending startup which later obtained an official licence from OJK in Jun-2020.
By adding Taralite’s online lending features, OVO can extend loans and credits to shoppers and merchants in its ecosystem
such as Tokopedia and Grab. OVO’s “pay-later” option for shoppers was also made possible by Taralite. OVO also expanded
to other financial services such as investment, insurance, credit scoring, and multifinance with partnerships with Bareksa,
Prudential, etc. The company aims to become the largest fintech ecosystem in Indonesia.
Undergoing a transition
The merger of Tokopedia and Gojek to form GoTo has put OVO in a unique situation due to its co-ownership between
Tokopedia and Grab. According to a DealStreetAsia article dated Sep-2021, the divestment process between OVO’s
shareholders and Emtek Group is understood to have reached agreement. After the proposed transaction, GoPay, Gojek’s
digital wallet, is set to come into Tokopedia’s ecosystem as its main e-wallet.
Figure 99: OVO key features
Feature
Description
OVO points
Reward system: 1 OVO point = Rp1
Deals & promotions
OVO Premier
Bill payments
Catalogue of available deals by
merchants
Upgrade to transfer to bank accounts
and free transfer between users
Pay electricity, insurance, internet and
phone bills online
Donation
Donate to organisations
OVO Invest
Mutual funds, insurance, retail bonds,
gold, etc.
Source: Company data
Figure 100: OVO app
Source: Company
ASEAN Unicorns
53
Ruangguru
Education
Gary Gregorius
Reason for inclusion: Dealroom.co estimates valuation for Ruangguru at ~€682 mn (~US$800 mn) in its last funding
round in April 2021.
Company profile
Ruangguru was founded in 2014 as an online platform that connects students with private tutors in Indonesia. Since then,
Ruangguru has expanded its services by providing a range of tech-based, high quality educational products such as
subscription-based video, live teaching, learning management system for schools, online soft skills training, and corporate-based
training application across both K-12 and adult learning segments in Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. As of December 2020,
Ruangguru claims it has served more than 22 mn users in Indonesia, which represents a 46% YoY growth.
Funding history
Following a US$150 mn Series C round led by General Atlantic and GGV Capital in December 2019, Ruangguru secured
US$55 mn Series C2 funding led by Tiger Global Management in April 2021 based on Crunchbase. Ruangguru is reported
by Dealroom.co to have a valuation of ~US$800 mn in April 2021.
Figure 101: Funding history and valuation
Founded in 2014
160
1,000
120
750
80
500
40
250
0
0
2014
2015
2016
2017
Funding history (US$ mn)
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Dealroom.co
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Adamas Belva Syah
Devara
CEO and Co-Founder
Muhammad Iman
Usman
Co-Founder and Chief
Product & Partnership
Officer
Named Forbes 30 under 30 in 2017; former special advisor/staff to the President
of Indonesia, advised on the topics of innovation across sectors/ministries/
government bodies. Mr Devara previously worked as a consultant at McKinsey &
Company, focussing on education system transformation and public health strategy
projects.
Prior to founding Ruangguru, he was known as one of the key opinion leaders in
youth development. He co-founded and led some of the largest youth-led
movements, such as the Indonesian Future Leaders and the Indonesian Youth
Parliament which mobilised thousands of young people to do social good.
Source: LinkedIn
Figure 102: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Key data points
Country presence
No. of students
No. of teachers
No. of employees
Select financials
Revenue (2019)
Gross margin (2019)
(US$ mn)
(no.)
(mn users)
(no.)
(no.)
Figure 103: Ruangguru’s registered students
800 (2021)
General Atlantic, GGV Capital,
Tiger Global Management
3
>22 (as of Dec-2020; +46% YoY)
>200,000
>4,000
US$ mn
%
Source: Company data, LinkedIn, Techninasia, Dealroom.co
54
16.64
94%
25,000
22,000
20,000
15,068
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
6,300
13
2014
37
227
2015
2016
2017
2019
Number of registered users (k users)
Source: Company data, GSMA
2020
A solution provider for Indonesia’s low performance education system
Ruangguru seeks to become a solution provider for Indonesia’s low performance education system which consistently ranks
at the bottom in PISA (OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment). It creates solutions by providing access to
premium education resources through its mobile-based apps services particularly for students who cannot have access to
supplementary classes. As stated in Ruangguru’s website, 80% of its users are outside the capital city of Jakarta and 70%
of its users in Indonesia come from middle-to-low income families and had no previous access for after-school tuition.
Competitive advantage: personalised education and Learning Management System
Ruangguru utilises a personal learning approach powered by Artificial Intelligence which allows students to learn based on
their own pace and preferences. It also offers a freemium access to a Learning Management System (LMS) called
“Ruangkelas” which enables teachers to create content and assign work to school students. This has been utilised by
thousands of schools in almost all the 34 provinces across Indonesia. Additionally, Ruangguru initiated several social
initiatives to bring about an impact on education. Immediately after the stay-at-home government order was issued during the
COVID-19 pandemic, it launched free online school with more than 10 mn students in Indonesia accessing the service.
Broadening its mission overseas and expanding its range of product and services
Ruangguru has extended its goal to provide equal access to quality education outside Indonesia through: (1) Kiến Guru in
Vietnam and (2) StartDee in Thailand. The company states on its website that Kiến Guru nowadays has connected to 1 mn
students and StartDee has managed to become the Top 3 education app on both App Store and Play Store within the first week
of its launch. Additionally, Ruangguru now provides blended, lifelong, and corporate learning products and services through (1)
Brain Academy, a tutoring centre offering online-offline blended learning located in 18 cities in Indonesia; (2) Skill Academy, an
app- and web-based certified upskilling and reskilling platform taught by curated experts and practitioners; and (3) Ruangkerja, a
mobile app that allows corporations digitised training materials for employees, and access for employers to a dashboard that
analyses employees’ development.
Figure 104: Ruangguru’s 2018 financials
5.0
4.4
Figure 105: Ruangguru’s 2019 financials
4.0
2.9
3.0
28.1
30.0
4.2
2.0
20.0
16.6
10.0
0.4
1.0
8.7
4.9
1.0
0.0
0.0
Revenue
Cost of sales Marketing
Selling
expense
expense
2018 (US$ mn)
Employee
expense
Revenue
Cost of sales Marketing
expense
Selling
expense
Employee
expense
2019 (US$ mn)
Source: Company data, Techinasia
Source: Company data, Techinasia
Figure 106: Website homepage
Figure 107: Application homepage
Source: Company data
Source: Company
ASEAN Unicorns
55
Sicepat
Logistics
Steven Ho
Reason for inclusion: Dealroom.co estimates valuation for Sicepat at €618-927 mn (~US$723 mn to US$1.1 bn) in its
last funding round in March 2021.
Company profile
Sicepat is a logistics startup specialising in last-mile delivery. The company provides last-mile deliveries for social commerce
merchants and the larger e-commerce platforms ecosystem. It has also expanded into warehousing, fulfilment, middle-mile
logistics and online distribution. The company was founded 2014 by Rudy Darwin Swigo and The Kim Hai.
Funding history
Sicepat has raised a total of more than US$238 mn so far, based on Pitchbook. It is reported by Dealroom.co to have a
valuation of ~US$723 mn to US$1.1 bn in its last funding round in March 2021. Key investors include Indies Capital
Partners, Trihill Capital, Falcon House Partners, Daiwa Securities Group, Kejora Capital, MDI Ventures, Barito Teknologi,
Pavillion Capital, and KFW DEG.
Figure 108: Funding history and valuation
250
200
150
100
50
0
Founded in 2014
2014
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
2015
2016
2017
Funding (US$mn)
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$mn, RHS)
Source: Pitchbook
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
The Kim Hai
CEO
Andri Buchori
CFO
Reynaldi
CTO
Prior to cofounding Sicepat Ekspres in 2014, The Kim Hai was a businessman in the
gadget/smartphone industry based in Jakarta.
Andri Buchori started his career as an accountant and tax supervisor at PT Balai Lelang
Seras in 2008—a subsidiary of PT Serasi Autoraya (member of Astra Group). He went
on to fill finance and accounting roles in logistics companies for the next ten years before
joining Sicepat in 2019 as vice-president of finance, accounting, and tax.
Prior to joining Sicepat Ekspres as CTO at the end of 2018, Reynaldi cofounded and
filled CTO/CEO roles at several software startups (Roboto Estudio, Corsus, and Clodeo).
Source: Company data
56
Figure 109: Key stats
Figure 110: Volume comparison vs peers
Valuation
Latest valuation
Investors
1.5
(US$ mn) 723-1,100 (2021)
Indies Capital Partners, Trihill Capital,
Falcon House Partners, Daiwa
Securities Group, Kejora Capital, MDI
Ventures, Barito Teknologi, Pavillion
Capital, and KFW DEG
Key data points
Packages per day
(2020)
Outlets
E-commerce
integrations
# of products
(mn)
1.2
1.0
1.0
0.7
~0.3–0.4
0.5
J&T
JNE
SiCepat
Ninja van
>1
700
Tokopedia, Bukalapak, Shopee,
Lazada, Blibli
7
Source: Company data, Pitchbook, Dealroom.co, Republika
0.1
0.0
Packets processed per day (mn)
Anteraja,
Paxel,
Deliveree,
and others
Source: Company data
One of the leading players in last-mile delivery industry
Sicepat Ekspres Indonesia has grown into one of the largest last-mile delivery companies in Indonesia. The company’s
customer base is diversified between social commerce merchants as well as large e-commerce players through API
integration. Local news agency Kontan reported the company was targeting to process more than 1 mn packets per day in
2020. Sicepat also had more than 700 outlets spread across Indonesia at the end of 2019, targeting a minimum of 20 new
outlets per month since then.
The platform has integrated into e-commerce players such as Tokopedia, Bukalapak, Shopee, Lazada, Blibli, Zilingo, Jakmall,
and others. Meanwhile some of its competitors such as J&T and Ninja Van have large business contributions from Shopee
and Lazada, respectively.
End-to-end logistics solution
Sicepat Ekspres has an ecosystem of middle-mile and online distribution platforms under parent company OnStar. Other
services include storage and fulfilment, SME enabler, store management software, and freight forwarding.
Figure 111: Indonesia logistics market
300
250
200
150
133
154
177
205
Figure 112: By method of transport
236
273
Land based
50
0
2016
2017
11%
Admin
100
2015
5%
Water based
2018
2019
2020
Fulfilment and
warehousing
Others
32%
Indonesia logistics market size (US$ bn)
Source: Frost & Sullivan
17%
35%
Source: Frost & Sullivan
Figure 113: Sicepat Ekspres—key products
Products
Description
Delivery speed
Availability
Si Untung
BEST
Sameday Delivery
Regular service
Next day delivery
Sameday delivery
15 hours—ETA
1 day
8 hours maximum
Halu
Gokil
H3LO
COD
Sicepat Go!
E-commerce service
Minimum 10 kg shipments
Ship 3.3 kg, pay for 2 kg
Cash on delivery
International service
1-3 days
1-3 days
1-3 days
8 hours maximum
Varies by destination
All Indonesia (15 hours for Greater Jakarta and Bandung)
All big cities in Indonesia
Greater Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Solo, Semarang, Surabaya,
Denpasar, Medan, Makassar
All cities in Indonesia
All big cities in Indonesia
Java and Bali islands
Greater Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Solo, Semarang, Surabaya
Greater Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Solo, Semarang, Surabaya,
Denpasar, Medan, Makassar
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
57
Tiket.com
OTA
Samuel Pratama
Reason for inclusion: Bloomberg quotes valuation of Tiket.com at >US$1 bn as of 2021.
Company profile
Tiket.com was founded in 2011 as the first OTA in Indonesia that allows bookings for hotels, flights, trains, and others. The
company was later acquired by Djarum group in 2017 and is now a subsidiary of Blibli. According to the company, it has over
7.9 mn monthly active users pre-COVID with over 2.7 mn accommodation partners, 90+ airline partners, 175+ ground
transportation partners and 20k+ homes & villa partners in 2021.
Funding history
Tiket.com is internally funded by the Djarum group with over 90% of the company still owned by the group.
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
George Hendrata
CEO
Dimas Surya Yaputra
Ronald Liem
Cofounder/CCO
CFO
Turnaround & growth specialist. Previously worked in BCG, Medtronics and
Motorola, with an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Serial entrepreneur (co-founder of three startups).
Previously worked at Hillhouse and UBS.
Source: Company data
Figure 114: Tiket.com offers end-to-end connected trips
Source: Company data
Expansion to high growth areas
Tiket.com has continued to expand its growth within its current core business in hotels, flights, trains, events and travel
booking. This includes going into more fragmented industries such as homes and villas, car rentals, attraction tours and
online events as it offers higher margins and provides better growth opportunities.
58
Quicker path to profitability
Despite the COVID-19 impact, Tiket.com has recovered much faster vs the market and focussed on positioning itself to
capture pent-up demand. Tiket.com has continued to offer PayLater to allow for better affordable options as well and
discounts in COVID-19 testing through partnerships with airlines and test providers.
Figure 115: Tiket.com flights online market share
Figure 116: Tiket.com hotels online market share
20%
30%
25%
15%
20%
10%
15%
10%
5%
5%
0%
2018
2019
2020
2021
0%
2018
Tiket.com flights online share
Source: Company data
2019
2020
2021
Tiket.com hotels online share
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
59
Traveloka
OTA
Samuel Pratama
Reason for inclusion: Pymnts quotes the valuation of Traveloka at US$2.75 bn in 2020.
Company profile
Traveloka was founded in 2012 as an airline and hotel ticketing service platform that focusses on domestic travel in
Indonesia. The company has since then expanded to Southeast Asia and is now one of the biggest online booking platforms
in this region. The company has paired with over 100 airlines, 450k hotels, 400 rental companies in Indonesia and over
4,000 attractions and activities providers.
Funding history
According to Crunchbase, the company has done several funding rounds in the past starting in January 2017 raising over
US$150 mn, and in July 2017 raising again another US$350 mn. In 2019 the company did a private equity round that
allowed it to raise US$420 mn and its latest funding round was in July 2020 with around US$250 mn being raised. The total
amount raised as of now is at US$1.2 bn based on Crunchbase. Its main investors include Sequoia Capital, Global Founders
Capital, GIC, JD.com, Hillhouse Capital Group, East Ventures and Expedia.
Figure 117: Funding history and valuation
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
Founded in 2012
2012
2013
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
2014
2015
2016
Funding history (US$ mn)
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase, Pymnts
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Ferry Unardi
Yadi Guitana
CEO
CFO
Previously worked as a software engineer in Microsoft before founding Traveloka.
Previously worked at McKinsey & Company and Kaskus before joining Traveloka
as the CFO. Mr Guitana has an MBA from University of Chicago.
Source: Company data
Continued growth in countries outside of Indonesia
Traveloka has continued to push its growth not just in Indonesia but across Southeast Asia. It has focussed its growth in
other countries including Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia. Traveloka has also increased its product offerings to include
different bundled products that include COVID-19 tests and flexible open date vouchers for its hotel purchases to help
accommodate its customers.
Rebranding into lifestyle app
In addition to its travel and hotel booking business, Traveloka has also been looking to expand into other businesses such as
Traveloka eats. It also introduced the Traveloka Paylater function in its app.
60
Xendit
Fintech
Steven Ho
Reason for inclusion: TechCrunch quotes the valuation of Xendit at ~US$1 bn in its last funding round in Sep-2021.
Company profile
Xendit is a financial technology company that provides payment solutions in Indonesia, the Philippines and Southeast Asia. It
provides a secure and integrated payment system that can accept transactions from virtual accounts, credit and debit cards,
e-wallets, retail outlets, and also online instalments. The company was founded by in 2015 by Moses Lo, Tessa Wijaya, and
Bo Chen. Based on a TechCrunch article dated Mar-2021, it was the first company to go through Y Combinator’s
accelerator programme and was ranked No.64 on Y Combinator’s top 100 companies list (by valuation and top exits) in
Jan-2021.
Funding history
Xendit has raised a total of US$234.7 mn since inception, according to data from Pitchbook. Its initial investments in 2015
came from an accelerator/incubator programme (Y Combinator), and after that went on to early stage venture capitals at the
end of the year. Its latest funding round in Sep-2021 raised US$150 mn from Tiger Global Management, Accel, Amasia,
and Goat Capital.
Figure 118: Funding history and valuation
300
Founded in 2015
1,200
200
800
100
400
0
0
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
Funding (US$ mn)
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Pitchbook, TechCrunch
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Moses Lo
Co-Founder, CEO
Tessa Wijaya
Co-Founder, COO
Bo Chen
Co-Founder, CTO
Moses Lo graduated from and did an MBA programme at UC Berkeley in 2015 and
immediately entered Y Combinator’s 2015 programme right before he founded Xendit.
Prior to Berkeley, Mr Lo worked at Boston Consulting Group.
Prior to co-founding Xendit, Tessa worked at Principia Management Group (private
equity) as a senior analyst, business development analyst at Fairways Investment Group,
and Associate at Mizuho Asia Partners.
Upon graduating from UC Berkeley in 2014, Bo Chen took on roles at Brandcast Inc
and Ripple Labs as a software engineer. Later in 2015, he co-founded Xendit with
Moses Lo and Tessa Wijaya.
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
61
Figure 119: Xendit main features
Source: Company data
Building digital payment infrastructures
Xendit is a Southeast Asian fintech company that provides payment infrastructure across Indonesia and the Philippines. It
processes payments, runs marketplaces, disburses payroll and loans to help businesses grow. The platform serves
businesses of all sizes, from local SMEs to some of Indonesia’s largest tech startups and also giant businesses like
Samsung. The company states on its website that it processes millions of transactions monthly, growing at 25% MoM for
the last two years. The company is an alumni of Y Combinator (S15), and is backed by large VCs such as Accel, Tiger
Global Management, Amasia, and Goat Capital, among others.
Growing rapidly
In an interview with TechCrunch, Tessa Wijaya claimed that Xendit has been growing exponentially at a CAGR of 700%
since its launch. In 2020, the company saw its customer count increase by 540%, which includes the likes of Traveloka,
TransferWise, Wish and Grab. Xendit is processing more than 65 mn transactions with US$6.5 bn in payment value annually.
