Thailand wants your fintech startup, and in order to support this need, the Government is aiming to raise 30 billion baht (USD 1 Billion) from investors by 2020.
National Innovation Agency (NIA) is working to sign an MOU with the Ministry of economy, Trade and Industry of Japan for startup collaboration. Another MOU in the works is with China’s leading technology firm for an accelerator development scheme.
Within the last year 2 different fintech accelerators have started up in Thailand:
- Bangkok Bank (BBL) in partnership with Nest (Hong Kong based accelerator)
- Digital Ventures (DV) which is an offshoot from Siam Commercial bank, and just graduated batch zero (b0)
There are several new fintech investors who have sprung up recently including
- Kasikorn bank venture arm (K-SME venture capital)
- K2 Venture capital (collaboration between Loxley Group and a Singapore private equity group)
The bank of Thailand last year announced a Fintech Sandbox framework (similar to HK, UK, SG, MY, and others).
All in all, things are really heating up for the Thai startup ecosystem. Still remains an issue is finding talented employees who are skilled in the proper areas. However, this is a problem almost everywhere – and should improve with time and the proper education.
Given our geographic location large population and variety of industrial sectors, Thailand can be an investment hub for startups in the Region – Pun-Arj Chairatana – Director of NIA
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