Startups in the Asia-Pacific region - statistics & facts
Startups are companies with innovative business ideas and high growth potential, often operating in a young or non-existent market. Once established, they are generally no longer considered a startup. However, they frequently keep their successful startup approaches, such as innovation capacity, flexibility, modernity, and flat hierarchies, trying to incorporate them into their business culture. The Asia-Pacific region is home to over 400 unicorn companies, startups valued at over 100 billion U.S. dollars. Within the region, several of the world's highest-valued startups are located in China.
Southeast Asia also boasts an ever-growing number of tech unicorns, with recent additions including logistics companies J&T Express from Indonesia and consumer retail platform The CrownX from Vietnam. The subregion is a particularly attractive market for so-called super apps, with two of the most established startup companies in SEA being the ride-hailing and shopping apps Grab and Gojek. The latter joined forces with e-commerce giant Tokopedia in 2021. Under the name GoTo, the newly merged company became Indonesia's most valuable startup, covering a variety of business segments, including on-demand and financial services.
In other emerging markets, mobile financial service bKash became Bangladesh's first unicorn startup in 2021. More recently, another digital financial service, Nagad, became the country's second and fastest unicorn in 2023.
Tech startups dominate the market
Although startups can penetrate every sector that meets the criteria of innovation and scalability, most startups fall in the technology and internet sectors. The focus on tech, which means that almost no goods or other infrastructures are required, makes it possible for startups to be founded without requiring an office space. This flexibility has caused the rapid emergence of startups worldwide and in the Asia-Pacific region.Leading companies
Currently, the seven leading unicorns with the highest value in the Asia-Pacific region are all from China. ByteDance, the company behind short-form video platform TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin, leads the ranking with a valuation of 200 billion U.S. dollars. Financial service provider Ant Group and Chinese-Singaporean fast fashion retailer Shein follow in terms of valuation. Outside of China, India's EdTech company Byju's and Australia's graphic design app Canva round out the top ten. Another standout is Yanolja, a travel accommodation booking platform from South Korea.Southeast Asia also boasts an ever-growing number of tech unicorns, with recent additions including logistics companies J&T Express from Indonesia and consumer retail platform The CrownX from Vietnam. The subregion is a particularly attractive market for so-called super apps, with two of the most established startup companies in SEA being the ride-hailing and shopping apps Grab and Gojek. The latter joined forces with e-commerce giant Tokopedia in 2021. Under the name GoTo, the newly merged company became Indonesia's most valuable startup, covering a variety of business segments, including on-demand and financial services.
In other emerging markets, mobile financial service bKash became Bangladesh's first unicorn startup in 2021. More recently, another digital financial service, Nagad, became the country's second and fastest unicorn in 2023.