The company describes itself as building a financial services and digital payments infrastructure which the next generation of
Southeast Asian SaaS companies can work on. It aspires to be the Stripe of Southeast Asia.
Figure 120: Xendit payments pricing
Xendit payments
Virtual accounts bank transfer
Cards
Figure 121: Xendit customers
Pricing
Rp4,500
2.90% + Rp2,000
e-wallets
1.50%
QR code
0.70%
Direct debit
1.90%
Retail outlets/OTC
PayLater
Source: Company data
62
Rp5,000
Kredivo: 2.3%
Akulaku: 1.7%
Source: Company data
Malaysia
“
Malaysia
ASEAN Unicorns
63
AirAsia Digital
Diversified Internet
Danny Chan
Reason for inclusion: AirAsia Digital is valued at around US$1 bn based on all-share transaction in July 2021, as reported
by the company.
Company profile
AirAsia begun its digital transformation journey a few years ago as founder, Tony Fernandes, believed that it was crucial for
the airline to ‘think out of the box’ to remain relevant. Thus, AirAsia Digital was formed; it includes three main entities i.e.
Teleport (transportation arm), BigPay (financial services) and AirAsia.Com (OTA platform), though AirAsia.Com was more
recently restructured into AirAsia Superapp, with the launch of more products (e.g. ride-hailing, food delivery and groceries).
Funding history
So far, AirAsia Digital has been leveraging on internally generated funds to grow its business. More recently, it secured more
capital when AirAsia raised new capital via private placement; AirAsia allocated 17% of the total funds raised into AirAsia
Digital. The company also highlighted that it hopes to be able to monetise its digital assets over time to demonstrate to the
market that it is indeed the ‘jewel in the crown’ within the airline (Bloomberg reported that it is hoping to raise US$300 mn in
the near to medium term).
More recently, in Jul-2021, AirAsia Digital established its ‘unicorn’ status via an all-share transaction. To recap, it acquired
100% of Go-jek Thailand for US$40 mn and 100% of Velox Fintech for US$10 mn in exchange for 4.76% shares in
AirAsia Superapp (it was a wholly-owned subsidiary of AirAsia Digital, pre-deal). This effectively values AirAsia Digital’s super
app at US$1.05 bn (this excludes the value of BigPay and Teleport).
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Aireen Omar
President
Aireen Omar joined AirAsia in 2006 initially as the director of corporate finance and
was promoted to CEO of AirAsia Berhad in 2012. In 2017, she was appointed to
head up RedBeat Ventures (now AirAsia Digital), as well as being responsible for the
Digital and Technology portfolio where she oversees group-wide initiatives to transform
AirAsia into a global, cloud-driven product and online platform based company, while
ensuring synergies between the airline and digital businesses of AirAsia.
Source: Company data
Figure 122: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Key data points
BIG Loyalty members
BigPay users (MY)
Select financials
Revenue (2020)
EBITDA (2020)
Source: Company data
64
(US$ mn)
(mn)
(mn)
US$ mn
US$ mn
1,000 (2021)
–
26.0
1
108.5
0.5
Carsome
e-commerce (car sales)
Joanna Cheah
Reason for inclusion: Straits Times quotes Carsome is valued at US$1.3 bn in its latest funding round in Sep-2021.
Company profile
Founded in 2015, Carsome is one of the largest online used car platforms in SEA with a presence in Malaysia, Indonesia,
Thailand and Singapore. Carsome provides end-to-end solutions to consumers and used car dealers. Its services include car
inspection, transfer of ownership and financing. Based on a TechCrunch article date Jul-2021, Carsome currently transacts
100,000 cars p.a. totalling more than US$800 mn in transacted value. The company has partnerships with CIMB Bank, to
secure funding for its customers as well as Shopee and Lazada, where its inventories can be viewed and purchased.
Funding history
According to company data, Carsome has raised a total of approximately US$285 mn to date, with its latest fundraising
exercise, Series E of US$170mn in Sep-2021. This funding activity was led by Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek, Catcha
Group and Penjana Capital.
Figure 123: Funding history and valuation
200
Founded in 2015
1,600
150
1,200
100
800
50
400
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, Straits Times
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Eric Cheng
CEO & Co-Founder
Teoh Jiun Ee
Co-Founder
Before founding Carsome, Eric Cheng worked for Innity, an online marketing
company and rose the ranks from a sales executive to an account director.
Teoh Jiun Ee had also worked with Eric Cheng in Innity, before leaving to start Carsome
in 2015. He currently holds the posts of Chief Business Development Officer of
Carsome and a Director of Carsome Academy.
Source: Company data
Figure 124: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Key data points
Dealers
Annual car sales
Total bids
Transacted value
Select financials
Revenue (2019)
EBITDA (2019)
Net profit (2019)
(US$ mn)
Figure 125: Annual cars transacted on Carsome
1,300 (2021)
MediaTek, Catcha Group & Penjana
Kapital
120,000
100,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
mn
US$ mn
8,000
100,000
4.4
800
US$ mn
US$ mn
US$ mn
846
(58)
(59)
Source: Company data, Straits Times
40,000
40,000
20,000
1,000
10,000
0
2016
2018
2019
2020
No. of cars
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
65
Online C2B marketplace for used cars
Carsome is an online C2B used car marketplace. It collects vehicle-related data from individual sellers, sends its staff for
inspection, holds auctions for dealers and delivers the cars to the buyers. Buyers can search for cars they want to buy and
make an order via Carsome’s platform. To give consumers quality and peace of mind, all Carsome Certified cars come with
the Carsome Promise, which includes a five-day money-back guarantee, a professional 175-point car inspection, a one-year
warranty and fixed price with no hidden fees. Due to its successful track record in digitalising a traditionally offline business,
Carsome has benefitted throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It was reported that its 3Q20 revenues doubled compared to
pre-pandemic levels.
Collaborations for a more seamless experience
In July 2020, Carsome partnered with CIMB Bank to launch a co-developed inventory financing solution for used car dealers.
This directly reduces the processing time and minimises physical documentation for Carsome’s platform. The partnership is
expected to drive inventory volume for dealers, subsequently increasing access and variety in this market.
Carsome also formed a partnership with Alliance Partners Malaysia to offer a one year warranty to their customers. This
programme offers increased value to dealers when they purchase inventories from Carsome by providing a credit line and
bonus rewards. Besides that, it enables customers to confidently purchase cars covered through an extended warranty. The
programme is worth RM55.5 mn.
In Aug-2020, Carsome collaborated with Shopee and Lazada to sell used cars through the two e-commerce platforms. This
was done to offer digital savvy consumers the opportunity to purchase used cars as well as cash vouchers at special
promotional prices. Through this, it was able to strengthen its image as a one-stop solution for used car transactions, while
increasing methods of reaching customers.
Buying a stake in iCar Asia Ltd
In mid-July 2021, Carsome agreed to acquire 19.9% of Australia-listed automotive portal iCar from Catcha Group, the
largest shareholder of iCar with a 30% stake. In return, Catcha will become a shareholder of Carsome, boosting the latter’s
valuation to more than US$1 bn. Following the share swap, Carsome will offer to buy the remaining 80.1% in iCar from
existing shareholders, a transaction valued at more than US$200 mn.
Figure 126: Summary of financials
MYR mn
846.0
1,000
750
403.7
500
198.7
126.1
250
35.1
0
(6.6)
(17.6)
(25.1)
(250)
(58.9)
(500)
(313.2)
Dec-15
Dec-16
Dec-17
Dec-18
Dec-19
Revenue
PAT
Source: Company data
66
edotco
Telecommunication (Towers)
Danny Chan
Reason for inclusion: Reuters quotes valuation of edotco at US$2.0-2.2 bn in 2020.
Company profile
edotco is one of the largest regional integrated telecommunications infrastructure services company in Asia which specialises
in end-to-end solutions in the tower services sector including co-locations, build-to-suit, energy, transmission and operations
and maintenance. It is headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The group has offices across Asia in Bangladesh,
Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Pakistan, Laos and the Philippines. As at Jun-2021, edotco had 23,845 towers and
37,262 tenancies.
Funding history
edotco has raised a total of US$700 mn to date via one transaction in 2017 based on company data. To recap, it initially
announced that it was planning to raise a total of US$600 mn; US$400 mn from Innovation Network Corporation of Japan
(INCJ) via primary shares and US$200 mn from Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, Khazanah Nasional via secondary shares.
Subsequently, one of Malaysia’s largest pension funds, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan), KWAP, joined the fold
of investors by subscribing for US$100 mn in primary shares, bringing the deal size to US$700 mn. As a result, Axiata now
holds 63% of edotco while INCJ, Khazanah Nasional and KWAP holds 21.14%, 10.57% and 5.29%, respectively.
Valuation wise, the implied transaction value for edotco was an equity value of ~US$1.5 bn and EV/EBITDA (on FY16)
multiple of 12.5x, which is comparable to regional peers at that time.
Figure 127: Funding history and valuation
1,000
2,500
750
2,000
1,500
500
1,000
250
500
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, Reuters
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Mohamed Adlan
CEO
Mohamed Adlan was appointed CEO of edotco on 1 Nov-2020. Previously, he was the CFO
and director of PT XL Axiata Tbk (Indonesia). Having been with Axiata Group for 17 years
since he joined Celcom in 2003 as vice president, finance, Mr Adlan rose rapidly within
Celcom. In his early career, he also worked with Arthur Andersen in assurance and business
advisory for nine years.
Annis Mohamed was appointed CFO of edotco on 1 Jun-2020. He has more than 17 years
of experience in banking and has worked for various financial institutions including Citibank,
Macquarie, RHB and, more recently, Kuwait Finance House.
Annis Sheikh Mohamed CFO
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
67
Figure 128: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Key data points
Country presence
No. of towers
Tenancies
Tenancy ratio
Select financials
Revenue (2020)
EBITDA (2020)
Net profit (2020)
Figure 129: edotco’s current shareholding and asset
ownership
(US$ mn)
2,000-2,200 (2020)
INCJ, Khazanah, KWAP
(no.)
(k)
(k)
(x)
8.0
21.5
34.3
1.6
US$ mn
US$ mn
US$ mn
458.8
267.3
34.1
Source: Company data, Reuters
Source: Company data
ASEAN’s leading tower-co
edotco was formed in 2012 as an offshoot of Axiata to own and operate tower assets. As at Jun-2021, it owned 23,845
towers and managed 17,860 towers. Its largest market would be Malaysia (owns 4,715 towers and operates 11,464
towers), followed by Bangladesh (owns 11,946 towers and operates 3,654 towers), Cambodia (owns 3,062 towers and
operates 965 towers), Myanmar (owns 2,129 towers and operates 1,044 towers), Pakistan (owns 1,681 towers and
operates 11 towers) and Sri Lanka (operates 722 sites). It also recently expanded into Laos and Phiippines. It is currently
the 16th largest TowerCo globally and 6th largest TowerCo in Asia.
Solid financial growth between 2014 and 2019
edotco’s regional expansion (organically and inorganically) allowed it to register solid financial growth. Between 2016 and
2020, revenue jumped by an 8% CAGR to RM1.9 bn from RM1.4 bn as it increased its tower count from 15,124 to 22,329
during this period. EBITDA also grew by a 13% CAGR to RM1.1 bn from RM662 mn as tenancies increased from 21,772
to 35,170 (this resulted in tenancy ratio increasing from 1.44x in 2016 to 1.58x in 2020).
Figure 130: No. of towers and no. of managed sites
Figure 131: edotco’s historical P&L
25,000
(RM mn)
2,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
15,124
16,533
10,185
18,230
10,931
20,301
11,607
22,329
11,523
11,258
1,500
1,000
1,384
1,547
1,809
1,534
1,104
662
685
1,881
1,095
684
500
5,000
0
0
FY2016
FY2017
Towers
FY2018
FY2019
Managed sites
Source: Company data
FY2020
2016
2017
2018
Total Revenue
2019
2020
EBITDA
Source: Company data
Aspires to be a top 5 TowerCo globally
Looking ahead, Edotco aspires to be a Top 5 TowerCo globally and a Top 3 TowerCo in Asia in terms of tower count; it aims
to achieve this via organic growth and acquisitions. It also hopes to further diversify its revenue base to reduce its reliance on
Axiata’s OpCos.
68
The Philippines
“
The Philippines
ASEAN Unicorns
69
Mynt
Fintech
Hazel Tanedo, Danielo Picache, Justin Cimafranca
Reason for inclusion: ABS-CBN News quotes the valuation of Mynt as close to US$1 bn as of 2021.
Company profile
Mynt is the holding company of Globe Telecom’s digital investments, a fintech startup partnership between Globe Telecom,
the Ayala Corporation and Ant Financial. It is one of the first companies to enable financial access for consumers and
merchants through providing digital payments systems in a society that is cash driven. Its services include payments,
remittances, loans, business solutions and platforms. GCash is the micropayment service that transforms the mobile phone
into a virtual wallet. This subsidiary houses GCash, the “super-app” that acts as an all in one mobile app, targeting to be a
lifestyle app for Filipinos. FUSE, another subsidiary, is a digital bank that is focussed on personal and SME lending through
the use of mobile technology with the use of a credit scoring algorithm.
Funding history
In 2017, Ant Financial and Ayala entered into a strategic partnership and acquired new shares (for a 45% and 10% stake,
respectively) in Mynt and raised P2.8 bn (US$56 mn), according to the company. Mynt's latest funding round was led by a
new investor, New York-based Bow Wave Capital Management, which took a 14% stake for US$175m and put the
company's valuation just short of US$1 bn. Other existing investors also took part. The entry of Bow Wave diluted the
shareholdings of Globe Telecom and Ant, the financial affiliate of Jack Ma's Alibaba Group Holding, to 40% each from 46%
previously. Philippine conglomerate Ayala's stake fell to 6% from 8%. Bow Wave is mandated to invest in online payment
companies backed by Alibaba.
Figure 132: Funding history and valuation
200
Founded in 2015
1,200
150
900
100
600
50
300
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, ABS-CBN
Management profiles
Name
Position
Martha Sazon
Chief Executive Officer &
President
Greg Igaya
Frederic Levy
Source: Company data
70
Profile
Martha Sazon joined Mynt in 2020 with 12 years of leadership experience across
various businesses in Globe Telecom such as postpaid mobile, small and medium
business, and broadband business. In Globe Telecom, she helped pioneer and
execute breakthroughs all focussed on customer needs, i.e., MySuperPlan, SME
solutions-selling, and Home Prepaid WiFi and Streamwatch Xtreme Prepaid, while
transforming operations through agile and digitalisation.
Chief Technology Officer Greg Igaya has been with Mynt since 2017, crossing over from Globe Telecom
after almost nine years focussing on new product development, digital media and
future applications. He is responsible for overseeing all technical aspects of Mynt,
most especially on the product development side for GCash.
Chief Commercial Officer Frederic Levy has been with Mynt for more than three years, heading the P2P
business and the money transfer business prior to taking on the CCO role. He is a
digital businesses executive, general manager and entrepreneur with deep roots in
marketing, advertising, branding and technology. Prior to Mynt, Mr Levy had roles
with Grab Philippines and was a senior consultant for SSI and Rebisco.
Figure 133: Key stats
Figure 134: Membership base
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Key data points
Transaction volume
(US$ mn)
Bow Wave
Average daily
transactions
Members
GSave AUM
US$181 mn
US$20 bn
40.2
US$157 mn
1,000 (2021)
Invested US$175 mn
The group averages US$173 mn
transactions per day
This number doubled during the
pandemic
From only 4 mn in 2017
With 3.8 mn registered users
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
40
33
20
4
2017
Select financials
Revenue (2020)
EBITDA (2020)
Net profit (2020)
25
2018
2019
2020
Jun-21
Mynt membership base
US$440 mn
Losses
Losses
Source: Company data, ABS-CBN
Source: Company data
One of the leading digital wallets in the Philippines, on track to hitting over P2 tn in transactions for 2021
Mynt recorded over P1 tn in transaction volume in 2020 and is on track to hit its target of over P2 tn in 2021, according to
the company. The group averages roughly P8.5 bn in transactions per day, which annualises to close to P3 tn. Active users
and daily average transactions increased by 50% during the pandemic, alongside the increase in wallet sizes. Mynt had less
than 4 mn members in 2017 and has reached over 40 mn today across 1.9 mn merchants. Wallet sizes are increasing,
credit traffic flow is accelerating and use cases are widening, and Mynt has been able to capitalise on these trends with the
transformation of its GCash service to a super app that includes e-commerce (GLife) and financial services (lending,
insurance, savings and investments).
Mynt’s revenue base has increased by more than 18x in 2020 (vs 2018) on the back of the platform upgrades, strong
network reach and pandemic impact. Mynt and GCash can leverage higher active users, growth in platform infrastructure
(B2B and B2C) and lower acquisition costs. The valuation of Mynt (GCash) has increased from US$100 mn in 2017 to
about US$1 bn in 2020 (based on funding rounds).
ASEAN Unicorns
71
Singapore
“
72
Singapore
Acronis
Technology—Software
Shaun Tan
Reason for inclusion: Valued at US$2.5 bn in its latest funding round in May-2021, as reported by the Business Times.
Company profile
Founded in 2003 and based in both Switzerland and Singapore, Acronis provides data protection and cyber-security services
in its integrated solutions, which are used by over 500,000 companies as well as more than 5.5 mn consumers according to
the company. Acronis unifies data protection and cybersecurity to deliver integrated, automated cyber protection that solves
the safety, accessibility, privacy, authenticity, and security (SAPAS) challenges of the modern digital world. With flexible
deployment models that fit the demands of service providers and IT professionals, Acronis Cyber Protect natively integrates
cybersecurity, data protection and management to protect endpoints, systems and data.
Funding history
According to Crunchbase, Acronis secured US$250 mn in funding led by CVC Capital partners in 2021. Acronis Founder
and CEO, Serguei Beloussov, mentioned that an IPO is a possibility within the next three years.
