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 […]
