ESG and Smart City Startups in APAC Growing Rapidly

The region’s maturing technology-focused ecosystems are producing billion-dollar companies at a rapid rate.

FREMONT, CA; The newest generation of SMEs is extending their support to economic growth. Going green in established industries will be a significant driver of innovation in the future. Emerging companies will significantly create technology that can lower carbon emissions and encourage environmental stewardship. Asia will play a pivotal role in the struggle for a sustainable future.

Record-breaking investments are being attracted by the rise of new sector verticals, fueling the growth of bigger, more valuable businesses in the area. The survey identified almost 120 technology-related industry subsectors among these enterprises in addition to the specific sectors connected to new economy businesses like FinTech or software-as-a-service, with blockchain, smart cities, sustainability, and ESG verticals being the most prominent.

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About 15 per cent of the identified emerging giants have sustainability-related products and services as a main priority. These verticals include sustainable packaging, apparel, and EV charging infrastructure. Four sectors related to health were also listed in the top 20, including assistive technology, AI-driven drug development, neurotechnology, and mental health technology.

IoT security and digital twins, two areas related to smart cities, were present in the top 10 subsectors. The top 20 list of virtual collaboration technologies includes two categories: virtual events and low-code/no-code, which are very prominent. With quantum computing ranking in the top 5 and cognitive computing ranking in the top 20, advanced computing technologies were also well-represented.

Emerging giants in the Asia Pacific witness the start-up ecosystem as complementary to the established end of the financial services industry: they're a source of innovation and invigorate both local and regional economies with their dynamism.

Even if a repetition of the record-breaking private investment levels in 2021 is improbable, the first quarter of 2022 data indicates that 2022 is on track to surpass both the financing levels in 2020 and 2019 in the Asia Pacific. Deal values have already reached or exceeded 2020 totals in Australia, Malaysia, and South Korea.

The Asia Pacific region, which leads the globe in fintech adoption, has seen a surge in the transformation of financial services over the past two years as fintech applications advance along with consumer adoption. A rise in blockchain players and suppliers of cryptocurrency financial services is another result of the significant interest in cryptocurrencies.

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