HungryGoWhere, a Singapore startup success story told from the inside, with Wong Hoong An
I’ve long been a subscriber of NUS Enterprise’s newsletter, as this part of the National University of Singapore plays a key role in the local tech ecosystem. For my first time attending their Kopi Chat series, I’ve listened to the story of Wong Hoong An, one of the three co-founders of HungryGowhere. This startup, then […]
Nigeria startup scene: Can "Africa's India" make it?
What can the Nigeria startup scene look like? With this candid question, and a few recommendations and contacts from friends, we decided to explore Africa’s biggest country and economy entrepreneur & tech ecosystem. What triggered our trip was also the reputation of Mobile West Africa, West Africa’s most prominent tech event, where it’s easier to […]
Startup movies #2: Startup Dhaka (Bangladesh)
It’s week-end time, so let’s watch movies and instruct ourselves on the tech scenes from the emerging markets, with, for today’s edition, Startup Dhaka, a webdocumentary acting as an introduction to Bangladesh’s capital city startup scene. I was recommended this movie by a friend of mine, and took an hour a few days ago to […]
Startup books #2: Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky, by Sarah Lacy
As we prepare our second year of travels to explore the startup ecosystems of the emerging markets, it’s the perfect timing to learn from previous explorers. “Brilliant, Crazy, Cocky – How the top 1% of Entrepreneurs profit from Global Chaos” (Amazon), is one of these post-exploration book which tries to wrap-up in 200-250 pages the […]
A history of Malaysian business startups
Malaysian economic development In the 1970s, the Malaysian government controversially implemented the New Economic Policy (NEP) that aimed to give Malays a larger place in the economy through employment, equity and education quotas. Though large sections of the policy is still in effect, fortunately,the mandate that companies had to set aside 30% of its equity […]
BRICS series #4: Picooc, the internet of things made in China
This week, we took you successively to Brazil, Russia, and India. the “C” of the BRICS countries is China, and we’ll see today how Picooc is a startup to follow as it’s both successful, funded, and very Chinese. But let’s go back for a moment to a broader review of China as an emerging market for technology […]
BRICS series #3: Book My Show leads India's ticketing frenzy
After the “B” and the “R”, we’re continuing our tour of BRICS startups with the “I” of Indian and Book My Show, a ticketing central with a story symbolising the pains and progresses of e-commerce in the sub-continent. It’s again an answer to the desire for consumption of a growing middle-class, as Book My Show […]
Entering Kenya's mobile market
As often in Africa, Kenya is a “mobile first” nation. The main focus of any tech-centric startup in Africa can often be found to revolve around the growing mobile market. Let us explore why: Kenya’s mobile market Kenya is a land of 44.0 million people. Of that population, 30.4 million have access to a mobile […]
BRICS series #2: B2B-Center, a successful B2B marketplace from Russia
To celebrate the 6th BRICS Summit, we’re continuing our showcase of top startups from each country with Russia’s B2B-Center, an online procurement services marketplace. But first, a few words on Russia as a market and as a startup scene. Russia’s digital landscape & startup scene: local players rule Being the biggest country and population in Europe, […]
BRICS series #1: how Brazil's Hotel Urbano dominates the online hospitality industry
The 6th BRICS summit has closed its doors last week, so we feel it is a good timing to showcase a few big startups from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, and we’ll start with Brazil’s Hotel Urbano. The 5 countries were actually four when the concept of BRIC (minus South Africa) was coined back […]
