The number of unicorns across the Asia-Pacific region has neared 200 - second only to the US' number, and their growth is built on AI, decentralized finance (DeFi), fintech/e-commerce, health tech, and sustainability-related solutions, Google Taiwan has said.
"There's never been a more exciting time to be building a startup in Asia Pacific," wrote Mike Kim, Head of Google for Startups APAC, on the company's official blog on February 22.
In April 2021, there were almost 200 unicorns (startups valued at US$1 billion or more) in the Asia-Pacific region, second only to the US (290) and ahead of Europe (69), he said.
A diverse, talented, and energetic group of founders is on the rise across the region, which in 2021 attracted record-high venture funding of US$165 billion, he said, adding that supporting startups of all sizes is part of Google's commitment to help digital economies grow.
Many Asian startups want to help solve entrenched social, financial, and environmental challenges, and they often are focused on areas where technology hasn't made the same progress it has in more established sectors of the digital economy, he said.
In the AI technology field, the region's startups are exploring a variety of power applications, as exemplified by Indonesia's Kata.ai in conversational AI and India's BrainSightAI in helping researchers and clinicians better understand the human brain, he said.
As for DeFi, Southeast Asian startups in the area raised US$1 billion in equity funding in 2021, six times the amount raised in 2020, he said, naming Korea's DA:Ground as an example to help people access alternative financial services.
Fintech and e-commerce are booming in Asia, where many founders are working to make finance more inclusive and to improve user experiences, he said, pointing to the Philippines' Advance and Singapore's Shoplinks as models.
Health technology has gained greater momentum in the wake of COVID-19, giving rise to numerous startups such as India's Zyla and Korea's Caredoc, he said.
Amid increasing attention to sustainability, Indonesia's Duitin is managing 2,000 waste management sites across the country, while Taiwan's Lockists established a scooter sharing platform to help improve air quality, he said.
"While there's ample funding available for Asian startups, we know that the region's founders need a much wider range of support beyond investment," Kim said.
The region's startups are facing common challenges such as keeping up with regulations, getting access to infrastructure or technologies, and increasing the currently low rate of women's entrepreneurship, he said.
To help improve the ecosystem, Google is running Google for Startups Accelerator programs in India, Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia, while promoting initiatives like Project Hatcher in Taiwan and the Startups & FinTechs Program together with Cyberport in Hong Kong, Kim said.
