In Southeast Asia, there are numerous female entrepreneurs making a mark in the technology sector, bringing fresh perspectives and driving innovation. These women are pushing boundaries, overcoming challenges, and contributing significantly to the region’s evolving tech landscape. Throughout 2023, Tech Collective has looked for insight and inspiration from this community. We continue to delve into the experiences and insights of female tech entrepreneurs across Southeast Asia, shedding light on their journeys, accomplishments, and the impact they are having on the technology community.
As the business world evolves, female entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia are at the forefront, transforming technology startups, ecommerce, and other tech-focused ventures. They are rewriting the rules, embracing innovation, and championing diversity within their organizations while also pursuing meaningful social and environmental goals. We will explore their stories to understand the hurdles they face, the strategies they employ, and the broader influence they have on their communities and the tech ecosystem.
The following are curated excerpts from interviews done with female entrepreneurs in 2023. They have been edited for brevity.
Lim Hui Lee, Chief Operating Officer of Valuing IP
In this interview, Hui Lee discussed the value of a business’s IP and how many companies do not place the right value on it. Original interview.
IP valuation is a subjective and complex subject that has many nuances involved in valuing intellectual property. Hence, IP specialists have IP knowledge, and IP Valuers knowing financing and valuation, are preferred to apply the right methodology while taking into account the IPR (intellectual property rights) status, useful life and opportunity cost in arriving at a credible value of the IP.
The misperception of Price vs Value: The price of an IP represents the amount of money for transacting the IP by way of changing ownership between a willing buyer (new owner) and a willing seller (IP owner); the Value of an IP represents the potential future economic benefits to the IP owner or authorized user.
The principal methods for valuing IP include a cost approach, a market approach and an income approach. The income method is the commonly used method in which it respects the IP based on the amount of economic income that it is expected to generate, adjusted to its present-day value. However, the income approach may not be suitable if the IP is yet to be commercialised.
An intangible asset is accountable to a company’s value which most enterprises may not realise. When it comes to determining the value of a business, greater value has been attributed to intangible assets. Nowadays, intangible assets are increasingly recognized as critical business assets, where IP is considered a necessity and no longer a luxury.
Mei Yoke Pak, Director Business Development, AAT
In a recent interview about ChatGPT and the disruption of traditional industries like accounting, Mei Yoke shared her thoughts. Original interview.
AI has made possible automation of mundane and routine bookkeeping tasks. Almost all accounting tasks, including payroll, tax, banking, and audits, have become automated. Accountancy and financial services are predicted to be among the industries that will experience the greatest level of transformation due to machine learning, AI, and automation over the next decade.
Many financial transactions are not entered manually by individuals but scanned by cashiers at the point of sale. The use of AI can enable us to detect unusual activities or deviations. Manually, we might not be able to detect all acts of fraud or misstatements along the lines of the accounting process. The use of samples to check the entire population of financial data is inherent in audits. The larger the sample, the more comprehensive the audit. AI tools can enhance the quality of audits, making it possible to check a wider range of samples or even the entire population.
Technology will go on helping to enhance the accounting professional’s credentials as a trusted adviser. We can use AI to help us forecast and predict future trends based on historical data. But AI cannot replace accountants; we must be mindful to transform and embrace technology.
Dr Norilmi Amilia Ismail, CEO and founder of SpaceIn
Dr Norilmi shares her thoughts on the region’s growing spacetech industry and how it is changing multiple industries. Original interview.
The space industry in ASEAN is an emerging industry that is becoming more important to this region supported by the benefit of satellite technology applications. The downstream segment of the space sector, which includes the usage of satellite images from Earth Observation satellites and the application of GPS from navigation satellites, has a big impact on developing the economy in ASEAN countries.
The size of the industry can be estimated based on a country’s allocation of space budgets. In Malaysia, the budget for satellite image acquisition is about USD5 Million per year. Thailand has a bigger budget with an estimated USD20 Million, Indonesia USD55 Million, the Philippines USD5 Million, and Vietnam USD1 Billion, for the next few years on earth observation satellite. Singapore is investing USD150 Million for R&D in space capabilities applicable to their local industries and Singaporean daily life.
Besides the space budget, the market for the space industry can be estimated from the size of industries that can benefit from space technology. The agriculture industry is among the main industries and can utilise satellite technology to increase productivity with a market size of about USD179 Billion. ASEAN countries also stand to benefit from satellite communication technology. For example, Indonesia is spread across 17,000 islands, so establishing fibre connectivity can be quite challenging, and satellite technology is more suitable. The satellite communication market is expected to reach USD14.32 Billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 7.1% for a five-year forecast (2020-2025).
Jessie Chong Hui Yee, Ascend Group’s Country Managing Director for Malaysia
Jessie discusses Malaysian user behaviour around payments as the country adopts more digital solutions.
COVID-19 has dramatically changed the average Malaysian user’s payment behaviour in the past 2-3 years. According to Finder, in 2022, about 20% of Malaysian adults had a digital bank account, and the projection sees a steep increment, which estimates that figure to hit 29% by 2022, and 38% by 2026. It’s likely that the digital payment industry in Malaysia will continue to grow steadily in the next 12 to 24 months or even further down the road.
To add to the above, mobile phone and internet usage in Malaysia is one of the highest in the region, and this would also add to the ease of utilizing digital payments amongst the general population. This would ensure that there is very high competition in the digital payments industry in Malaysia, and we are confident that our platform will be competitive enough to thrive in this market as competition breeds innovation.
Another key factor to consider is that the Malaysian government has been actively promoting the use of digital payments, which would also ensure the growth of the e-wallet and digital payment sectors in the next few years.