Figure 135: Funding history and valuation
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Founded in 2003
2004
2005
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Funding (US$ mn)
2011
2012
2013
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Business Times
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Serguei Beloussov
Founder and CEO
Oleg Melnikov
CTO
Serguei Beloussov is also Co-Founder of Parallels—desktop virtualisation,
containers virtualisation, automation for cloud service providers.
Also Co-Founder of Parallels.
Source: Company data
Figure 136: Key stats
Figure 137: Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud offers
integration with various systems
2016
2017
2018
2019
Revenue (US$ mn)
22
22
33
43
Gross profit (US$ mn)
11
11
20
27
Gross profit margin %
50%
48%
59%
64%
-2
-2
6
2
-7%
-11%
19%
4%
Net profit/(loss) (US$ mn)
Net profit margin %
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
73
Targeting US$10 bn in revenue by the next decade
While the company is open to where it lists or gets acquired, Founder and CEO Serguei Beloussov told Business Times that
it will still "consider every option". However at this point, North America is still the largest market for companies like Acronis,
with growth driven in part by companies looking to bulk up their cyber protection amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Acronis
plans to widen its product range and expand its network of partners, hoping to achieve US$10 bn in revenue by the next
decade.
Its cybersecurity solutions are done in part through managed service providers (MSPs), which implement these data security
solutions in their own networks that can reach hundreds of thousands of users. The company says it currently has about
10,000 active partners, and hopes to triple this number over the next three years. Fresh funds will be used to expand the
support for cloud partners—providing them with additional sales and marketing resources, faster and localised technical
support, partner success managers, and local data centres in 111 locations worldwide.
Acronis says it plans to hire new technical talent for its research and development centres in Bulgaria, Israel, and Singapore,
as well as Switzerland and the United States, with targets to double its employee headcount in the next three years,
focussing on functions such as engineers and technicians. The company states that it now has more than 1,600 employees
in 33 locations across 18 markets.
Holistic cybersecurity management
The Holy Grail of cyber security is full lifecycle management. Workloads must be protected from the instant a user or system
is connected, a piece of data is created, or a new tool is made operational, all the way through to data destruction or removal
and instances when a compromise or breach occurs. Most enterprises use disparate tools, techniques, and processes for
each lifecycle stage, leading to an abundance of security vendor technologies available on the commercial market. Vendors
too have gotten savvy; most recognise the requirement for inter-technology compatibility. Thus, even if a vendor builds and
sells a capability to address only one lifecycle stage, it often integrates with other best-of-breed technologies to give
customers holistic visibility, orchestration, and governance.
As such, Acronis integrated backup and a full next-generation security solution into a single agent to cover the lifecycle, and
this has become Acronis Cyber Protect. Acronis Cyber Protect includes cloud-based reputation, signature-based antivirus,
and AI-based pre-execution scanning.
Figure 138: Acronis is a recognised member of the cybersecurity industry
Source: Company data
74
Advance Intelligence Group
Fintech
Varun Ahuja, Kylie Wan
Reason for inclusion: Valued at US$2 bn in its latest funding round in Sep-2021, as reported by the Business Times.
Company profile
Founded in 2016, Advance Intelligence Group (AIG) is an AI-driven tech company. Headquartered in Singapore, the Group
states on its website that it has a footprint spanning 12 markets across South Asia, SE Asia, Greater China and LatAm with
>1.5k employees, >1k enterprise clients, >75k merchants and >20 mn consumers. AIG has three business units: (1)
ADVANCE.AI: a big data and AI company in Asia that deals with digital transformation, fraud prevention and process
automation for enterprise clients; (2) Atome Financial: consumer business that offers buy-now-pay-later (Atome) and digital
lending services (Kredit Pintar, ND Finance); (3) Ginee: an e-commerce merchant services technology platform that provides
SaaS software products and digital solutions for e-commerce, retail, brand and enterprise customers.
Funding history
After raising >US$400 mn in its latest Series D round led by Softbank and Warburg Pincus in Sep-2021, the company is
reported by the Business Times to be valued at >US$2 bn. Other key shareholders include EDBI (Singapore), and Gaorong
Capital.
Figure 139: Funding history and valuation
400.0
Founded in 2016
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
300.0
200.0
100.0
0.0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Business Times
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Jefferson Chen
Group co-founder,
chairman and CEO
Jefferson Chen is also currently a Partner at GSR Ventures. Prior to the founding
of the Group, he was head of private investing for Greater China at Farallon Capital
and senior analyst at Goldman Sachs where he executed IPO and M&A
transactions for Asian companies. He holds an MBA from Stanford University and
a bachelor's degree in computer science from Tsinghua University.
Source: Company data
Figure 140: Key stats
Figure 141: Revenue grew 1.5x YoY to ~US$12 mn in FY20
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
(US$ mn)
2,000 (2021)
Softbank, Warburg Pincus, EDBI,
Gaorong Capital
Key data points
Staff (Sep-2021)
Revenue CAGR
2017-20
Select financials
('000)
Revenue (2020)
EBITDA (2020)
Net profit (2020)
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
(%)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Business Times
1.5
87%
12
-2
-3
(US$ mn)
15.0
12.3
8.1
10.0
5.0
4.5
1.9
0.0
(5.0)
(1.7)
(5.1)
(10.0)
2017
2018
Revenue
(6.3)
2019
(3.0)
2020
Net profit (loss)
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
75
ADVANCE.AI: a big data and AI company in SE Asia
ADVANCE.AI is one of the leading big data and AI startups in SE Asia, offering a range of products including (1) AI
products: eKYC, document recognition leveraging AI tech; e.g. optical character recognition, facial recognition, liveness
detection, and natural language processing; (2) risk management solutions: alternative data-based credit scoring, anti-fraud
checks for financial institutions, fintechs, e-commerce platforms; (3) digital banking solutions: digital onboarding, loan
origination system, loan management system, smart decision, and collection.
Atome’s buy-now-pay-later demand fuelled by the pandemic
As commerce increasingly migrates to online platforms as a result of COVID-19, the company reported an increase in
uptake of Atome’s buy-now-pay-later solution which facilitated a threefold growth in online transactions for its ~500
merchant partners. Underlying the solution is its credit risk assessment technology which predicts customers’ payment
behaviour based on various sources of data such as past spending behaviour or even mobile data/roaming usage, such that
only those with good payment behaviour are offered this financing.
Ginee: one-stop solution for e-commerce businesses
Ginee is an all-encompassing omnichannel e-commerce platform that enables business owners to launch and operate their
stores across multiple channels, e.g., web, mobile, social media, and marketplaces, in addition to a range of other services
such as payment channel and logistic set-up. According to Ginee, the platform has facilitated >75k active merchants, >109
mn SKUs, >95k active stores and >131 mn orders. It also counts a host of leading e-commerce and logistics players among
its partners, including Shopee, Lazada, Tokopedia, Bukalapak and J&T.
Figure 142: Atome-buy-now-pay-later
Figure 143: ADVANCE.AI – liveness detection
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
76
Carousell
e-commerce
Varun Ahuja, Kylie Wan
Reason for inclusion: Carousell has hit unicorn status with a valuation of US$1.1 bn following its last fund raise in
September 2021, as reported by CNBC.
Company profile
Carousell is an online classifieds marketplace that was founded in August 2012 and now operates in eight markets across
Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The marketplace has both app- and web-based platforms with offerings across a
wide range of categories including fashion, health & beauty, home & living, electronics, as well as autos & property, and
home & business services. Basic features include Snap-to-List (only a photo, title and price is required for listing), Chat-toBuy (built-in messaging system), Feedback (from both buyer and seller post-transaction), ‘Follow’ and ‘Like’ functions for
buyers. Meanwhile, Premium features, such as paid services for sellers to promote their listings and in-app currency, are also
available.
Funding history
According to Crunchbase, Carousell has raised a total of ~US$408 mn to date and is reported by CNBC to be valued at
~US$1.1 bn as of Sep-2021. Key investors include Naver, Telenor Group, EDBI, Rakuten Ventures, 500 Startups, Golden
Gate Ventures and Sequoia Capital.
Figure 144: Funding history and valuation
120.0
100.0
80.0
60.0
40.0
20.0
0.0
Founded in 2012
2005
2006
2007 2008
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
2009 2010 2011
2012 2013
Funding (US$ mn)
2014
2015 2016
2017
2018 2019
2020 2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, CNBC
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Quek Siu Rui
CEO & Co-Founder
Edwin Chan
CFO
Prior to the founding of Carousell, Siu Rui was a collaboration evangelist at Vsee in San
Francisco. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from NUS Singapore
and also attended Stanford University, US as part of NUS Overseas College (Silicon Valley).
Before Edwin Chan's appointment as CFO of Carousell, he served several roles at Razer
Inc., beginning with director of corporate finance, CFO, and finally CIO. Prior to this, he had
been at Artesian Capital Management and Chartered Semiconductor. Mr Chan graduated
from LSE, UK with a BSc in accounting & finance (first class honors).
Source: Company data
Figure 145: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Key data points
Listings (Aug-2019)
MAU (Sep-2021)
Select Financials
Revenue (2019)
EBITDA (2019)
Net profit (2019)
Figure 146: Carousell’s financial performance
(US$ mn)
1,100 (2021)
Naver, POBTS, EDBI, Rakuten,
Sequoia
20
0
0
16
7
2
-20
(mn)
(mn)
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
Source: Company data, CNBC
250
>10
16
-38
-39
-40
-22
-30
-25
-39
-60
2016
2017
Revenue (US$ mn)
2018
2019
Net Profit (Loss) (US$ mn)
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
77
Online classifieds marketplace in Southeast Asia
Operating across eight markets, Carousell stated that it recorded >250 mn listings (as of Aug-20 19) and >10mn in MAU
(as of Sep-2021) since its launch in 2012. Carousell leverages tech such as AI and machine learning in the listing, buying
and selling processes. Moreover, the marketplace has been building a community-based marketplace, creating personalised
experiences for buyers and sellers, and using CRM to maximise retention and customer lifetime value. In addition, an
integrated secure payments system, developed together with DBS, Stripe and Visa, enables the entire deal to be completed
on the platform which also includes resolution assistance for transactional disputes.
Emergence of new categories
While Carousell has historically focussed on fashion and electronics categories, the company has ventured into other
consumer segments for higher-value products, including property and automobiles. In Apr-2021, the group launched
Carousell Auto Group to power Mudah Auto in Malaysia, Cho Tot Xe in Vietnam, Carousell Autos in Philippines, Hong Kong
and Singapore with transactional platforms OneShift and Revo Financial. The online used car marketplace accounts for a
third of group revenue. Further, Carousell plans to expand across more categories of goods, as well as scale up the business
through strategic acquisitions.
Navigating a path to profitability
According to a CNBC interview with the CEO, Carousell is increasing its focus on becoming profitable in the next three to
four years. Moreover, Carousell also aims to deeper penetrate its existing markets. It sees Indonesia and Taiwan as key
growing markets and also sees a lot of potential in the Philippines, supported by a large base following M&A activity in the
last two years, including an online classifieds site OLX Philippines in 2019.
Figure 147: Carousell’s Website Homepage
Figure 148: Carousell Autos
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
78
Carro
e-commerce (car sales)
Varun Ahuja, Kylie Wan
Reason for inclusion: Valued at >US$1 bn in its latest funding round in Jun-2021, as reported by Forbes.
Company profile
Founded in 2015, Carro is an automotive marketplace that facilitates the buying and selling of pre-owned cars through a
proprietary pricing algorithm. Carro also introduced a car subscription service in Singapore in 2019, to enable a commitmentfree car ownership experience. Additionally, the company offers an in-house financing solution through its sister company,
Genie Financial Services, and a suite of after-sales services such as an in-house car care workshop and an on-demand
roadside recovery platform. Carro has since expanded operations to include Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Carro said it
plans to use the fresh capital raised in June 2021 to expand into new locations and grow its business in its existing markets,
as well as expand its portfolio of financial services and accelerate development of AI capabilities.
Funding history
According to Crunchbase, Carro has raised ~US$590 mn in funding as of Jun-2021, and is reported by Forbes to have a
valuation of over US$1 bn. Key investors include SoftBank, EDBI, Insignia Ventures Partners, and B Capital Group.
Figure 149: Funding history and valuation
400
Founded in 2015
1,200
300
900
200
600
100
300
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Funding (US$ mn)
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Forbes
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Aaron Tan
CEO & Co-founder
Prior to the founding of Carro, Aaron was with Singtel Innov8 Ventures overseeing
the fund’s investments in SE Asia. He had also founded a network hosting
company and an ad-tech company. Mr Tan earned his BSc from Singapore
Management University’s School of Information Systems, and an MSc in Computer
Science at Carnegie Mellon University.
Source: Company data
Figure 150: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Key data points
GMV (Oct-2020)
MAU (Oct-2020)
Select Financials
Revenue (2020)
EBITDA (2020)
Net profit (2020)
(US$ mn)
Figure 151: Carro’s financial performance
1,000 (2021)
Mitsubishi, MS&AD Ventures, Hanwha
AM, Softbank, Insignia Venture Partners
100
85
80
48
60
40
(US$ bn)
(mn)
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Forbes
>0.7
>2
85
0.5
-4.0
20
0
-20
1
12
-1
-2
-2
-4
2017
2018
2019
2020
Revenue (US$ mn)
Net Profit (Loss) (US$ mn)
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
79
Automotive marketplace in Southeast Asia
Carro has been building a strong base in Southeast Asia’s used car market with >2 mn active users and GMV of US$0.7 bn
as of Oct-2020 according to Business Times. Carro has expanded operations beyond Singapore to include Malaysia,
Thailand and Indonesia, and TechCrunch reported in Aug-2019 that ~70% of the transactions take place outside of
Singapore given that the government has a zero-car-growth policy. Furthermore, Carro plans to use the recently raised funds
partly to expand into new markets, including the Philippines and Vietnam.
Aiming to become a ‘decacorn’ in the next few years
Carro’s CEO has said to Forbes that the company is aiming to become a ‘decacorn’ in the next few years, though also
recognising the tough competition the company has to contend with, mainly against Carsome, the Malaysia-based used car
platform that operates in the same markets as Carro.
Strong revenue growth trajectory
According to Refinitiv, Carro’s revenue has continued to materially increase by ~2.5x YoY to US$224 mn in FY21 from
US$85 mn in FY20, while also recording positive EBITDA for two consecutive years. Moreover, Carro expects to reach
US$700 mn in annualised revenue run rate by 2022, according to Business Times.
Figure 152: Carro’s website homepage
Figure 153: Genie Financial Services
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
80
HyalRoute
Telecommunication (fibre)
Varun Ahuja, Kylie Wan
Reason for inclusion: Valuation of ~US$3.5 bn after a corporate round in May 2020, as stated by Failory.
Company profile
Founded in 2015, HyalRoute is a shared fiber network provider in Myanmar and Cambodia. HyalRoute is able to provide its
customers with direct access to international connectivity due to its partial ownership and having access rights to two
international submarine cable networks: the Asia-Africa-Europe 1 (AAE-1) and Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN). The
company’s main revenue generator is the sale and leasing of fibre within its network to customers. Together with the
additional value-added services HyalRoute provides, its platform is an all-encompassing solution for domestic fibre optic
cable and international bandwidth users.
Funding history
According to CB Insights and Failory, HyalRoute raised US$263 mn in a corporate round led by Kuang Chi Technologies in
May 2020, and had a post money valuation of ~US$3.5 bn.
Figure 154: Funding history and valuation
300.0
Founded in 2015
3,900
200.0
2,600
100.0
1,300
0.0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, CB Insights, Failory
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Xinglong Huang
Chairman and Founder
He Dong (Dana)
CEO and Director
Xinglong Huang is the Founder and controlling shareholder of HyalRoute. He has
more than 20 years of experience in telecom infrastructure investments and
operations.
Dana has considerable experience across public and private sectors in the Asia
Pacific region. Prior to her position at HyalRoute, she was formerly a director at the
law firm Kelvin Chia Partnership in Singapore.
Source: Company data
Figure 155: Key stats
Figure 156: Backbone and metro duct networks
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Key data points
Myanmar nationwide backbone
network—route (Dec-2018)
Mynanmar metro duct network—
route (Dec-2018)
Cambodia nationwide backbone
network—route (Dec-2018)
Cambodia metro duct network—
route (Dec-2018)
(US$ mn)
3,500 (2021)
Kuang-Chi Technologies
(km)
27,480
(km)
2,209
(km)
21,809
(km)
1,532
Source: Company data, CB Insights, Failory
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
81
A full suite of solutions for domestic fibre optic cable and international bandwidth users
HyalRoute’s range of solutions include: (1) nationwide backbone networks: connect a country’s urban and rural areas and
serve as a path for long-haul data exchange; (2)metro duct networks: interconnect local area networks (LAN) within a
metropolitan area for 'last mile' network access to be shorter for customers; (3) bandwidth within submarine cable networks:
encompasses access to the AAE-1 landing station in Cambodia which is exclusively owned and operated by HyalRoute; (4)
colocation services within its colocation facilities: which can be leased to customers to host their optronic equipment, servers,
and other supporting hardware; (5) maintenance services: consists of a round-the-clock preventive and recovery system.
Sole shared fibre network provider of scale in Cambodia and Myanmar
In Myanmar, HyalRoute states that it is the sole shared fibre network provider of scale with a 27,480 route km long
nationwide backbone network and a 2,209 route km long metro duct network. The fibre network further extends to Laos,
Thailand, China, Bangladesh, and India. Likewise in Cambodia, HyalRoute also stated that it is the sole shared fibre network
provider of scale with a 21,809 km long nationwide backbone network that reaches all 24 provinces and the capital, as well
as a 1,532 route km long metro duct network covering all major cities. The company is a member of the owner and operator
consortium of the 25,000 route km long AAE-1 submarine cable network, to which it provides direct access through its
landing station in Sihanoukville, Cambodia. The fibre network in Cambodia further extends to Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
Rolling out a 16,000 km fibre network in the Philippines by end-2021
In 2019, HyalRoute in the Philippines announced its partnership with The Department of Information and Communications
Technology (DICT) through its subsidiary Philippine Fiber Optic Cable Network (PFOCN) to strengthen the country’s network
connectivity with an investment valued at US$1-2 bn which will be completed over various phases over 2019-28. This fiber
optic cable rollout will reach the country’s under-served/unserved areas and constitute a portion of DICT’s Free Public Wi-Fi
network. As of Jun-2021, PFOCN said it had rolled out >9,000 km of backbone fibre network nationwide, with 5,000 km
still in progress, as well as an additional 2,000 km. The company expects its total fibre network to reach ~16,000 km by
end-2021, and for at least 30,000 km by 2024.
