'Echelon Thailand' set to host Mekong region start-ups

The November 26-27 event organised by e27, Asia’s largest tech media platform, is expected to attract the best of the Mekong region’s burgeoning technology start-up community, with more than 1,000 tech entrepreneurs, start-up founding teams, investors and industry thought leaders.

The two-day event will consist of keynote presentations, rigorous breakout fireside sessions, interactive workshops, structured networking opportunities and panel discussions on the key issues driving the Mekong region’s tech ecosystems.

Echelon co-founder Thaddeus Koh said the theme for Echelon Thailand 2015 was “Your Gateway to the Mekong”. Echelon Thailand has grown each year since 2012, and the difference this time around is the inclusion of content and delegates from CLMV in positioning Bangkok as the tech hub for the Greater Mekong Subregion. 

While the tech start-up scene in Thailand is bustling with activity, most of the start-ups in this country are still in the early stage and there is still a lot of potential yet to be fulfilled. Meanwhile, Southeast Asia is still largely fragmented, despite some similarities and overlaps. No two ecosystems in Southeast Asia are the same, as each has a unique competitive advantage and role to play in the region’s tech ecosystem.

“We have been actively involved in [Southeast Asia’s] start-up community and have had the privilege to witness the emergence of many enterprising founders and innovative start-ups. E27 has not been very active in CLMV as the markets there are only in their nascent stages. 

“We will continue to catalyse the growth of the region’s ecosystem via our three business units: media, events and platform. Ultimately, in line with our vision to build one connected Asian tech industry, the goal is to strengthen Thailand’s competitive advantage to cement [its] role in the region’s tech space,” Koh said.

He said that each year, more than 20 per cent of those participating as exhibitors or in its pitching segments found success in funding or otherwise.

“It is hard to put a number on it but the entire Echelon series has witnessed a few thousand come through our doors. [Some] success stories we have from Thailand [are] Builk, Taamkru and Wishbeer.” 

 

500 Tuk Tuks 

Krating Poonpol, manager of start-up fund 500 Tuk Tuks, said it planned to invest in 30-50 start-ups over the next two years. It hopes to help build the next generation of successful start-ups that can be successful in Southeast Asia or even become global player in a few years. 

“We have invested in 10 start-ups so far for an undisclosed amount of capital. We will announce this at Echelon Thailand 2015,” Krating said.

He said 500 Tuk Tuks invested in early-stage start-ups and partnered with start-up founders to help them build their companies. It helps start-ups find other investors, connect them with strategic partners, and find employees.

“We help them expand to other countries and regions where 500 Startups has a presence, which means globally. We also have a growth hacking team, aka Distro, to help drive step change growth in start-up we invest. We piloted this growth hacking programme in Malaysia and it was very successful.” 

 

Echelon Thailand 2015: Your Gateway to Tomorrow’s Mekong

 

Echelon Thailand 2015 is an enriching two-day conference hosted by e27, connecting Thailand’s thriving start-up community with international speakers, mentors, investors and the burgeoning tech start-up community across the Mekong region.

Delegates will be engaged in high-level keynote and panel discussions, rigorous breakout sessions and structured networking opportunities designed to give them and their enterprise the edge and connections needed in today’s ever-changing trans-boundary tech ecosystem.

When: November 26-27 from 8.30am-5.30pm

Where: Bitec Bang Na