Posts Tagged ‘Asia Investments’

Is Asia the New Silicon Valley?

May 8th, 2013

Asian markets are developing rapidly. According to the Brookings Institute, Asia will host 64% of the global middle class by 2030. In the meantime, the number of investors is climbing.

Jungle Ventures, an investment company from Singapore, has made 16 investments in the region, ranging from India to New Zealand. Amit Anand, founder, explained that he is interested in businesses that have the potential to grow quickly.

“Everybody thinks that Silicon Valley is where the big markets are,” he said. “But south-east Asia is starting to prove a very attractive market. If willing entrepreneurs commit themselves, there is a lot of opportunity to be unlocked.

“Our hypothesis is that Asia, and particularly south-east Asia, is going to see a lot of $100 million-plus companies being made on various opportunities in internet, mobile and biomedical and so forth.”

Some Asian markets are more developed than others. According to Antonny Liem, Chief Executive Officer at Merah Putih Incubator, explained that Indonesia has great potential, but limited internet services.

“In Indonesia the internet is still very young, and it is hard to look at the exit horizon for return-on-investment, and IPO is definitely not on the horizon,” he said. “So if you talk about Indonesia, it is all about market size, about untapped potential, and it is a question of timing.”