Figure 157: Cambodia’s nationwide completed fibre
optic cable route
Figure 158: Myanmar’s national fibre optic cable route
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
82
JustCo
Real estate technology
Terence Lee
Reason for inclusion: Valuation of ~US$1 bn as of 2020, as reported by Business Times.
Company profile
JustCo is a coworking space operator based in Singapore which features hot desking, printing facilities, in-house
entertainment and mail handling services to support companies’ business needs. The company states that it has a global
presence across 9 cities, with 40 centres to work from, with connection to more than 100,000 members.
Funding history
Business Times reported that JustCo has raised a total of ~US$275 mn till date and is valued at ~US$1 bn. GIC, Frasers
Property, Sansiri and Daito Trust are the key investors in JustCo.
Figure 159: Funding history and valuation
200
1,200
150
900
100
600
50
300
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Funding (US$ mn)
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase, company data, Business Times
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Kong Wan Sing
Founder & CEO
As a fresh graduate out from New York University, Wan Sing traded an attractive
opportunity to work in Goldman Sachs New York to start his own finance firm in
Boston. After his stint in New York, Wan Sing joined the family business Sing Long
Group in Malaysia, within the real estate division for seven years. Thereafter, he took
on the role of senior associate director with Mapletree Investments, the real estate arm
of Temasek Holdings in Singapore for five years. With the entrepreneurial streak still
running deep, Wan Sing leveraged on his expertise in real estate and finance and took
a leap of faith to set up JustCo.
Source: Company data
Figure 160: Key stats
Figure 161: Company financials
Valuation
Last valuation
(US$ mn)
Select investors
Select financials
1,000 (2020)
US$ mn
60
GIC, Frasers, Sansiri, Daito Trust
40
2019
20
Revenue
(US$ mn)
40.3
EBITDA
(US$ mn)
16.0
Net loss
(US$ mn)
(31.2)
40.3
16.0
0.9
0
(8.4)
(20)
2018
2019
Revenue
Source: Company data, Business Times
EBITDA
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
83
Strategy: Targeting enterprises with an asset-light and tech-based approach
The key strategies of JustCo include the following.
Benefitting from structural trends: JustCo expects a structural trend to emerge from 30% of global office inventory
projected to become flexible by 2030, as corporations look to landlords to offer more than just an empty office space.
There are two core solutions: (1) Core & Flex workspace solution that allows companies to access a hybrid of customised
office solutions, be it for headquarters set-up, fixed office suites for satellite teams, (2) flexible Business Continuity Plans,
or on-demand 'work from anywhere' spaces for short-term work. In 2020, new members included:
o
Tencent-backed Riot Games at The Centrepoint, Singapore.
o
Thailand-based Super App, Kasikorn Line, at Amarin Plaza, Bangkok.
o
ByteDance-owned TikTok at Amarin Plaza, Bangkok.
o
Australia's sovereign wealth fund, at Collins Arch, Melbourne.
Employing an asset-light strategy where it has recently announced its plans to manage the 30k sq ft space at Asia
Green in Tampines, Singapore from 3Q21, and has also signed an agreement with Ho Bee Land Limited to manage
about 35k sq ft of The Metropolis office space in Buona Vista, Singapore, scheduled to open in 1Q22.
Focus on workspace technologies which would be complementary to quickly scale up workspace requirements on
demand.
84
o
"Workspace on-demand" app Switch connects users and providers of workspace flexibly and dynamically. Users pay
by the minute for the space that they use, with introductory pricing starting at just S$3.60 per hour. Switch customers can
choose between accessing JustCo centres, non-JustCo shared office locations, or proprietary Switch booths, based on
their needs.
o
AI-powered tool SixSense connects with sensors to analyse how space is being used. The use cases for SixSense
include workspace design, space-use optimisation analysis and, importantly, crowdedness monitoring for safe distancing
purposes.
Lazada
e-commerce
Varun Ahuja, Kylie Wan
Reason for inclusion: Valuation of ~ US$3.15 bn as of 2017, as reported by Business Times.
Company profile
Founded in 2012, Lazada is one of the leading e-commerce platforms across SE Asia, with a presence in Indonesia,
Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Lazada is Alibaba’s regional flagship e-commerce service
following the latter’s acquisition of the company in 2016. Lazada also possesses capabilities in logistics, technology and
payments. The group has end-to-end logistics capabilities, fulfillment centres across 17 SE Asian cities, with warehouses,
sorting centres, and tech to complement its 3P network. In addition, Lazada has cross-border and last-mile arrangements in
each country. The platform leverages real-time data to adapt to changing demands and conditions. It also has a proprietary
e-wallet that consumers can use to top up, make purchases with and accept refunds/rebates on the platform. The platform
aims to serve 300 mn customers by 2030.
Funding history
As of 1Q18, Lazada had received US$4 bn in investments from Alibaba, and its last estimated valuation was US$3.2 bn in
2017, as reported by Business Times. Other key shareholders are Temasek Holdings and Lazada managements.
Figure 162: Funding history and valuation
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
Founded in 2012
2005
2006
3,500
2,800
2,100
1,400
700
0
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Business Times
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Li Chun
CEO
Li Chun has been with Alibaba since 2014, joining as CTO for the company’s B2B division.
He moved to Lazada in 2017 and has since served as both group president and CEO of
Lazada Indonesia. Prior to Alibaba, he held leadership positions at Paypal and eBay. Li Chun
graduated with bachelor’s dual degrees in mechanics and economics law from Peking
University, and a master’s degree in mechanical engineering from Ohio State University.
Source: Company data
Figure 163: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Figure 164: Lazada generated ~US$2 mn in revenue, and
incurred a net loss of ~US$182 mn in FY20
(US$ mn)
Key data points
MAU (Jun-2020)
(mn)
Active consumers p.a. (Jun-2020) (mn)
Order vols, growth YoY (Jun-2020) (%)
Avg time spent on app &
purchase freq growth (Jun-2020) (%)
Select financials
Revenue (2020)
(US$ mn)
EBITDA (2020)
(US$ mn)
Net profit (2020)
(US$ mn)
3,150 (2017)
Alibaba, Temasek, Teso, TEV
Ventures, Summit Partners,
Rocket Internet
Note: key data points are as of end-June 2020.
100
80
100
20
1.6
-197.3
-181.9
50.0
2.1
1.6
0.0
-50.0
-100.0
-150.0
(135.0)
-200.0
2019
Revenue (US$ mn)
(181.9)
2020
Net profit (loss) (US$ mn)
Source: Company data
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Business Times
ASEAN Unicorns
85
One of the leading e-commerce platforms in SE Asia with marketplace revenue of US$1.6 mn
Lazada is one of the leading e-commerce marketplace platforms in SE Asia. Order volumes have doubled YoY for the past
two years for the quarters ended 30 June, and the platform has since reached ~100 mn in monthly active users (MAU) and
~80 mn annual active consumers (for the last 12 months) as of end-June 2020, according to company data. At Alibaba’s
investor day in Jun-2020, management also noted that user engagement has been growing YoY in terms of average time
spent on app and purchase frequency, while quality sellers selling >US$5k per month also increased YoY.
Continuing to drive efficiencies in cross border logistics
Lazada has invested over the years to enhance end-to-end logistics capabilities, in order to have complete control over the
supply chain, and has fulfilment centres across 17 cities in SE Asia. It has also invested in warehouses, sorting centres, and
digital technologies to complement its 3PL network, cross-border and last mile arrangements in each country. Most recently,
Alibaba's logistics arm, Cainiao Network, launched distribution centres in China's export-focussed cities of Yiwu, Shenzhen
and Quanzhou to enhance Lazada’s cross-border logistics efficiency and thus enabling consumers in SE Asia to receive their
parcels in as fast as three days. Lazada has also merged its logistics businesses into a single entity, Lazada Logistics, and
introduced multi-channel logistics services, which seamlessly provide a single stock fulfilment solution to help e-commerce
enablers and brands fulfil orders across multiple channels.
Leverage tech tools to enhance user experience and grow engagement
The platform offers a suite of payment options that include traditional card-based payments and cash on delivery in addition
to digital solutions such as e-wallets. Most recently, Lazada introduced a QR code payment upon delivery in Malaysia as a
secure, digital alternative to cash on delivery. Lazada Wallet was launched in 2018 as a way for consumers to make
payments for their purchases on the platform digitally, and is backed by technology from Alipay. Lazada Wallet was also
integrated into the Taobao app for Malaysian users, enabling them to make payments seamlessly on both platforms. Lazada
also leverages tech to enhance user experience and increase user engagement through the use of social tools (LazLive,
LazGame, LazCoins, Feed), as well as algorithms to grow search-guided/recommendations-guided item page views and
enhance product & user matching to increase buyer conversion rates.
Figure 165: Advertising and tech & content expenses
US$ mn
20.0
Figure 166: Net cash position since 2019
2,000.0
14.5
15.0
10.0
11.5 12.0
0.0
(2,000.0)
5.0
5.0
(4,000.0)
0.0
2017
2018
Advertising expenses
2019
1,254.7
416.8
2020
(3,460.6)
2018
Technology and content expenses
Net cash/(debt) (US$ mn)
Source: Company data, QuestNet
Source: Company data, QuestNet
Figure 167: Lazada app home and account pages
Figure 168: LazLive
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
86
2019
2020
Matrixport
Fintech
Varun Ahuja, Kylie Wan
Reason for inclusion: Valued at US$1 bn in its latest funding round in Aug-2021, as reported by Business Times.
Company profile
Founded in 2019, Matrixport is a digital asset financial services platform that offers a wide range of crypto financial products
including trading, lending, institutional-grade custody solutions, structured products and asset management to institutional
and retail clients worldwide. Based in Singapore, the company has commercial licences in Hong Kong and Switzerland, with
over 220 employees serving customers across Asia and Europe. Matrixport’s customers are mainly high-net-worth
individuals and institutional investors who own at least US$1 mn worth of crypto.
Funding history
According to Business Times, Matrixport has raised ~US$100 mn and is valued at ~US$1 bn as of August 2021. Key
shareholders are C Ventures, DST Global, and K3 Ventures.
Figure 169: Funding history and valuation
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
Founded in 2019
2005
2006
2007
1,250
1,000
750
500
250
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Funding (US$ mn)
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase, Business Times
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Ge Yuesheng
CEO and Co-founder
Prior to the founding of Matrixport in 2019, Yuesheng was also a founding partner of
Bitmain and served as the company’s Director and Head of Investment And
Financing. He has also worked with Aowen Venture Capital as an Analyst. He earned
his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Hangzhou Dianzi University.
Source: Company data
Figure 170: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Figure 171: Matrixport Dual Currency
(US$ mn)
Select investors
Key data points
Assets under management & custody
(Mar-2021)
1,000 (2021)
C Ventures, DST
Global, K3 Ventures
(US$ bn)
10
Avg. monthly trading volume
(Mar-2021)
(US$ bn)
5
Employees
(person)
Select financials
Revenue (2019)
(US$ mn)
EBITDA (2019)
(US$ mn)
NA
Net profit (2019)
(US$ mn)
NA (Positive)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Business Times
>220
7-8
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
87
Crypto-financial services platform in SE Asia
Matrixport is a crypto-financial services platforms in SE Asia. The company has said it has US$10 bn in assets under
management and custody, and recorded over US$5 bn in average monthly trading volume as of March 2021. Further, the
company aims to have hundreds of billions of dollars in assets under management and custody within five years. According
to the company, Matrixport recorded ~US$7-8 mn in revenue for 2019 which is projected to more than double in 2020, and
the company is also profitable.
Offering wide range of crypto financial products
Matrixport has continuously diversified its products to attract new investors. The company currently manages over 13 crypto
financial products. In addition to trading and lending services, one of the company’s flagship offerings is the Dual Currency
product, which is non-principal protected investment product in Bitcoin and USD Coin with a floating return. In addition, the
company recently launched a new product called ETH 2.0 Staking Earn, which allows investors to invest in Ethereum 2.0
staking at a low threshold and earn yields from Ethereum lock-up rewards.
Aiming for global expansion
Matrixport said to IBS Intelligence that it plans to use the latest funding to continue investing in research and development to
enhance the platform’s cybersecurity and product offerings, as well as to support global expansion and obtain licences to
operate in more markets. Going forward, the company also aims to expand its customer base to include clients from the
traditional financial market, such as family office institutions and traditional hedge funds.
Figure 172: Matrixport’s crypto trading
Figure 173: Matrixport’s collateralised loan
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
88
Moglix
e-commerce (industrial supplies)
Varun Ahuja, Kylie Wan
Reason for inclusion: Valued at US$1 bn in its latest funding round in May-2021, as reported by TechCrunch.
Company profile
Founded in 2015, Moglix is a B2B procurement platform for manufacturing goods in India. According to the company, it has
~500k SKUs on its platform, serving >500k SMEs and 3k manufacturing plants (as of end-2018) across India, Singapore,
the UK and the UAE, while its supply chain network consists of 16k suppliers, >35 warehouses and logistics infrastructure.
Moglix also has a digital supply chain finance platform, Credlix. The platform aims to scale up over the next three years by
expanding to more banks, suppliers, and geographies. With these solutions, Moglix is building an operating system for
manufacturing to provide customers with a full stack service including procurement, packaging, supply chain financing and
highly integrated software.
Funding history
According to Crunchbase, Moglix has raised a total of ~U$222 mn in funds till date and is valued at US$1 bn, as reported by
TechCrunch. Key investors include Falcon Edge Capital and Harvard Management Company, Tiger Global, Sequoia Capital
India and Venture Highway.
Figure 174: Funding history and valuation
140
Founded in 2015
1,200
105
900
70
600
35
300
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Funding (US$ mn)
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, TechCrunch
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Rahul Garg
CEO & Founder
Prior to the founding of Moglix in 2015, Rahul Garg was the head of advertising &
strategy at Google Asia. He has also served as chairperson of the Marketing and
AdTech committee at IAB, Singapore and has also worked with Conexant
Systems, Freescale Semiconductor, and Ittiam Systems in the technology industry.
Rahul Garg earned his B.Tech degree in electrical engineering from IIT Kanpur,
India and MBA (Marketing) from the Indian School of Business.
Source: Company data
Figure 175: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Key data points
SKUs (May-2021)
SME customers (May-21)
Manufacturing plants customers
(May-2021)
Suppliers (May-2021)
Select financials
Revenue (2020)
EBITDA (2020)
Net profit (2020)
Figure 176: Moglix’s financial performance
(US$ mn)
1,000 (2021)
Falcon Edge Capital,
Harvard Mgt Co., Tiger
Global, Sequoia
('000)
('000)
('000)
>500
>500
>3
('000)
>16
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
54
-9
-10
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, TechCrunch
54
60
36
40
20
7
0
-20
-4
2017
Revenue (US$ mn)
-8
Jan 18 - Mar 19
-10
Apr 19 - Mar 20
Net Profit (Loss) (US$ mn)
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
89
An e-commerce platform for industrial goods in India
Moglix was started as the founders saw opportunities arising from inefficiencies in procurement procedures which often
requires a long process especially for a corporation. Therefore, Moglix is looking to introduce technology in business
procurement. Moglix is planning to expand globally and enter other emerging markets namely the Middle East, Southeast
Asia, Africa and South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Moglix recently announced its entrance
into the UAE market with the launch of moglix.ae that provides a digital catalogue of 500k industrial products across >50
categories.
Offering supply chain financing
Moglix has a digital supply chain finance platform, Credlix, which provides quick collateral-free working capital solutions to
suppliers in India through invoice discounting, where suppliers will be able to request for early payments from enterprise
buyers at affordable discount rates. From credit application and credit risk assessment to payment approval and final
disbursement, suppliers will get a single platform to manage their early payment requests. The company says this service is
available to its >15k suppliers, most of whom are MSMEs.
Expanding into online used machinery
Moglix has acquired an online used machinery platform Vendaxo. Founded in 2017, Vendaxo provides used machinery to
SME businesses, as well as large manufacturing enterprises namely Siemens, Arvind India, Marico, Raymond, and Torrent
Pharma. According to Vendaxo, it has 40k users on its platform who buy and sell machinery from its listings of ~31k SKUs
as of Jul-2021.
Figure 177: Moglix’s website homepage
Figure 178: Credlix’s website homepage
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
90
Ninja Van
Logistics
Varun Ahuja, Kylie Wan
Reason for inclusion: Valued at >US$1 bn in its latest funding round in Sep-2021, as reported by Strait Times.
Company profile
Launched in 2014, Ninja Van is a tech-enabled express delivery company that provides local and international delivery
services to businesses of all sizes across SE Asia. The company first started operations in Singapore and has now expanded
its network to include Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Ninja Van offers a host of delivery options and
features to adapt to different business needs of customers, including door-to-door delivery, flexible pick up/drop off,
local/international courier services, next day/time slot deliveries, cash-on-delivery. Ninja Van leverages technology, offering
API integrations, bulk upload of orders via CSV, customised routing solutions and a complete logistics management system.
The use of automation and digitalisation (chatbots) enabled Ninja Van to grow and keep up with demand without needing to
scale up on temporary manpower when parcel volumes surged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Funding history
According to Crunchbase, Ninja Van has raised ~US$975 mn in funding since its launch in 2014, and is reported by the
Strait Times to have a valuation of >US$1 bn after a Series E round in Sep-2021. Key investors include Alibaba, B Capital,
Monk's Hill Ventures, Geopost and DPD Group.
