The Quasiinvestor

Trends and Companies in Southeast Asia

  • Venture Capital in Indonesia

    Photo credit: Indonesia Travel With a population of ~260M (~40% of SEA) and an economy growing at a clip of ~5%, Indonesia has been touted as one of the next wave of fast growing countries that will contribute significantly to the prosperity of SEA, with some going as far as setting sights on it to…

  • Validus – Marketplace Lending

    It was not long ago that the Chinese P2P/P2B lending market was praised as a disruptor in the lending space and potential challenger to the traditional banks / lending model. Just as how it rose rapidly into the spotlight, its (potential) downfall could be just as quick, given how the sector has been brought into…

  • Changes to the Payment Services Bill in Singapore

    Digital currency, Stored Value Facilities (SVFs), electronic wallets and pretty much any and everything associated with the handling of currency online has (very rightfully) had increasing scrutiny of late, given the rapid adoption of such services and products by consumers, and entrepreneurs and businesses rushing for a slice of the ever-growing pie. With the speed…

  • Shiok Meats – Cell-based Meat

    The foodtech scene in Singapore has recently become a focal point of discussion in the tech, food and investing community. It is no surprise, given the rise of entrepreneurism in the city state that has long boasted itself as a leader in technology and finance in the region, a supportive government (e.g. Health Promotion Board)…

  • CredoLab – Mobile-Based Credit Scoring

    “The insurance industry is ripe for disruption. It is hugely slow and there is a lot of money there. There is also big potential in Indonesia, where people don’t even understand why they need to buy insurance, which represents an upside.” – Tiang Lim Foo, Partner, Seedplus “When you try to tackle the B2C market,…

  • Klarna – A Model Fit For SEA?

    Klarna – dubbed one of Sweden’s fintech unicorns and praised to the skies by many for disrupting the payments landscape was in the news recently for an acquisition of the consumer financing arm of Close Brothers to strengthen its financing arm in the U.K., further advancing co-founder / CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski’s global ambition. In my opinion, they…

  • Real Estate in Asia Pacific (2018)

    Deloitte / Urban Land Institute put up a very informative paper on Real Estate trends in 2018 in the Asia Pacific region (See here Update: No longer working). Source: The Jakarta Post Here is a summary of the key takeaways (all credit to the authors) and some of my thoughts below Excess liquidity (China capital…