Before we turn the page to 2017, let’s take a refresher on the most talked about events of this year.
From one startup’s spectacular failure to Alibaba’s shopping spree, here are the top tech stories in Southeast Asia in 2016:
1. Alibaba’s huge Lazada purchase
Alibaba this year bought a US$1 billion controlling stake in Rocket Internet-born Lazada, the largest online department store that’s billed as Alibaba’s and Amazon’s counterpart in Southeast Asia. The deal makes it easier for Alibaba to further expand overseas and hit its goal of getting at least half of its revenue there.
Southeast Asia holds huge potential with its rising middle class and growing smartphone usage and internet adoption. Yet the region is also a tough nut to crack so having a partner who understands and navigates it well gives Alibaba a legup.
The deal couldn’t have come at a better time: Lazada was reportedly running out of money and didn’t have much luck in its fundraising efforts beginning the previous year.
Nevertheless, experts said its acquisition was a “validation” that the region is very attractive to strategic investors, and it would trigger others to look at Southeast Asia for investments.
2. The Alibaba vs Amazon face-off
Alibaba continued its quest to conquer Southeast Asia with yet another acquisition via Lazada: online grocery provider Redmart.
Redmart was supposedly also a target of Alibaba’s US rival Amazon, which is planning to enter Southeast Asia early next year, according to a TechCrunch report. Amazon is said to be hiring staff and quietly buying assets like refrigerated trucks in the region.
If things push through as planned, a big face-off between the two ecommerce titans will happen soon.
3. Ensogo’s collapse
In June, Ensogo of Catcha Group announced the shutdown of all its ecommerce sites across Southeast Asia and Hong Hong, marking one of the most controversial startup failures this year.
The closure was the last blow in a tumultuous year for Ensogo, a daily deals and flash sales company that later shifted toward a marketplace model.
Prior to it, merchants complained they weren’t getting paid for the products sold through the site.
The company blamed this on its decision to centralize its operations in Singapore and cut its headcount by half to reduce its cash burn rate.
Various factors contributed to the collapse of Ensogo, which could no longer stem its losses.
4. Rakuten’s closure in Southeast Asia
Japanese ecommerce giant Rakuten closed down its Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia marketplaces in March and laid off 150 staff.
At the time, the company also announced it was selling Thai ecommerce site Tarad, which it acquired in 2009.
The company did not give a specific reason for the closures, except to say that the moves were in line with a new roadmap.
5. Grab’s series F funding
Southeast Asia’s top ride-hailing app raised in September a whopping US$750 million in funding, led by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank. The round reportedly brought its cash position to US$1 billion and valued it at over US$3 billion. That makes it the second biggest tech company in the region by valuation, falling behind Garena, which is said to be worth US$3.75 billion.
Grab’s funding came a month after its investor Didi Chuxing acquired the China unit of Grab’s staunch rival Uber. Right after that deal, Grab co-founder Anthony Tan wrote a smack-talking-slash-motivational letter to his employees, assuring them they would prevail over any foreign player.
