"Startup Punch"

TAWAN Boonyawat, CEO of Bangkok-based Moonshot Venture Capital Co, wants to serve as the bridge between corporate Thailand and technology startups to help drive the digital transformation process.

FAIRDEE Insurtech Co is set to transform the Thai automotive insurance industry by using disruptive technology to better serve customers, according to Thanasak Hoontrakun, co-founder and managing director.

RUNGROJ PETCHKEOW, a co-founder of start-up Coinex, has come up with an innovative business model to manage the huge supply of Thai coins no longer needed by foreign visitors as they leave the country.

THAILAND has good prospects to benefit from a growing number of entrepreneurs, according to a survey by Babson College in the US state of Massachusetts on global entrepreneurship.

THAILAND should consider adopting a Japanese model called Hometown Investment Trust Fund (HTITF) to promote small business start-ups, according to Naoyuki Yoshino, dean of the Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI).

VORAPOL PHORNVANICH, chief executive of PeerPower, a financial-technology start-up, aims to create a new online peer-to-peer lending platform for investors and borrowers.

MANEERUT Anulomsombut, chief executive officer of Garena Online (Thailand), is spearheading Garena’s expansion into the fields of e-payment and e-shopping from its base in the online gaming business.

CO-WORKING facilities have gained popularity among tech start-up entrepreneurs in Thailand over the past few years, says Amarit Charoenphun, chief executive officer and co-founder of Hubba.

BHURICH AKSORNTUB, CEO and co-founder of Golfdigg, a tech start-up, is tapping the so-called “last-minute-golf-deals” market, which is worth a potential Bt1 billion per year in Thailand.

THE CREATOR of Folkrice, an online trading platform designed to help farmers sell perishable products to customers directly, aims to be earning Bt24 million per year in fees within five years.

THE GLOBAL auto insurance industry is preparing to cope with new challenges that will emerge from the development of self-driving vehicles.

ROOJAI.COM has become one of the country’s first “insuretech” start-ups, providing an online auto-insurance platform.