Figure 179: Funding history and valuation
750
Founded in 2014
1,500
500
1,000
250
500
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Funding (US$ mn)
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Straits Times
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Lai Chang Wen
CEO & Co-founder
Shaun Chong
CTO & Co-founder
Tan Boxian
COO & Co-founder
Before the founding of Ninja Van, Lai Chang Wen worked as a derivatives trader at
Barclays before setting up men’s custom fashion retailer, Marcella. He graduated with
a Bachelor of Finance from Singapore Management University.
Prior to Ninja Van, Shaun Chong was the lead engineer at Nubefy, a technology
startup focussing on cloud platforms and infrastructure. He graduated with a Bachelor
of Science degree in computer engineering from the National University of Singapore.
Before joining Ninja Van, Tan Boxian was the general manager at Marcella. He
graduated with a BSc in economics from UCL (UK) and a Master of Philosophy
focussed in economics from Cambridge University, UK.
Source: Company data
Figure 180: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Figure 181: Ninja Van’s financial performance
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
1,000 (2021)
Alibaba, Geopost, DPD Group, Zamrud
Sovereign Wealth Fund, Grab
Key data points
Parcels delivered per day (regional, (mn)
Sep-2021)
Staff & delivery personnel (Sep-21) ('000)
Select financials
Revenue (2019)
EBITDA (2019)
Net profit (2019)
2
61
148
150
100
50
49
9
9
0
(50)
(7)
(6)
(26)
(41)
(100)
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Straits Times
148
-80
-41
2016
2017
Revenue
2018
2019
Net Profit (Loss)
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
91
A last-mile logistics business in Southeast Asia
Ninja Van first started operations in Singapore and has since expanded its network to include Malaysia, Philippines,
Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. According to Bloomberg as of Sep-2021, the company delivers on average two million
parcels a day around the region, and employs >61k staff and delivery personnel.
Leveraging tech-driven approach to improve delivery services
Ninja Van leverages technology which has enabled the business to scale up quickly and sustainably by improving the delivery
speed and the handling of parcels. In particular, a sortation belt allows the team to sort parcels safely and hand them over to
drivers more quickly. Furthermore, an in-house routing algorithm plans efficient routes for drivers. In addition, the use of
automation and digitalisation (chatbots) enabled Ninja Van to grow and keep up with demand without needing to scale up on
temporary manpower when parcel volumes surged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Aims to create a sustainable long-term cost structure
Business Times reported that Ninja Van is almost break-even and targeting profitability in 2022. In addition, the company will
utilise its recently raised funds to create a sustainable long-term cost structure by investing in infrastructure and technology,
as well as improve the quality of operations, and enhance its supply chain solutions for SE Asian businesses.
Figure 182: Ninja Van’s website homepage
Figure 183: Trusted by e-commerce platforms and
brands
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
92
NIUM
Fintech
Varun Ahuja, Kylie Wan
Reason for inclusion: Valued at US$1 bn in its latest funding round in Jul-2021, as reported by Business Times.
Company profile
NIUM, was founded as a cross-border remittance service in 2014 (previously launched as Instarem). NIUM is a global
payments platform where consumers and businesses can send, spend, and receive funds across borders. According to the
company, their platform for Pay In, Pay Out and Card-Issuance allows banks, payment providers, travel companies and other
businesses to collect and disburse funds in local currencies to over 100 countries, as well as to issue physical and virtual
cards globally. The company is licensed in the EU, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Malaysia, India, and Singapore. Recently,
NIUM acquired virtual card issuance company, Ixaris, and Wirecard Forex India in 2021.
Funding history
According to Crunchbase, NIUM has raised ~US$280 mn to date and is reported by Business Times to have a valuation of
~US$1 bn as of July 2021. Key shareholders are Riverwood Capital, Temasek Holdings, Vertex, MDI Ventures, GSR
Ventures, and Silicon Valley Bank.
Figure 184: Funding history and valuation
250
200
150
100
50
0
Founded in 2014
2005
2006
2007
1.3
1.0
0.8
0.5
0.3
0.0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase, Business Times
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Prajit Nanu
CEO and Co-founder
Prior to co-founding NIUM (formerly known as Instarem), Prajit Nanu held several
leadership positions in global companies, including global sales director, TMF
Group and vice president, sales and account management at WNS. He is a
graduate from Mumbai University.
Source: Company data
Figure 185: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
(US$ mn)
1,000 (2021)
Riverwood Capital, Temasek Holdings, Vertex,
MDI Ventures, GSR Ventures, and Silicon Valley
Bank
Key data points—segment revenue
2020
Annual TPV (Jul-2021) (US$ bn)
80
Virtual cards issued
(mn)
30
(2015-7M21)
Select financials
2020
Revenue (2020)
(US$ mn)
16
EBITDA (2020)
(US$ mn)
8
Net profit (2020)
(US$ mn)
-1
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Business Times
Figure 186: NIUM financial performance
(US$ mn)
16
20
10
7
2
1
0
(10)
(1)
(6)
(20)
(16)
(30)
2017
2018
Revenue
(25)
2019
2020
Net Profit (Loss)
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
93
Cross-border remittance platform in SE Asia
NIUM was started with the goal of reducing the complexity from global payments. NIUM is a leading B2B financial services
technology platform that connects businesses to the global payment infrastructure. Through the NIUM platform, businesses
can collect and disburse funds in local currencies to over 190 countries, as well as issue physical and virtual cards globally.
NIUM owns licences in 11 countries to enable seamless global payments. The company says it already has hundreds of
enterprise companies as clients, and expects to onboard thousands of additional clients in the next year. As of Jul-2021, the
company also mentioned that it processes US$8 bn in payments annually and has issued more than 30 mn virtual cards
since 2015.
Overseas expansion plan
According to a Reuters article, NIUM plans to use the latest funding to expand in the US and Latin America and will also look
for acquisition targets in Australia. In particular, NIUM aims to increase the contribution from United States from currently 3%
of NIUM’s revenue to 20% over the next 18 months, as well as expand in Latin America. NIUM also plans to expand the
company’s payments network infrastructure, invest in product development, and purchase new technologies and companies.
Acquisition of Ixaris and Wirecard Forex India
In Jul-2021, NIUM signed an agreement to acquire Wirecard Forex India, a foreign currency exchange, pre-paid card, and
remittance service provider in India with 23 branch locations. The acquisition includes Wirecard’s Authorized Category II
Money Exchange Dealer licence, which will allow NIUM to engage in a variety of payment service activities, including
currency conversion, money transfer, and pre-paid card issuance. In Aug-2021, NIUM completed the acquisition of Ixaris, a
travel payments optimisation that provides flexible funding and payment methods which help airlines and online travel agents
(OTAs) to reduce surcharges, earn rebates, reduce forex fees, and streamline reconciliation. NIUM reported that Ixaris
issued more than 10 mn virtual cards in 2019, and that as of Jun-2021, it has processed 24 mn transactions for >200
customers in >40 countries with a total payment volume of ~US$7 bn since inception.
Figure 187: NIUM pay-out services
Figure 188: NIUM issue cards services
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
94
PatSnap
Technology—SaaS
Shaun Tan
Reason for inclusion: Valued at US$1 bn in its latest funding round in Mar-2021, as reported by Straits Times.
Company profile
Founded in 2007, PatSnap is a B2B SaaS player that operates a Global Patent Analytics Database for patent search and
analysis. The company states that its patent database connects 116 jurisdictions, 140 mn patents, and 250+ mn innovation
datapoints from around the world, facilitating IP analytics by allowing its users to perform targeted global searches that
generate reliable detailed innovation intelligence to aid risk management, spot new opportunities, defend innovations and
monitor the competitive landscape.
Funding history
PatSnap announced that it secured US$300 mn in Series E funding in Mar-2021, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and
Tencent Investment with participation from CPE Industrial Fund and existing investors Sequoia China, Shun Wei Capital and
Vertex Ventures.
Figure 189: Funding history and valuation
350
280
210
140
70
0
Founded in 2007
2014
1,250
1,000
750
500
250
0
2015
2016
2017
2018
Funding (US$ mn)
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase, Straits Times
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Jeffrey Tiong
Founder and CEO
Markus Haense
CTO
Member of Forbes Technology Council. Conceived of PatSnap as an intern in a
medical device start-up in US in 2005.
Had originally planned to work with PatSnap for two years before leaving to pursue his
master’s degree and PhD, but ended up staying.
Source: Company data
Figure 190: Key stats
Figure 191: PatSnap’s operating markets
2016
2017
2018
2019
Revenue (US$ mn)
14
24
38
47
Gross profit (US$ mn)
-2
-15
-12
-3
-11%
-62%
-32%
-5%
-7
-27
-27
-18
-47%
-114%
-71%
-38%
Gross profit margin (%)
Net profit/(loss) (US$ mn)
Net profit margin (%)
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
95
PatSnap is used globally across multiple industries
In a Mar-2021 company announcement, PatSnap stated that it is used by more than 10,000 customers in over 50 countries
around the world to access market, technology, and competitive intelligence as well as patent insights needed to take
products from ideation to commercialisation. Customers are innovators across multiple industry sectors, including agriculture
and chemicals, consumer goods, food and beverage, life sciences, automotive, oil and gas, professional services, aviation
and aerospace, and education. PatSnap’s team of 800+ employees work from its global headquarters in Singapore, London,
and Toronto. PatSnap counts customers such as Dyson, Spotify Technology and Xiaomi Corp.
Users of PatSnap's software platform can type key words and phrases such as "electric vehicle" for information on
companies, technologies and inventors in the space. Its page on Tesla, for example, shows a map of companies connected
to the US electric carmaker, with Panasonic Corp coming on top to reflect their battery collaboration.
According to a Mar-2021 Straits Times article, PatSnap makes money by charging a subscription fee that is typically
US$20,000 to US$30,000 a year. Some start-ups pay as little as US$5,000 for limited usage, while large firms can shell
out as much as US$500,000.
IP Intelligence: Risk management, uncovering trends and increasing collaboration
PatSnap’s IP Intelligence tool allows customers to monitor risks and protect IP assets with real-time IP data. Customers can
run accurate patent searches for risk monitoring needs such as invalidity, FTO, prior art and patentability search and to gain
confidence on their IP decisions and defence strategy. PatSnap’s IP Intelligence helps track markets, competitors, and
technologies by identifying where patents sit within an overall landscape, and find out which patents are being renewed and
abandoned and the frequency with which this is occurring. The platform shows who the actors are in new, adjacent, and
emerging spaces and it helps map hotspots and whitespace for customers to source inspiration from the closest solutions to
the possible ideas to pursue. PatSnap gives users the flexibility to assess volumes of data, customise analysis, dig deeper
into individual patents and aid collaboration through various workflow features.
R&D Intelligence: Informs R&D budgeting
Using Relationship Maps, Discovery brings together the information on market leaders, start-ups, and players in the adjacent
space to provide a complete view of players making strides and who they are collaborating with, acquiring or investing in,
while understanding their technology capabilities by looking at their patents and scientific literature filings. Discovery allows
users to track active start-ups, universities, TTOs, and their capabilities to inform on decisions on potential partnership or
acquisition target. Discovery also helps users review investments, M&A and VC deal trends to prepare a view on emerging,
innovative technologies and what areas are getting the most attention.
Figure 192: Illustration of relationship maps on
Discovery to understand competitor technology
capabilities
Figure 193: Users are able to explore new potential
markets and predict emerging trends
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
96
PropertyGuru
Real estate technology
Terence Lee
Reason for inclusion: As per Craft.co, the estimated valuation for Property Guru was ~US$1 bn as of Oct-2018.
Company profile
Founded in Singapore in 2007 by Steve Melhuish and Jani Rautiainen, PropertyGuru is an online property technology
company which connects home buyers and renters with agents and developers through its digital property classifieds
marketplaces available on desktop and mobile applications platforms. Its customers are primarily agents and developers
advertising residential and commercial properties for sale or to rent in its core markets across Southeast Asia: Singapore,
Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. According to Refinitiv, PropertyGuru has over 2.8 mn monthly listings of
properties for sale and rent and serves 37 mn monthly property seekers and 49,000 active property agents across its
operating markets (as of Jul-2021).
Funding history
According to Crunchbase, PropertyGuru has raised a total of ~US$561mn till date. Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, TPG, Emtek
Group and Square Peg Capital are the key investors in PropertyGuru.
Figure 194: Funding history and valuation
300
Founded in 2007
1,200
200
800
100
400
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase, company data, Craft.co
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Steve Melhuish
Co-Founder
Hari V Krishnan
CEO and Managing
Director
Prior to PropertyGuru, Steve Melhuish was the CEO of an Asian social network
firm. Previously, he served as an advisor to digital media, venture capital and startup companies in Asia and Europe including Skype, AOL, Virgin Media, Vodafone,
Extreme Media, iPass and Ariadne Capital. Steve also led global teams and a
US$500 mn turnover business unit for Cable & Wireless.
Hari Krishnan joined the Company in 2016, having previously held the role of vice
president, APAC & Japan at LinkedIn, building the Asia business from the ground up.
Source: Company data
Figure 195: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
(US$ mn)
Select investors
Key data points - Segment revenue
Agents—SG (2020)
(US$ mn)
Agents—VN (2020)
(US$ mn)
Agents—rest of Asia (2020)
(US$ mn)
Developers
(US$ mn)
Select financials
Revenue (2020)
(US$ mn)
EBITDA (2020)
(US$ mn)
Net loss (2020)
(US$ mn)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Craft.co
Figure 196: Company financials
1,000 (2018)
KKR, TPG
30.1
13.4
6.4
12.4
62.4
11.5
(9.0)
US$ mn
90
60
65.4
62.4
43.4
33.1
30
11.5
3.2
0
(30)
(4.5)
2017
2018
Revenue
(12.3)
2019
EBITDA
2020
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
97
Key strategies of PropertyGuru include the following:
Deepening existing sales: Agent/agency initiatives include up-selling of higher-tier subscription packages and
enhancement of product penetration. There will also be increased executive engagement with the top developers
regionally, supported by award shows and events.
Pursuing adjacent growth opportunities: These include mortgage financing, refinancing, transaction, insurance and
home services including connections and repairs.
Technology: PropertyGuru’s AI (image recommendation and search recommendation), immersive content (AR, drones
and social media extension) and enterprise SaaS (PropertyGuru FastKey) are some of the most advanced products and
services in the global PropTech industry, and it will continue to focus on technological innovations to enable customers to
further differentiate their property listings.
Inorganic growth opportunitites: In late May 2021, PropertyGuru acquired iProperty.com.my and Brickz.my in
Malaysia and thinkofliving.com and Prakard.com in Thailand from Australia's REA Group.
Figure 197: Engagement market share across region
Figure 198: PropertyGuru FastKey
100%
80%
28%
31%
60%
40%
72%
20%
58%
51%
55%
42%
49%
45%
69%
0%
Singapore
Vietnam
Malaysia
Indonesia
PropertyGuru Others
Source: SimilarWeb as at 9 September 2019
98
Thailand
Source: Company data
Secretlab
Consumer goods (gaming chairs)
Terence Lee
Reason for inclusion: According to EdgeProp, the estimated valuation of the company was ~ US$1.5 bn as of June 2021.
Company profile
Founded in 2014, Secretlab is a gaming chair manufacturing company that specialises in the creation and production of its
own line of gaming chairs. It operates in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia,
with its headquarters in Singapore. Secretlab’s focusses on enhancing its plush award-winning chairs, many of which are
priced around the S$500-600 range, with the most expensive model currently on its website going for S$1,099 that appeals
to its customers that are video game enthusiasts and non-gamers alike.
Funding history
According to Crunchbase, Secretlab has raised a total of ~US$10 mn till date and was reported by EdgeProp to have a
valuation of US$1.5 bn as of Jun-2021. Heliconia Capital Management, a subsidiary of Temasek, is the key investor in
Secretlab.
Figure 199: Funding history and valuation
12
Founded in 2014
2,000
9
1,500
6
1,000
3
500
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase, Company data, EdgeProp
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Ian Ang
Co-Founder and CEO
Alaric Choo
Co-Founder and Chief
Strategy Officer
Holds a 70% stake in Secretlab. Ian Ang was decorating his room and realised
that his gaming set-up—including keyboard, mouse and PC—were all there, but
was missing a chair that would be comfortable, functional, that looked good and
had a local warranty.
Holds a 25% stake in Secretlab. The duo first met when they were competitive gamers.
Source: Company data
Figure 200: Key stats
Figure 201: Company financials
Valuation
Last valuation
(US$ mn)
Select investors
1,500 (2021)
Heliconia (Temasek)
Select financials
US$ mn
100
88.2
80
60
44.1
40
Revenue (2020)
(US$ mn)
88.2
20
EBITDA (2020)
(US$ mn)
15.3
0
Net loss (2020)
(US$ mn)
12.5
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, EdgeProp
15.3
7.3
2019
2020
Revenue
EBITDA
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
99
Strategy: Focussing on its core product
Secretlab focusses on selling to its estimated 2.6 bn gamers worldwide (as of 2020). Its positioning is within the premium
product gaming chair range. Its product strategy focusses on developing better and more advanced versions of its gaming
chairs—4D armrests, multi-function tilt mechanism, and generous padding, among others. The plan is to continue focussing
on the core product in the immediate future, although it does not say no to branching out to other product lines in the future.
Operations: Local company with global reach
In August 2019, Secretlab reported that the company had sold over 200,000 chairs. Co-founder Ian Ang later shared that
the business produces at least 500,000 units of its gaming chairs a year. Singapore accounts for only about 5% of its total
sales each year. North America is its largest and most important market today with over 50% of sales.
Financials: Strong growth post 2020
The company says that it is poised to exceed S$350 mn (US$260 mn) in revenue for 2021. According to sources
interviewed by Techinasia, Secretlab posted an operating profit of US$33.5 mn in the financial year 2020, which is set to
jump to an estimated S$70 mn (US$52 mn) in 2021. These datapoints would represent significant growth from its latest
reported revenue and EBITDA of US$88.2 mn and US$15.3 mn for FY20, respectively.
