FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Dtac Accelerate still bets on a local start-up 'unicorn'

Dtac Accelerate still bets on a local start-up 'unicorn'

THE Wallstreet Journal lists 168 "unicorns", a term venture capitalist Aileen Lee coined to describe start-ups valued at over US$1 billion (Bt33.21 billion). Why "unicorns"? Because they remain very rare. The US, of course, gets the lion's share, including giants like Uber, Airbnb and Snapchat. But Malaysia and Indonesia have recently entered the club. Thailand? Not yet.

Ever since I launched dtac Accelerate, now the biggest start-up incubator and accelerator in Thailand, my dream has remained the same. I want to help build a Thai start-up into the first unicorn produced by this country.
To get there, dtac Accelerate functions very much according to the principles that guide successful start-ups everywhere. Some call it the innovator's method, the lean canvas or the agile method. I just call it "build, measure, learn". My users are the start-ups in our programme. Some 70 per cent of our start-ups get follow-on funding. In Southeast Asia, the average for accelerators is 20 per cent. In Thailand as a whole, it's even lower. So I'd say dtac Accelerate is doing very well.
During our four-month programme, we have a minimum of 24 workshops. We get people like Nir Eyal, the bestselling tech author and entrepreneur, or Ash Maurya, the father of the "lean canvas" business plan. We have gurus from Android, Google, and iOS. We have strong partnerships with giants like Amazon, Google, Facebook, Line and Microsoft. And we have the DTAC customer base along with the Telenor reach in 13 global markets. But to build a unicorn, we must continuously improve our training. Things we taught two years ago are now completely obsolete.
Helping to build a unicorn isn't just a question of keeping up with the latest tech. It's also about mentoring the right people. This year, we had 600 applications. We have a two per cent acceptance rate. It's easier getting into Harvard than into dtac Accelerate. The people here are the best of the best.
Each start-up batch at dtac accelerate looks at the next and says, "I couldn't have gotten in if I had competed with these guys". Currently, we have two MIT graduates in batch 5. We have a start-up, TourKrub, which had transactions of more than Bt200 million during the boot camp. Or how about FINNOMENA from batch#4, which recently crossed over the Bt2 billion transaction level within a year. And trust me, the next batch will top that.
Despite all of this progress, things still run that little bit slower here compared to Singapore or Malaysia. That's why these new work methodologies that we use are so essential to building up our skills. The other problem is that we Thais have a tendency to look at pain points experienced within our own market of 70 million people. That's not big enough to build a unicorn. We need to think globally.
We also need regulation to keep with the times and truly deliver on the government's promise of Thailand 4.0. Thai law limits stock options to listed companies. That doesn't work for start-ups! Another big problem is that foreigners cannot hold more than 51 per cent of a company. That's the biggest concern for investors. So one-third of our start-ups list in Singapore. It's a sad loss for us.
The government has committed to changing this, but I feel it will take another two years. There is also the issue of digitalisation. Current rules require you to physically meet your customer, or give them paper receipts. We need more sandboxes, like the agreement the Bank of Thailand has with some banks, so that everyone can use eKYC (electronic "know your customer") and e-receipts.
Unicorns take time, but I'm confident we'll get there. If you're wondering who I'd bet on, I'd say Thailand's first unicorn were in the early batches of dtac accelerate, those now in series C or D of their talks with investors. In particular, Finnomena and Claim Di are very easy to scale and they solve a global pain point. 
I can't wait for batch six to start. When I see the passion in the eyes of those kids, that's what gets me going. When you talk to them, they want to change the world. At the end of the day, that kind of passion is the most important thing for building a unicorn.

Sompoat Chansomboon is managing |director of dtac Accelerate, Thailand's No 1 |accelerator that empowers early-stage start-ups through mentoring and financial support.

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