Southeast Asia comprises almost a dozen countries, with cultures so beautifully varied and unique that there are hundreds of languages spoken across the region. However, this can present a growth challenge to southeast Asian startups and their investors. Unicorns looking to expand throughout the region find that no one-size-fits-all approach will do.
Some of the region’s largest Unicorns are therefore moving to a three-pronged approach. They’re building a foundation anchored in three key markets: those of Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. For example the ride-hailing company Grab—southeast Asia’s first decacorn—operates in eight countries but gets most of its Web traffic from these three. The trio are so vital that our venture capital firm now refers to them as the region’s “Startup Golden Triangle.”