Narrowing down a list of Southeast Asia tech startups to watch for in 2022 was no easy feat. Simply put, there are a lot of great companies doing amazing things throughout the region. This article could have featured tens, if not hundreds of firms.
However, we wanted to highlight four Southeast Asia tech startups to watch in 2022 that were doing something unique, either in terms of operations or within their own market. We aren’t claiming these are the best, biggest or most important.
What we are saying at Interesting Asia is that you should keep an eye on each of these four Southeast Asia tech startups because they are doing something cool.
4 Southeast Asia tech startups you should watch in 2022
ALAMI
Indonesian fintech startup ALAMI identified a key gap in the market, sharia-compliant financial solutions, and is now aiming to fill it. The peer-to-peer (P2P) lender has released more than USD7.5 million in financing to SMEs in Islamic countries after shifting from initially focusing on being an aggregator for Islamic financing.
ALAMI has worked closely with the National Sharia Board to create business models and operations that are aligned with sharia principles. Additionally, the fintech startup is licensed and regulated by the Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), Indonesia’s financial services authority. The platform is extremely impressive and ALAMI has done remarkable work in a short amount of time.
Read More: Indonesian fintech startup ALAMI offers sharia-compliant financial solutions
Oyen
Oyen is the first digital pet healthcare insurance provider in Malaysia. They are currently focused on operations at home, but the startup has plans for regional expansion in the near future. It hopes to have 100,000 pets insured throughout Southeast Asia by 2024.
The startup locked in MYR1.74 million (USD420,000) during its first round of seed funding in 2021. According to The Malaysian Reserve, former and current Airbnb and Facebook executives were among those to invest. Oyen used the money to enhance its digital insurance platform while scaling up operations through hiring.
Read More: 3 things to know about Oyen, the first digital pet healthcare insurance provider in Malaysia
LOCA
With Grab, Gojek and Uber not having the courage to enter Laos, local player LOCA was happy to step in and fill the gap. The platform offers traditional ridesharing as well as a premium product and additional things, such as on-demand grocery shopping. Its hard work has paid off as LOCA became the first Lao startup to be listed on Forbes Asia 100 to Watch last year. Service is currently available in Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Pakse.
Read More: What is LOCA? Meet Laos’ answer to Grab, Gojek and Uber
ChatGenie
ChatGenie was born out of the rise of e-commerce in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic. The multi-commerce platform lets businesses, and in particular small and medium-sized ones, sell products, automate orders, accept payments and organize deliveries on leading applications including Facebook and Viber.
The startup secured additional funding late in 2021 that will be used to expand its reach even further. Currently, 2,500 merchants use Chat Genie and PHP150 million worth of transactions have been carried out through the platform.
