Across Southeast Asia, millions of young people are launching start-ups and driving rapid digitalisation, with new unicorns emerging in a sign that the region is becoming a global force in entrepreneurship, according to former Indonesian president Joko Widodo.
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Speaking at the closing of the Bloomberg New Economy Forum on Friday, Widodo said the next unicorn – meaning a privately held start-up valued at more than US$1 billion – might emerge not from Silicon Valley or Shenzhen but from Jakarta, Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila or Hanoi.
“Southeast Asia is no longer just a market, it is becoming a global force,” he said.
He urged countries to ready themselves for what he called an “intelligent economy” by prioritising the free flow of data and accelerating the adoption of technologies such as artificial intelligence, arguing that these would reshape production, strategy and ultimately income levels.
According to equity management software firm Eqvista, in May this year there were more than 1,550 unicorn companies globally and 44 were based in Southeast Asia.
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Singapore leads with 22 unicorn start-ups, followed by Indonesia with 10 and Vietnam with five.
Interview with Grab CEO Anthony Tan: How Grab became biggest tech unicorn in southeast Asia
Interview with Grab CEO Anthony Tan: How Grab became biggest tech unicorn in southeast Asia