100
Trax
Technology (retail solutions)
Terence Lee
Reason for inclusion: Valued at US$1.2 bn in its funding round in Jul-2019, as reported by Crunchbase.
Company profile
Trax is a retail analytics platform which allows customers to gain data and insights from granular sales performance and
SKU-level visibility in response to changing store conditions. Trax’s customers include consumer brands like Coca-Cola,
Nestlé, Unilever, P&G and Heineken as well as innovative retailers like Best Buy, Sam’s Club, Auchan and TJ Maxx.
Funding history
According to Crunchbase, Trax has raised a total of ~US$1,027 mn till date and is valued at ~US$1.2 bn as of Jul-2019.
BlackRock, Softbank, Boyu Capital and Warburg Pincus are the key investors in Trax.
Figure 202: Funding history and valuation
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
1,400
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase, company data, Nikkei
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Joel Bar-El
Executive
Chairman
Justin Behar
CEO
Dror Feldheim
President,
Corporate
Development
Joel Bar-El is responsible for Trax’s long-term vision and leads efforts on corporate strategy,
innovation and shareholder value creation. Prior to Trax, he was CEO of Sentryi Limited, a wealth
management software company, which after four years of establishment was sold to IRESS
Limited. Mr Bar also co-founded Tersus Software Limited, where he built and managed the global
sales channels and marketing activities.
Justin Behar was appointed CEO in January 2021, after having served three years as chief corporate
development officer of the company, where he played an instrumental role in driving the planning and
execution of five strategic acquisitions for the company. He also led the strategic development and
execution of Trax’s on-demand workforce solutions, Dynamic Merchandising and Flexforce.
Dror Feldheim is responsible for broader strategic initiatives, expanding Trax’s global partnerships and
capitalising on additional inorganic growth and acquisition opportunities. Before being named President in
Jan-2021, he was Trax’s chief commercial officer, where he oversaw its global sales management,
distribution channel management, marketing communications, pricing and customer service.
Source: Company data
Figure 203: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Key data points
No. of markets
No. of customers
No. of offices
No. of employees
Select financials
Revenue
EBITDA
Net loss
(US$ mn)
2021
2021
2021
2021
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase
Figure 204: Company financials
1,200 (2019)
BlackRock, Softbank
90
292
18
758
15.4
(42.5)
(61.6)
US$ mn
40
20
21.7
11.1
5.2
15.4
0
(20)
(11.3)
(40)
(24.1)
(28.0)
(42.5)
(60)
2015
2016
Revenue
2017
EBITDA
2018
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
101
Strategy: Digitising the physical world of retail
Trax’s long-term vision is to digitise the physical world of retail and drive value for brands, retailers and shoppers. Trax
believes that acquisitions will shorten the time to achieve that vision. Acquisitions will also widen the breadth of its product
portfolio as it onboards new applications and technologies. Below we summarise the key details of its recent acquisitions.
Figure 205: List of acquisitions by Trax
Announced
Acquiree
Description
18-Jan-2018
Quri
3-Jun-2019
LenzTech
Crowdsourced in-store conditions data
for consumer packaged goods
China’s leading retail AI and Big Data
service platform
24-Jun-2019
Shopkick
29-Jul-2019
Planorama
18-Feb-2020
Qopius
12-Mar-2020
Survey.com
Capabilities acquired
Can deploy auditing services in near real-time, rather than
traditional research methods that can take weeks
Access to real-time insights, at speed, scale and coverage to
inform their in-store strategies, retail execution and category
planning
Leading shopping rewards app in
Can provide Chinese consumer packaged goods companies
the US
with greater visibility into store conditions for better in-store
execution, promotion optimisation and merchandising
strategies
Europe’s top supplier of image
Combination of Trax’s computer vision technology and
recognition services for retail execution Shopkick’s engaging omnichannel approach will offer current
and merchandising for consumer
and future customers a more powerful set of tools on the
packaged goods
market
Provider of AI-based in-store technology Able to turn photos of retail shelves into granular, actionable
solutions in Europe
shelf and store-level insights
Leading provider of prescriptive sales
Serve as a force multiplier in pushing real-time store
activation and merchandising services
monitoring and autonomous inventory management into
for emerging/mid-market consumer
mainstream adoption, helping retailers across the world
packaged goods (CPG) brands
embrace data and digital innovation to cut costs and boost
sales at every shelf
Source: Company data
Operations & financials: Strong growth since 2018
According to Globes, Trax has 1,000 employees including 250 in its Israel development centre as of April 2021. According
to a report by Globes in July 2021, recent revenues are believed to be US$100-150 mn p.a., arising from over 500
customers. This represents significant top line growth from its latest reported revenue of US$15.4 mn for FY18.
102
Thailand
“
Thailand
ASEAN Unicorns
103
Ascend Money
Fintech
Warayut Luangmettakul, Kwanwaree Apichartsataporn
Reason for inclusion: Raised US$150 mn in its latest funding round in Sep-2021, bringing its total valuation to US$1.5 bn,
as reported by TechCrunch.
Company profile
Ascend Money was founded in 2013 and is a spinoff from True Corporation, Thailand’s leading mobile operator. The
company’s main business is to operate TrueMoney, a regional e-wallet and payment platform. Apart from e-wallet,
TrueMoney is an agent-based payment and remittance service provider. According to TechCrunch as of Sep-2021,
TrueMoney has a footprint spanning six countries in ASEAN: Thailand. Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia and the
Philippines. Currently, it has over 50 mn e-wallet users across the region and ~88,000 TrueMoney agents as of Sep-2021,
according to The Business Times. The company now operates under CP group, its major shareholder.
Funding history
The company has never disclosed the funding amount in its previous funding history. It was previously held by two major
shareholders: CP Group and Alibaba’s Ant group. According to Crunchbase, in the latest Series C round in Sep-2021, it
received a total of US$150 mn from Bow Wave Capital Management and its existing investors. Consequently, its valuation
hit US$1.5 bn and became Thailand’s first fintech unicorn as reported by TechCrunch.
Figure 206: Funding history and valuation
160
Founded in 2013
1,600
120
1,200
80
800
40
400
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: TechCrunch
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Monsinee Nakapanant
Co-President
Tanyapong
Thamavaranukupt
Co-President
She is a MBA graduate from MIT, Sloan School of Management. She started her
career in CP Group as a CCO of True Corporation. Currently, she hold two positions as
a COO of Ascend Corporation and Co-president of Ascend Money Group.
He is an MBA graduate from University of Rochester. He had experiences in both
consultant and banking business. Before joining Ascend Money as a president, he was
a head of retail business and Network Group in Krung Thai Bank.
Source: Linkedin
Figure 207: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
(US$ mn)
Figure 208: TrueMoney’s financial performance in
Thailand
1,500 (2021)
CP Group, Alibaba's Ant Group, and
Bow Wave Capital Management
Key data points
Users (Sep-2021) (mn)
>50
TPV (Sep-2021) (US$ mn)
~14,000
Agents (Sep-2021) ('000)
~88
Select financials**
Revenue (2020) (US$ mn)
106.2
EBIT (2020)
(US$ mn)
(5.8)
Net profit (2020) (US$ mn)
(6.1)
Source: DBD, TechCrunch, Bloomberg
** Select Financials are based on Ascend Money’s main business -TrueMoney
104
120
80
77
40
7
111
96
94
90
106
3
0
-8
(40)
2015
2016
2017
Revenue (US$ mn)
Source: DBD
-14
2018
-21
2019
PAT (US$ mn)
-6
2020
New funding to drive further growth in TrueMoney wallet (e-wallet application).
In a Sep-2021 TechCrunch article, the company said it aims to use the new funding of US$150 mn from the series C round to
enhance its TrueMoney Wallet, e-wallet application. It expects to grow the user base by expanding its digital financial services,
ranging from digital lending and digital investment to cross border remittances in Southeast Asia. According to TechCrunch,
Ascend Money has amassed ~50 mn users so far through TrueMoney and offline channels including ~88,000 TrueMoney
agents as of Sep-2021.
Since its founding, Ascend Money has used CP Group’s chain of 7-Eleven convenience stores as a channel to accelerate its
expansion in Thailand. Customers can make online payments ranging from bill payments, mobile top-ups, domestic and
international remittance and payroll services through TrueMoney.
Pandemic has accelerated digital payment.
The COVID-19 pandemic has helped accelerate awareness of contactless transaction across the region. Hence, TrueMoney
Wallet has grown exponentially, Tanyapong Thamavaranukupt, co-President of Ascend Money said in the interview. He also
indicated that Thai users have surged from 17 mn in early 2021 to 20 mn as of Sep20-21, while the transactions of its online
payment use case increased over 75%. The company’s goal is to reach 35 mn users in Thailand by 2023.
According to the company, its total payment volume stood at US$14 bn in 2020 with Thailand dominating 70% of total
payment volume. This indicates growth of 84% YoY in 2020.
Looking to create greater financial inclusion
According to Ascend Money’s founder and chairman of the board Suphachai Chearavanont’s statement, “The company is
expanding the platform and services to help improve the accessibility, affordability and impact of financial services.” TrueMoney
Wallet platform provides digital loan services to customers including local entrepreneurs, who do not have traditional credit
scores to access the digital loan and payment services, according to Thamavaranukupt’s interview. For example, last year,
Ascend Money offered a service for expatriates like Burmese and Cambodian migrant workers in Thailand, enabling them to
register on TrueMoney Wallet and transfer money to their family in their homeland.
Figure 209: TrueMoney’s application homepage
Figure 210: TrueMoney’s financial services homepage
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
105
Flash Express
Logistics
Warayut Luangmettakul, Kwanwaree Apichartsataporn
Reason for inclusion: Flash Express is reported by Bangkok Post to be valued at over US$1 bn as of Jun-2021.
Company profile
Flash Express is a Thailand-based express delivery company, founded in 2017. The company recently raised US$150 mn in
the latest round of series D+ and series E funding. Its goal is to become a leading one-stop service for the e-commerce
business in the Southeast Asia region. Its core business is an express delivery service. Flash also provides a fulfilment
service for its e-commerce customers. Flash is planning to expand its business in the Southeast Asia region and looking for
new value-added businesses as well as technology and operation improvement in the firm from the new funding.
Funding history
According to Crunchbase and Pitchbook, Flash Express has raised a total of around US$650 mn till date. The value of the
company is over US$1 bn according to Bangkok Post. Key existing investors are PTT Oil and Retails, SCB10X, Alibaba’s
eWTP Capital and TCP Group’s Durbell.
Figure 211: Funding history and valuation
250
200
150
100
50
0
Founded in 2017
2005
2006
2007
1,250
1,000
750
500
250
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Funding (US$ mn)
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase, Pitchbook, Bangkok Post
Management profiles
Name
Position
Komsan Lee
CEO
Di Weijie
COO
Profile
Komsan Lee, a Thai business man, is a co-founder and CEO of Flash Express.
Before starting Flash Express, he picked up experience as a property sales agent,
freight forwarder and in a logistics firm.
Di Weijie, a Chinese business man, is a co-founder and COO of Flash Express. He
used to work in Alipay as a head of Alipay wallet technology and head of QR code
payment business.
Source: The Standard
Figure 212: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation
Select investors
Figure 213: Revenue performance
(US$ mn)
1,000 (2021)
PTT Oil and Retail, Krungsri Finnovate,
SCB 10X, Durbell, eWTP
Key data points
(Peak) parcels/day (May-2021) ('000)
Branches (Oct-2020)
('000)
Employees (Jun-2021)
('000)
Delivery vehicles (Jun-2021) ('000)
Select financials
Revenue (2020)
(US$ mn)
EBIT (2020)
(US$ mn)
Net profit (2020)
(US$ mn)
2,000
~5
~27
~15
309.8
(23.2)
(23.0)
Source: Company data, DBD, Bangkok Post, Thairath, Bangkokbiznews,
KR Asia, DealStreetAsia.
106
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
9000%
7500%
6000%
4500%
3000%
1500%
2017
2018
Revenue (US$ mn)
Source: DBD
0%
2019
2020
Revenue growth (YoY, RHS)
One of Thailand’s top private delivery companies
Flash has become one of the top two largest private delivery companies in Thailand with a peak day volume of 2 mn parcel
volume per day as of May-2021 according to Bangkokbiznews, a local newspaper. A four-year-old Flash Express has
substantially grown its market share to the top position, become the first free door-to-door pick-up parcel service and offered
one of the most affordable delivery services in Thailand. Flash has more than 5,000 delivery points covering all the provinces
in Thailand as of Oct-2020 according to DealStreetAsia.
Pathway to become a leading one-stop service for e-commerce business.
Flash is planning to become one of the leading one-stop services for e-commerce business. One of the businesses that it is
stepping into beside express delivery is the fulfilment business. Currently, its fulfilment services are provided to many
multinational brands. Its services include warehousing and other fulfilment solutions for customers. This service helps Flash
to become a more integrated logistics services provider for e-commerce business.
With the new funding, Flash is focussing on developing new value-added businesses which will potentially be in the financial
segment. Moreover, the company is aiming to expand services overseas, and improve in-house technology for operational
efficiency. From its financial report, its revenue increased around 4,400%/400% in 2019-2020 to ~Bt10 bn while operating
profit was still in negative territory given the aggressive market share acquisition.
Overseas expansion: ten countries in Southeast Asia within two years
According to a public interview in Jun-2021, the CEO believes Flash would be able to expand to ten countries across
Southeast Asia within to years. The fulfilment business will be the key driver for its overseas expansion due to it being less
capital intensive and there being more potential growth for developing countries in the region.
Figure 214: Website homepage
Figure 215: Application homepage
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
107
Lineman Wongnai
Food Delivery
Warayut Luangmettakul, Kwanwaree Apichartsataporn
Reason for inclusion: Bangkok Post has stated that management expects the valuation to reach US$1 bn valuation by end
of 2021 given the strong momentum in the business.
Company profile
Lineman Wongnai is an end-to-end platform for food business with food delivery as a main revenue driver. The company is a
merger between Lineman, a leading daily life assistant application; and Wongnai one of the top restaurant review and
discovery platforms in Thailand. Lineman Wongnai offers various types of services from food delivery, restaurant search and
review platform to taxi hailing and courier service. The company is 45.6% held by Line Corporation, the owner of Line
messaging app.
Funding history
According to Crunchbase, Wongnai has received over US$550k funding before merging with Lineman and received
US$110 mn from BRV Capital Management after the merger.
Figure 216: Funding history and valuation
120
Founded in 2020
450
80
300
40
150
0
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Funding (US$ mn)
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Crunchbase
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Yod Chinsupakul
CEO
Yod Chinsupakul is an MBA graduate from UCLA Anderson and used to work at
Thomson Reuters as a product manager before becoming CEO and Co-Founder of
Wongnai and subsequently a CEO of Lineman Wongnai.
Source: Linkedin
Figure 217: Key stats
Valuation
Last valuation*
Select investors
Key data points
Active users
Partner restaurant
Delivery service area
Employee
Select financials**
Revenue (2020)
EBIT (2020)
Net profit (2020)
(US$ mn)
Figure 218: Delivery service area—aggressive expansion
to 55 provinces from a total of 77 provinces in Thailand
361 (2020)
BRV Capital, Line Corporation
50
40
(mn/month)
(restaurants)
(provinces)
(employees)
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
(US$ mn)
~10
~400,000
55
~600
105.1
(48.8)
(49.6)
Source: Company data
*Company valuation is based on Line corporation’s re-evaluation fair value
of 45.6% shares in Lineman of ~US$164.7mn
** Combined revenue/EBIT/NP of Lineman and Wongnai.
108
55
60
30
20
10
20
8
6
0
2018
2019
2020
Delivery service area (number of provinces)
Source: Company data
YTD2021
End-to-end platform for food business.
Lineman Wongnai has emerged as an end-to-end platform for food business after the merger of Lineman and Wongnai.
According to a media release by LINE in Jul-2020, Lineman Wongnai is a leading restaurant review platform in Thailand with
more than a decade of experience, 10 mn active users per month and >400k partner restaurants. Lineman’s services focus
on food delivery along with groceries, convenience store items delivery, courier services and taxi hailing. Before merging,
they had already partnered on merchant solutions to take online orders from Lineman by providing Merchant app and POS.
After merging, the two companies became an end-to-end food platform through which they aim to enhance the experience
of all users, restaurants and riders. For example, users can begin with searching for restaurants with over 400k choices,
then order delivery or book a table on the platform. Restaurants can promote themselves and create marketing campaigns
via the platform, using the company’s POS system and merchant app to connect with online orders from Lineman Wongnai.
Riders would benefit from potential higher traffic.
Aiming to become a unicorn
The companies’ reasons behind the merger are to improve efficiency and increase service scale to cope with current fierce
competition in food delivery service. The merger allows the company to reduce cost by integrating technology in the firms
along with increase services for customers and traffic for driver and restaurants. Moreover, the two companies see this
merger in food delivery business as an opportunity to become a Thai unicorn startup.
Short to medium term plan
In the short-term, the company plans to focus on business integration between the two companies to optimise the potential
benefits. Food Delivery is the key priority by integrating partner restaurants to expand variety choices for customers. In
addition, it plans to expand delivery service areas to major cities across the country as well as add more new features for
partner merchants such as Line Official Account connectivity, Smart menu and Self promotion to help partners improve their
sales and marketing. In the medium term, their goal is to become the no. 1 food platform in Thailand by creating a holistic
eco-system of online to offline for the food business by leveraging the strengths of the Line, Lineman and Wongnai
application platforms.
Figure 219: Wongnai application homepage
Figure 220: Lineman application homepage
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
109
Vietnam
“
110
Vietnam
VNG Corporation (VNG)
Diversified internet
Farhan Rizvi, Ha Ngo
Reason for inclusion: Valued at US$2.2 bn in 2019, as reported by DealStreetAsia.
Company profile
VNG Corporation (VNG) was found in 2004 as Vinagame before changing its name to VNG in 2008. Since its establishment,
the company has successfully transformed from the first Vietnamese online gaming company to one of the leading IT and
entertainment services providers in the country. VNG owns a wide range of products from entertainment (Zing MP3, Zing
TV), social network (Zalo), and e-commerce and e-payment (Tiki, ZaloPay).
Funding history
According to Crunchbase, Tencent invested in VNG in 2008 and currently holds ~30% stake while CyberAgent invested in
2010, but no further details were shared. Other key funding rounds are GIC in 2015 and Temasek in 2018-19.
Figure 221: Funding history and valuation
150
125
100
75
50
25
0
Founded in 2004
2005
2006
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, DealStreet Asia
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Le Hong Minh
Chairman/CEO
Vuong Quang Khai
Deputy CEO
Le Hong Minh is the Founder of Vinagame (VNG) and the key person influencing
VNG strategy and development. He holds a bachelor’s degree in banking and finance
from Monash University (Australia). After returning to Vietnam in 2001, he worked as
a credit officer at Vina Capital and opened an internet café as a side business, which
was the inspiration for him to establish Vinagame in 2004. Mr Minh currently holds
9.9% of the shares of VNG, according to VNG’s 2020 Annual Report.
Vuong Quang Khai joined VNG in 2007 and is the founder of key VNG products including
Zing MP3 and Zalo. He has a master’s degree from Columbia University (USA). Prior to
VNG, he had an internship at FPT Corporation while completing his bachelor degree at
Hanoi University of Science and Technology. Mr Khai currently holds 2.7% of VNG shares,
according to VNG’s 2020 Annual Report.
Source: Company data
Figure 222: Key stats
Figure 223: Company financials
Valuation
Last valuation
(US$ mn)
Select investors
Key data points
2,200 (2019)
US$ mn
300
Tencent, GIC, Temasek
200
Game users (Dec-2020)
(mn)
Zalo MAU (Dec-2020)
(mn)
32
62
Tiki monthly visitors (Dec-2020)
Select financials
(mn)
24.5
Revenue (2020)
(US$ mn)
260
Net profit (2020)
(US$ mn)
8.3
100
183.9
223.2
186.1
259.7
130.3
23.4
40.4
14.4
19.6
8.3
0
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, DealStreet Asia
2016
2017
2018
Revenue (US$ mn)
2019
2020
PAT (US$ mn)
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
111
Online gaming and ads account for 95% of sales
VNG Games is one of the leading game publishers in Vietnam (~25% market share in 2019 according to Niko Partners
report), and has been distributing popular IP games in the ASEAN region including The Swordsman Online series, Perfect
World Mobile, King of Fighter, as well as eSport games such as PUBG Mobile and League of Legends. Hence, online
gaming (~79% of 2020 sales) and online ads (~15%) which have been the main revenue stream for the Group will still be
the primary business in medium term. Besides its HQ in Vietnam, VNG Games has representative offices in ASEAN and
Latin America and is serving millions of gamers in over 130 countries. It aims to have 320 mn users globally by 2023.
Zalo is one of the top messaging apps in Vietnam with integrated e-wallet ZaloPay
Apart from IT services, which includes cloud, datacentres, Zalo, is the segment that VNG expects to grow strongly in the
medium term though the sales contribution remains small (~3% of 2020 sales). VNG launched its texting app Zalo in 2012
in the back drop of the smartphone boom in Vietnam and lack of a Vietnamese-friendly mobile texting platform, which was
dominated by Facebook Messenger and Viber at that time. After eight years in operation, Zalo reported that it has 62 mn
monthly frequent users, 14 mn minute calls daily and 1.5 bn messages per day as of Apr-2021, and is used by the
government as one of the official communication channels. Leveraging on its rich customer base, VNG launched its mobile
payment app, ZaloPay, in 2017 which provides similar services like other e-wallets such as money transfer, utility bills
payment and mobile top-up. ZaloPay is now one of the leading e-wallets (alongside Momo) and is valued at ~US$ 50 mn in
2020 according to VNG’s financial report.
Figure 224: Sharp deceleration in online gaming revenue
growth
Figure 225: Healthy growth in frequent users at Zalo
D bn
6,000
mn users
80
4,000
41.3%
3,582
3,464
2,000
4,221
21.9%
-3.3%
0
2017
2018
2019
Online gaming revenue (D bn)
4,773
13.1%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
-10%
2020
YoY growth (%)
52.4
60
40
40.0
32.0
20
0
2017
2018
2019
2020
Zalo frequent users, monthly (mn users)
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
Figure 226: VNG games
Figure 227: Zalo and ZaloPay
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
112
62.0
Vietnam Payment Solutions (VNPay)
Fintech
Farhan Rizvi, Ha Ngo
Reason for inclusion: Valued at >US$1 bn in its latest funding round in Jul-21, as reported by VnExpress.
Company profile
Vietnam Payment Solution JSC (VNPay) was established in 2007 by three Vietnamese businessmen. The company has
spent its nearly 14 years of operation in developing the electronic payment solutions for Vietnamese and revolutionising the
finance and banking industry. According to the company, VNPay is currently providing e-payment services to more than 40
banks, 5 telecommunication companies and more than 20,000 other corporates.
Funding history
According to Vietnam Investment Review, VNPay has carried out one funding round of US$300 mn in 2019 with GIC and
Softbank Vision Fund are the two participating investors. According to the e-Conomy SEA 2020 report by Google, Temasek
and Bain, VNPay has officially become Vietnam’s second technology unicorn (after VNG) following the 2019 funding round.
Figure 228: Funding history and valuation
350
280
210
140
70
0
Founded in 2007
2005
2006
1,250
1,000
750
500
250
0
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Funding (US$ mn)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
Valuation (US$ mn, RHS)
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, Vietnam Investment Review, VnExpress, Google-Temasek e-Conomy SEA report
Management profiles
Name
Position
Profile
Tran Tri Manh
Chairman
Mai Thanh Binh
Vice Chairman
Tran Tri Manh is one of the three founders of VNPay. Prior to VNPay, he was the
IT Director at a state-owned bank.
Mai Thanh Binh joined VNPay in 2014. He got his bachelor’s degree from Imperial
College London in 2004 and worked as an FX trader for BNP Paribas before
founding his first start-up, Vietnam Esports, in 2008. Besides being the Vice
Chairman in VNPay, he is currently the Chairman of TEKO Vietnam (an IT
consulting and outsourcing services startup he founded in 2017).
Source: Company data
Figure 229: Key stats
Figure 230: Historical revenues and PAT trend
Valuation
Last valuation
(US$ mn)
Select investors
Key data points
1,000 (2021)
GIC, Softbank Vision Fund
MAU (Dec-2020)
(mn)
15
Number of POS (Jun-2021)
(Units)
70,000
Partnered banks (Jun-2021) (Units)
Select financials
33
Revenue (2019)
(US$ mn)
533
Net profit (2019)
(US$ mn)
1.5
Source: Company data, Crunchbase, VnExpress
US$ mn
600
500
400
300
219.8
132.0
200
100
4.3
2.5
0
2016
2017
Revenue (US$ mn)
533.0
339.6
6.7
1.5
2018
2019
PAT (US$ mn)
Source: Company data
ASEAN Unicorns
113
One of the leading players in QR code payment network
According to a Vietnam Investment Review article in Dec-2020, VNPay’s QR network serves ~15 mn users per month as it
offers a secure and convenient way to handle penny transactions in which customers can scan related QR codes and
transfer money without need to input a bank account or mobile number. Despite having its own mobile platform, a majority of
VNPay transactions are carried out through the QR feature that is integrated into the mobile application of its partner banks
(33/41 of VNPay banking partners), 5 telco companies and other vendors (cinema, airlines, fashion retailers, bookstores,
etc.). VNPay has expanded its presence to Cambodia through the partnership with ten banks in this country.
Amongst a few fintechs that are profitable despite intense competition
Similar to other e-payment players, VNPay has spent aggressively in advertisement and promotion expenses to attract
customers, which has impacted its 2019 bottom line (PAT -77% YoY). However, VNPay remains one of the few fintechs
among existing players that have remained profitable and successfully scaled up by leveraging local banks’ digital platforms
and expanding the number of POS (~70k in 2020 vs ~25k in 2019 per company data) through vendors’ store network.
Following the funding from GIC and Softbank, VNPay has been aggressively upgrading its payment solutions, expanding its
partner network, attracting new customers and venturing into other tech startups which can create synergies.
2015
2016
2017
2018
0
2019
2020
2025E
Vietnam Mobile Commerce Transaction Value (US$ mn)
(36.8)
2019 PAT (US$ mn)
Source: Euromonitor
Source: Company data
Figure 233: VNPay app screenshots
Figure 234: Screenshot of VNPay QR code payment
solution
Source: Company data
Source: Company data
114
Momo
97
453
(16.8)
ZaloPay
63
166
Napas
1,000
1,214
(0.1) (1.4) (5.4) (6.3)
Moca
2,000
1,673
0.6
True Money
3,000
1.5
Senpay
4,000
US$ mn
27.2
40
20
0
(20)
(40)
(60)
Ononpay
4,962
Airpay
US$ mn
5,000
Figure 232: VNPay is one of the few fintechs that are
profitable
VNPay
Figure 231: M-Commerce transaction value to triple in
2025E
Valuation Methodology and Risks
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for Airasia Group (AIRA.KL)
Method: Our RM0.92 target price for AirAsia is based on our sum-of-the-parts valuation for AIRA (pegged to FY23E). We assume that it will be
able to weather COVID-19 and also include the calculated value for its key tech venture (AirAsia.Com). Nonetheless, until there is
certainty that it can raise sufficient capital to repay its deferred expenses, we rate the stock NEUTRAL.
Risk:
Key downside risks to our NEUTRAL rating and RM0.92 target price for Airasia Group include: (1) accelerated competitive pressure, (2)
viability of Indonesia AirAsia (and other associates besides Thailand), (3) disease, natural disasters & terrorism affecting air travel, and
(4) sharp upward movements in crude oil prices. Key upside risks to our NEUTRAL rating and RM1.00 target price include: (1) betterthan-expected passenger traffic; and (2) crude oil prices to trend downwards.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for Astra International (ASII.JK)
Method: Our NEUTRAL rating and Rp5,000/share target price for Astra International is derived from our sum-of-the-parts (SOTP) valuation
method. At our target price, overall implied group P/E (price-to-earnings) is 11.2x 2021E EPS (earnings per share), or slightly below its 1 standard deviation. We rate the company NEUTRAL as we expect weaker 4W volume performance in 4Q21 and early when the
PPnBM tax discounts are reduced or eliminated.
Risk:
Potential downside or upside risks to our Rp5,000/share target price and NEUTRAL rating for Astra International include: (1) Weaker- or
stronger-than-expected industry auto growth; (2) lower- or higher-than expected auto/financials margins and (3) a sharp slowdown or
acceleration in the economy.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for Ayala Corporation (AC.PS)
Method: Our OUTPERFORM rating and SOTP (sum-of-the-parts)-based target price of P990 for Ayala Corporation (AC) is derived using a 5%
conglomerate discount to our NAV estimate for AC. We use Credit Suisse target prices for covered stocks, ACEN, ALI, BPI and GLO
and have employed a DCF (discounted cash flow)-based fair value on the infrastructure/utility companies and investments of AC,
namely Manila Water, and rail investment. We think AC has strong brands of businesses that have better visibility than others in times
of a transition to recovery and rate the stock an OUTPERFORM.
Risk:
Key risks to our P990 target price and OUTPERFORM rating for Ayala Corporation stem from the risks associated with its subsidiaries.
Headwinds in property and banks are the potential slowdown in sales take-up/project launches and deceleration in system-wide loan
growth. Apart from property and banks, other risks for AC's subsidiaries are in the water utility (regulatory uncertainty), telco
(competitor's response to Globe market share gain), and power (regulatory non-approvals and non-completion of power projects in the
pipeline) sectors. Continued regulatory overhang is further detrimental factor for the stock. Upside risk for the stock is mainly a better
recovery of the economy from the pandemic.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (CIMB.KL)
Method: Our target price of RM6.00 for CIMB Group is based on the Gordon growth model, assuming a sustainable return-on-equity (ROE) of
10.0%. We have applied a cost of equity of 10.1% p.a. (using a beta of 0.85) and terminal growth of 2.5% p.a. Our ROE forecast is
predicated on the assumption that management will pay out 50% of net earnings in dividends. We have an OUTPERFORM rating on
CIMB. The strong earnings performance so far should strengthen investors' confidence in the group's ability to achieve management's
longer term ROE target of 12% by 2024.
Risk:
Risks to our RM6.00 target price and OUTPERFORM rating for CIMB Group include: (1) a change in the regulatory environment, (2)
drastic change in economic outlook, (3) management change, and (4) ownership changes.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for Frasers Property Limited (FRPL.SI)
Method: Our TP of S$1.15 and NEUTRAL rating is based on a 45% discount to our reappraised net asset value (RNAV) of S$2.09 per share.
The RNAV is calculated based on FPL's portfolio of assets. For residential properties, we estimate net present value (NPV) of net
profits from its residential properties based on our assumed take-up schedule and selling prices using 8% and 12% discount rates for
Singapore/Australia/UK and China/other countries, respectively. For the subsidiaries we cover such as FCT, we have used the
respective target prices for our RNAV. With low visibility on dividends amid headwinds facing key divisions, expect limited near-term
upside, hence our Neutral rating.
Risk:
The main risk to our target price of S$1.15 and NEUTRAL rating for FPL is if the real estate markets in the countries in which the
company is present do not perform as forecast. This would lead to revisions to our RNAV assumptions and thereafter target price
revisions. Given that a majority of earnings are dervied from Singapore, Australia, and Europe, any government policy changes in these
countries would also be a key risk.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for Globe Telecom (GLO.PS)
Method: Our target price for Globe is SoTP (sum of the parts) based, wherein we value cellular and fixed-line businesses separately using a
DCF (discounted cash flow) methodology. At our target price of P1,950, Globe would trade at an enterprise value-to-earnings before
ASEAN Unicorns
115
interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EV/EBITDA) multiple of 5.3x for 2021E. We have a NEUTRAL rating on Globe as we
think the new entrant threat is likely to remain an overhang on the stock in the near term despite the company gaining mobile market
share.
Risk:
The risks that may impede achievement of our P1,950 target price and NEUTRAL rating for Globe Telecom include: (1) either fasterthan-expected, or slower-than-expected growth in the cellular market, from the current level, (2) the prospect that competitors take a
larger or smaller proportion of the market share of net additions, (3) that capex forecasts prove higher or lower than expected, (4) that
competition leads to higher or lower attrition of revenue per user than expected, and (5) regulatory changes that could result in a lower
revenue and/or higher costs than expected.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for Naver (035420.KS)
Method: We maintain our OUTPERFORM rating for NAVER as all of NAVER's business segments have shown steady growth. Our target price
for Naver is W570,000. In our SOTP valuation, we break commerce traffic into outbound traffic and Smartstore transactions which will
provide much stronger monetisation opportunities compared to GMV as an aggregator. We assign different EVs to GMV multiples to
reflect the larger earnings opportunity for Smartstore transactions. For Smartstore transactions, we assigned the average EV to GMV
multiples of global peers (Mercado Libre, E-Bay, Amazon, Alibaba and Pinduoduo) reflecting the rising monetisation trend of its
commerce traffic. For transactions as an aggregator, we decided to adopt the average EV to GMV of local market places (11st, E-Bay
Korea, Ticket Monster and WeMakePrice).
Risk:
Risks that could impede achievement of our W570,000 target price and OUTPERFORM rating for Naver include: (1) faster-thanexpected deterioration from its legacy business (i.e., legacy PC ad business), (2) poor execution on new business initiatives. (e.g.,
video platform), and (3) intensified competition from overseas platforms.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for PT Telkom (Telekomunikasi Indo.) (TLKM.JK)
Method: Our target price of Rp4,600 for PT Telkom is based on discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis, based on an estimated 9.6% cost of
capital and a 3.1% terminal growth rate in fixed-line business and 3.1% terminal growth rate in Telkomsel. We value Telkom's fixed-line
business at Rp1,490 and its 65% holding in its cellular subsidiary, Telkomsel, at Rp3,430 share. At Rp4,600, Telkom would trade at an
enterprise value-to-earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EV/EBITDA) mulitiple of 9.4x for FY21E (using
proportional consolidation), higher than the regional integrated average and Telkom still enjoys higher growth in a market with lower
penetration. We rate the stock OUTPERFORM, due to strong smartphone data monetisation and valuation.
Risk:
Telkom's key asset, Telkomsel, is primarily a cellular operator within a seven-player market. The risks that may impede achievement of
our target price of Rp4,600 and OUTPERFORM rating for PT Telkom on the cellular side are: (1) slower-than-expected growth in the
cellular market, from the current level; (2) the prospect that competitors take a larger proportion of the market share of net additions; (3)
that capex forecasts prove higher than expected; and (4) that competition leads to lower attrition of revenue per user than expected.
Key risks to our target price on the fixed-line side are: (1) faster cannibalisation of voice revenue per line by cellular competition; (2)
slower rollout of broadband lines than expected; (3) less success in reducing employment-related costs; and (4) less success in
lowering capex requirements.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for PTT Oil and Retail Business (OR.BK)
Method: At our TP of Bt23/share, we value OR’s oil business at 10x EV/EBITDA and non-oil at 20x EV/EBITDA (blended 12x) on FY22E. We
put our target multiples at the high end of the range recognizing positive retail investor sentiment towards the stock. We rate OR as
UNDERPERFORM due to its high valuation versus to its peers compared to its earnings growth which we think will be moderate.
Risk:
Risks to our Bt23 target price and UNDERPERFORM rating for PTT Oil and Retail Business Public (OR) are 1) the inclusion of OR in
key indices such as SET50 and MSCI Thailand that would add to upside risk to share prices, 2) further rise in oil prices that would result
in bigger-than-expected short term stock gains, 3) sharp rebound in demand while the government let marketing margins rise and
avoids intervention in OR's margins unlike its practice prior to the listing.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for RHB Bank Berhad (RHBC.KL)
Method: Our target price of RM7.50 for RHB Bank is based on the Gordon growth model, assuming a sustainable return-on-equity (ROE) of
10.3%. We have applied a cost of equity of 10.1% p.a. (using a beta of 0.85) and terminal growth of 5.1% p.a. Our ROE forecast is
predicated on the assumption that management will pay out 45% of net earnings in dividends. We rate the stock OUTPERFORM. Its
strong capital position provides greater dividend certainty than its peers.
Risk:
The following risks could impede achievement of our RM7.50 target price and OUTPERFORM rating for RHB Bank: (1) potential
acquisitions could alter its earnings growth trajectory, (2) change in regulatory environment, (3) drastic change in the economic outlook,
(4) management change and (5) ownership changes.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for Samsung Electronics (005930.KS)
Method: Our 12-month target price of W126,000 for Samsung Electronics is based on 2.2x FY22E up-cycle P/B. The dividend yield should rise
for the next few years, driving P/E multiple expansion as Samsung Electronics’ yield approaches the global tech average of about
2.5%. We assign an OUTPERFORM rating to the stock given our confidence on higher earnings and dividends led by, resilient DRAM
116
profitability, OLED or 3D NAND top-line growth, smartphone recovery with new product-cycle, and a more proactive shareholder return
policy.
Risk:
Risks that may impede the achievement of our 12-month target price of W126,000 and our OUTPERFORM rating for Samsung
Electronics include: (1) smartphone margin sustainability given intensifying competition, (2) an earlier China entrance into 3D NAND,
and (3) worse-than-expected memory pricing.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for Siam Commercial Bank (SCB.BK)
Method: Our 12-month target price of Bt117 for Siam Commercial Bank is based upon a three-stage dividend discount model, with an 11.2%
discount rate and 5% terminal growth rate assumption. Our OUTPERFORM rating is based on the expectation that asset quality will
improve with vaccine deployment and that cost-to-income will come down in the medium term.
Risk:
Downside risks that could impact our Bt117 target price and OUTPERFORM rating for Siam Commercial Bank include: (1) slower-thanexpected production and distribution of a vaccine, (2) weaker-than-expected improvement in asset quality and (3) slower-than-expected
pick-up in fee-related income streams.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for Singapore Telecom (STEL.SI)
Method: Our target price of S$3.15 for Singapore Telecom is based on a sum-of-the parts calculation. The core Singapore and Australia
operations within the sum-of-the-parts, which contribute S$0.11 of the total, are valued using discounted cash flow (DCF) analysis. For
Singapore, we use an estimated 7.8% weighted average cost of capital (WACC) and 0.0% terminal growth rate; for Australia, we use an
estimated 8.6% WACC and 1.0% terminal growth. The associates, which contribute S$3.05 within our sum-of-the-parts, are also valued
using DCF. Singtel's 35% stake in Telkomsel we value at S$0.97. Singtel's 35% stake in Bharti Airtel we value at S$1.38. Singtel's 23%
stake in AIS we value at S$0.33. SingTel's 21% stake in Intouch we value at S$0.10. Singtel's 47% stake in Globe, we value at S$0.20.
We also value Singtel's 26% stake in SingPost at S$0.02 and 25% stake in NetLink Trust at S$0.06. We have an OUTPERFORM rating
on SingTel primarily due to our positive view on company's associates.
Risk:
The key risks to our S$3.15 target price and OUTPERFORM rating for Singtel include: (1) inability to maintain current dividends, (2)
foreign currency fluctuations, (3) more severe-than-expected competition among the telcos in Singapore and Australia, as well as key
regional markets, (4) slower-than-expected growth in key business segments in key regional markets, (5) changes in regulatory
environment, and (6) acquisition risk.
Target Price and Rating
Valuation Methodology and Risks: (12 months) for Sumber Alfaria (AMRT.JK)
Method: We value AMRT based on 32.8x FY21-22E average P/E (at -0.5 S.D from 5-year mean) to arrive at our target price of Rp1,610, with
OUTPERFORM rating. We believe that AMRT deserves a relatively higher P/E multiple due to its strong expected EPS growth over the
next few years.
Risk:
The key risks for our OUTPERFORM rating and TP of Rp1,610 for AMRT include 1) Significantly lower than estimated gross margin
due to worse than expected segment/product mix or intense competition leading to downward price adjustments, 2) Faster than
expected shift into digital money hurting its fee-based income, 3) Significant resurgence in COVID-19 cases leading to strict lockdown,
4) Poor return on investment (AMRT has announced that it has plan to invest in a digital business).
ASEAN Unicorns
117
Companies Mentioned (Price as of 04-Oct-2021)
Airasia Group (AIRA.KL, RM1.13)
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA.N, $144.2)
Alibaba Group Holding Limited (9988.HK, HK$137.0)
Allianz SE (ALVG.DE, €195.3)
Alphabet (GOOGL.OQ, $2730.86)
Amazon com Inc. (AMZN.OQ, $3283.26)
Apple Inc (AAPL.OQ, $142.65)
Asiasoft Corp (AS.BK, Bt16.4)
Astra International (ASII.JK, Rp5,575)
Axiata Group Berhad (AXIA.KL, RM3.9)
Ayala Corporation (AC.PS, P828.0)
BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA, €54.89)
Best Buy (BBY.N, $105.31)
BlackRock (BLK.N, $841.89)
Booking Holdings Inc. (BKNG.OQ, $2455.87)
CIMB Group Holdings Bhd (CIMB.KL, RM4.7)
Canon (7751.T, ¥2,640)
Catcha Digital (CATH.KL, RM0.195)
Citigroup Inc. (C.N, $71.18)
Daito Trust Construction (1878.T, ¥12,630)
Daiwa Securities Group (8601.T, ¥645)
Delivery Hero (DHER.DE, €109.55)
Expedia (EXPE.OQ, $169.79)
FPT Corporation (FPT.HM, D94600.0)
Facebook Inc. (FB.OQ, $343.01)
Frasers Property Limited (FRPL.SI, S$1.12)
GFG (GFG.DE, €9.8)
Globe Telecom (GLO.PS, P3000.0)
Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (GS.N, $380.0)
Groupon Inc. (GRPN.OQ, $23.56)
Heineken (HEIN.AS, €90.22)
Ho Bee Land (HBEE.SI, S$2.82)
International Business Machines (IBM.N, $143.32)
JD.com (JD.OQ, $70.02)
JD.com (9618.HK, HK$274.6)
KCT (002625.SZ, Rmb22.46)
KFH Kuwait (KFH.KW, fils821.0)
KKR and Co. Inc. (KKR.N, $61.68)
Korea Line (005880.KS, W3,000)
Macquarie Group (MQG.AX, A$178.12)
MediaTek Inc. (2454.TW, NT$892.0)
Microsoft (MSFT.OQ, $289.1)
Mitsubishi Corp (8058.T, ¥3,435)
Mizuho Financial Group (8411.T, ¥1,541)
Naver (035420.KS, W382,000)
Nestle (NESN.S, SFr111.72)
Oracle Corporation (ORCL.N, $89.74)
PT Bank Neo (BBYB.JK, Rp1,375)
PT Lippo Karawaci Tbk (LPKR.JK, Rp163)
PT Telkom (Telekomunikasi Indo.) (TLKM.JK, Rp3,670)
PTT Oil and Retail Business (OR.BK, Bt27.5)
Panasonic (6752.T, ¥1,286)
PayPal (PYPL.OQ, $264.65)
Procter & Gamble (PG.N, $139.58)
Prudential Plc (PRU.L, 1450.5p)
Prudential Plc (2378.HK, HK$150.6)
RHB Bank Berhad (RHBC.KL, RM5.53)
Rakuten Group (4755.T, ¥1,155)
Razer Inc. (1337.HK, HK$1.53)
Rocket Internet (RKET.H, €27.8)
SAP SE (SAPG.DE, €116.26)
Salesforce.com (CRM.N, $275.26)
Samsung Electronics (005930.KS, W73,200)
Sansiri (SIRI.BK, Bt1.25)
Sea Limited (SE.N, $319.56)
Siam Commercial Bank (SCB.BK, Bt124.0)
Singapore Telecom (STEL.SI, S$2.46)
SoftBank Group (9984.T, ¥6,266)
Spotify Technology (SPOT.N, $229.33)
Sumber Alfaria (AMRT.JK, Rp1,330)
Telenor (TEL.OL, Nkr145.6)
Tencent Holdings (0700.HK, HK$457.0)
Tesla Inc (TSLA.OQ, $775.22)
The Coca-Cola Company (KO.N, $53.02)
The TJX Companies, Inc. (TJX.N, $66.61)
Tokyo Century (8439.T, ¥6,310)
Unilever (ULVR.L, 3973.0p)
VinaCapital (VOF.L, 456.0p)
Visa Inc. (V.N, $230.46)
WNS Global Services (WNS.N, $83.03)
Walmart Inc. (WMT.N, $137.05)
Wise (WISEa.L, 1057.5p)
Wish, Inc. (WISH.OQ, $5.35)
Xiaomi (1810.HK, HK$20.55)
Zoom Video Communications (ZM.OQ, $267.51)
eBay Inc. (EBAY.OQ, $69.91)
118
Disclosure Appendix
Analyst Certification
Varun Ahuja, CFA, Kylie Wan, Dan Fineman, Danny Goh, Nicholas Teh, Andri Ngaserin, Hazel Tanedo and Farhan Rizvi, CFA each certify, with
respect to the companies or securities that the individual analyzes, that (1) the views expressed in this report accurately reflect his or her personal
views about all of the subject companies and securities and (2) no part of his or her compensation was, is or will be directly or indirectly related to
the specific recommendations or views expressed in this report.
3-Year Price and Rating History for Naver (035420.KS)
035420.KS
Date
16-Oct-18
26-Nov-18
10-Jan-19
01-Feb-19
18-Mar-19
16-May-19
25-Jul-19
19-Aug-19
16-Sep-19
04-Oct-19
20-Dec-19
23-Jan-20
02-Mar-20
27-Mar-20
24-Apr-20
24-Jun-20
22-Jul-20
30-Jul-20
29-Oct-20
25-Nov-20
28-Jan-21
15-Mar-21
15-Jul-21
Closing Price
(W)
133,500
124,000
131,000
133,500
132,000
119,000
134,000
139,000
154,500
150,500
183,500
183,000
175,000
164,000
192,500
279,000
270,000
294,000
298,500
278,500
355,000
383,000
449,000
Target Price
(W)
180,000
152,000
155,000
153,000
155,000
154,000
160,000
173,000
179,000
192,000
204,000
207,000
206,000
205,000
222,000
330,000
335,000
350,000
340,000
350,000
420,000
520,000
570,000
Rating
O
O U T PERFO RM
* Asterisk signifies initiation or assumption of coverage.
3-Year Price and Rating History for Samsung Electronics (005930.KS)
005930.KS
Date
31-Oct-18
13-Dec-18
08-Jan-19
31-Jan-19
15-Mar-19
19-Sep-19
31-Jan-20
02-Apr-20
29-Apr-20
30-Jul-20
21-Sep-20
03-Dec-20
12-Jan-21
Closing Price
(W)
42,400
40,000
38,100
46,150
44,200
49,150
56,400
46,800
50,000
59,000
59,200
69,700
90,600
Target Price
(W)
70,000
64,500
53,000
58,000
54,800
61,300
82,000
66,000
65,000
75,100
81,000
90,000
126,000
Rating
O
O U T PERFO RM
* Asterisk signifies initiation or assumption of coverage.
As of December 10, 2012 Analysts’ stock rating are defined as follows:
Outperform (O) : The stock’s total return is expected to outperform the relevant benchmark* over the next 12 months.
Neutral (N) : The stock’s total return is expected to be in line with the relevant benchmark* over the next 12 months.
Underperform (U) : The stock’s total return is expected to underperform the relevant benchmark* over the next 12 months.
*Relevant benchmark by region: As of 10th December 2012, Japanese ratings are based on a stock’s total return relative to the analys t's coverage universe which
consists of all companies covered by the analyst within the relevant sector, with Outperforms represent ing the most attractive, Neutrals the less attractive, and
Underperforms the least attractive investment opportunities. As of 2nd October 2012, U.S. and Canadian as well as European (e xcluding Turkey) ratings are
based on a stock’s total return relative to the analyst's coverage universe which consists of all companies covered by the analyst within the relevant sector, with
Outperforms representing the most attractive, Neutrals the less attractive, and Underperforms the least attractive investment opportunities. For Latin America,
ASEAN Unicorns
119
Turkey and Asia (excluding Japan and Australia), stock ratings are based on a stock’s total return relative to the average to tal return of the relevant country or
regional benchmark (India - S&P BSE Sensex Index); prior to 2nd October 2012 U.S. and Canadian ratings were based on (1) a stock’s absolute total return
potential to its current share price and (2) the relative attractiveness of a stock’s total return potential within an analys t’s coverage universe. For Australian and
New Zealand stocks, the expected total return (ETR) calculation includes 12 -month rolling dividend yield. An Outperform rating is assigned where an ETR is
greater than or equal to 7.5%; Underperform where an ETR less than or equal to 5%. A Neutral may be assig ned where the ETR is between -5% and 15%. The
overlapping rating range allows analysts to assign a rating that puts ETR in the context of associated risks. Prior to 18 May 2015, ETR ranges for Outperform and
Underperform ratings did not overlap with Neutral thresholds between 15% and 7.5%, which was in operation from 7 July 2011.
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valuation of the sector* relative to the group’s historic fundamentals and/or valuation:
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Global Ratings Distribution
Rating
Outperform/Buy*
Neutral/Hold*
Underperform/Sell*
Restricted
Versus universe (%)
Of which banking clients (%)
55%
33%
10%
2%
(31% banking clients)
(22% banking clients)
(20% banking clients)
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See the Companies Mentioned section for full company names
Credit Suisse currently has, or had within the past 12 months, the following as investment banking client(s): LPKR.JK, 1810.HK, 9984.T,
WISH.OQ, EXPE.OQ, IBM.N, HEIN.AS, MQG.AX, CIMB.KL, TSLA.OQ, EBAY.OQ, NESN.S, PRU.L, AMZN.OQ, CRM.N, 0700.HK, BABA.N,
GOOGL.OQ, FRPL.SI, BNPP.PA, TLKM.JK, STEL.SI, C.N, KO.N, GS.N, WMT.N, AC.PS, MSFT.OQ, 2378.HK, 6752.T, 9988.HK
120
Credit Suisse provided investment banking services to the subject company (LPKR.JK, 1810.HK, 9984.T, WISH.OQ, EXPE.OQ, IBM.N, HEIN.AS,
MQG.AX, CIMB.KL, TSLA.OQ, EBAY.OQ, NESN.S, PRU.L, AMZN.OQ, CRM.N, 0700.HK, BABA.N, GOOGL.OQ, FRPL.SI, BNPP.PA, TLKM.JK,
STEL.SI, C.N, KO.N, GS.N, WMT.N, AC.PS, MSFT.OQ, 2378.HK, 6752.T, 9988.HK) within the past 12 months.
Within the last 12 months, Credit Suisse has received compensation for non-investment banking services or products from the following issuer(s):
9984.T, ALVG.DE, 005930.KS, EXPE.OQ, IBM.N, HEIN.AS, MQG.AX, CIMB.KL, AAPL.OQ, TSLA.OQ, EBAY.OQ, SCB.BK, PRU.L, CRM.N,
0700.HK, BABA.N, GOOGL.OQ, BNPP.PA, ULVR.L, STEL.SI, C.N, RHBC.KL, KO.N, GS.N, AIRA.KL, WMT.N, TEL.OL, PYPL.OQ, AC.PS,
MSFT.OQ, 2378.HK, 4755.T, 8411.T, 9988.HK
Credit Suisse has managed or co-managed a public offering of securities for the subject company (LPKR.JK, 1810.HK, WISH.OQ, MQG.AX,
CIMB.KL, EBAY.OQ, NESN.S, PRU.L, CRM.N, 0700.HK, BABA.N, STEL.SI, C.N, GS.N, WMT.N, AC.PS, 2378.HK, 9988.HK) within the past 12
months.
Within the past 12 months, Credit Suisse has received compensation for investment banking services from the following issuer(s): LPKR.JK,
1810.HK, 9984.T, WISH.OQ, EXPE.OQ, IBM.N, HEIN.AS, MQG.AX, TSLA.OQ, EBAY.OQ, NESN.S, PRU.L, AMZN.OQ, CRM.N, 0700.HK,
BABA.N, GOOGL.OQ, FRPL.SI, BNPP.PA, TLKM.JK, STEL.SI, C.N, KO.N, GS.N, WMT.N, AC.PS, MSFT.OQ, 2378.HK, 6752.T, 9988.HK
Credit Suisse expects to receive or intends to seek investment banking related compensation from the subject company (1810.HK, 9984.T,
ALVG.DE, 005930.KS, IBM.N, HEIN.AS, MQG.AX, CIMB.KL, AAPL.OQ, TSLA.OQ, FB.OQ, EBAY.OQ, SCB.BK, NESN.S, PRU.L, BKNG.OQ,
CRM.N, 0700.HK, OR.BK, BABA.N, GOOGL.OQ, FRPL.SI, BNPP.PA, ULVR.L, TLKM.JK, STEL.SI, ASII.JK, C.N, KO.N, GS.N, AIRA.KL, WMT.N,
AC.PS, MSFT.OQ, 2378.HK, SE.N, 9988.HK) within the next 3 months.
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SCB.BK, PRU.L, CRM.N, 0700.HK, BABA.N, GOOGL.OQ, BNPP.PA, ULVR.L, STEL.SI, C.N, RHBC.KL, KO.N, GS.N, AIRA.KL, WMT.N, TEL.OL,
PYPL.OQ, AC.PS, MSFT.OQ, 2378.HK, 4755.T, 8411.T, 9988.HK
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BABA.N, GOOGL.OQ, BNPP.PA, ULVR.L, STEL.SI, C.N, RHBC.KL, KO.N, GS.N, WMT.N, TEL.OL, AC.PS, MSFT.OQ, 2378.HK, 4755.T, 8411.T,
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ASEAN Unicorns
121
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ASEAN Unicorns
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