Thai Startup Founders Survey 2016

Thai Startup Founders Survey 2016
August 2016

Introduction
Thai Venture Capital Association (TVCA) is glad to present our first Thai Startup Founders Survey report
that we have conducted a survey among the founders of startup companies based in or focusing on
Thailand market. The primary objective of this report is to identify the common profiles and background
of the successful founders and their views on Thailand ecosystem in general.
2016 was marked by some as the major year of the Thailand startup ecosystem. However, many startup
founders and Thai people in general still lack an understanding on how tough their journey had been
before each company can become what they are today. The data was collected from 30 founders/co-
founders of technology startup companies based in or focusing on Thailand market which have closed at
least one venture fundraising round. We would like to thank them for sharing their insights and valuable
time which made this survey possible.
Among a number of interesting findings in this report are that 67% of these founders are at least 30 years
old and 76% have certain experience running business by the time they founded/co-founded the current
company. Moreover, the lack of technical talents (e.g., engineers) is the biggest challenge for the Thailand
ecosystem at the moment in their opinion.
We hope you find this survey informative and useful.
Thanapong Na Ranong
President
2

Founders’ Profile: Gender
93.3%
6.7%
Male
Female
The majority of the tech company founders in Thailand are male at 93%, with only 7% female.
3

Founders’ Profile: Age
3.30%
30%
60%
6.70%
25 or below
26-29
30-39
40 or above
Most of the founders are experienced professionals, with 33% being below 30 years old at the time of
founding the company.
4

Founders’ Profile: Education
50%
46.70%
3.30%
Master's (e.g., MSc, Meng, MA)
Bachelor's (e.g., BSc, BEng, BA)
College/ Technical
Almost all of the founders holds a bachelor’s degree while around half also have a master’s
degree.
5

Founders’ Profile: Prior Entrepreneurial Experience
76% of the founders have certain level of experience in running business before founding the
current company. First-time founders contribute only 20%.
None (1st time
founder), 20%
Yes -Failure, 16.70%
Yes - Sucessful (e.g., cash cow business, exited), 23.30%
Yes - Both failure and
successful, 36.70%
Other, 3.30%
6

Company Profile: Incorporation
66.70%
23.30%
6.70%
3.30%
Thailand
Singapore
USA
Other
Around two-third of the companies are incorporated in Thailand while Singapore is the most
popular overseas country for incorporation, followed by USA.
7

Company Profile: Funding
70%
23.30%
6.70%
Pre-seed/ Seed/ Pre-series A
Series A/ Pre-series B
Series B
Most of the companies are still at the before-Series A round at 70% with Series B the highest
round achieved so far.
8

Company Profile: Sector
0%
0%
3.30%
3.30%
3.30%
3.30%
6.70%
6.70%
6.70%
13.30%
16.70%
17%
23.30%
33.30%
Headtech
Argritech
Propertytech
IoT
Edtech
Adtech
Traveltech
Logtech (incl. Last-mile delivery)
Entertainment (incl. Game)
Enterprise (incl. B2B SaaS)
Other
Fintech
Commerce
Lifestyle (incl. Dinning, Event)
The most popular sector of startup companies that have raised at least one funding round are
Lifestyle, followed by Commerce and Fintech.
Note: Some companies can fall in multiple categories
9

Company Profile: Market Presence
60%
30%
10%
One country - Thailand
Multiple countries - Thailand &
Southeast Asia
Multiple countries - Thailand &
beyond Southeast Asia
60% of companies have market presence only in Thailand, while the remaining 30% have
expanded to Southeast Asia region. Only 10% have managed to go beyond the region.
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3.30%
3.30%
20%
6.70%
Employee- startup
Employee - SME
Employee -private sector
Employee -public sector
3.30%
3.30%
13.30%
33.30%
46.70%
Fresh graduate
Other
Family business
Employee
Founder/Co-founder of a company
Survey:
Before founding the current company, what was your occupation?
Before the current startup, 47% of the founders were the previous founders in other companies,
20% worked as an employee of private sector and 13% worked in a family business.
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Survey:
How many founders were there at the beginning of the current company?
Half of the companies had 2-3 people as the founding team at the beginning with only 13% had a
solo founder.
13.30%
50%
36.70%
1
2-3
4 or above
12

Survey:
Are all founders still with the company today?
73% of all companies still have all co-founders staying till date.
73.30%
26.70%
Yes
No
13

Survey:
What is the education background of the company’s CEO?
The majority of education background of the company’s CEO are either from business or
engineering degree.
Business (e.g., business
administration, finance), 30%
Science (e.g., computer science,
math, food science), 16.70%
Engineering (e.g., industrial
engineering, computer
engineering), 30%
Economics, 10%
Arts, 3.30%
Other, 10%
11
4

Survey:
What was the major reason to start the company?
Majority of the founders have identified the problem to solved, either from their own problem or
observation of the market, rather than founding the company out of curiosity or following their
friends.
3.30%
10%
10%
56.70%
60%
Just seeking new hands-on experience
Bored of previous occupation
Other
Passion to solve own problem
Seeking for business opportunity
15

Survey:
Do you have any preference towards the types of investors?
While there is still no clear investor preference from the founders, corporate VCs made the top of
the list and local VC funds came in the last.
20%
30%
33.30%
40%
43.30%
Local VC funds
International VC funds
Angel investors
No preference
Corporate VCs
(e.g., telcos, banks)
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Survey:
Did you have a technical person in the team since the founding of the company?
83% of the founders have secured the technical resources in the team since the founding of the
company.
83.30%
16.70%
Yes
No
17

Survey:
Did the company initially participate in any government-support program?
Half of the startup’s companies had participate in government-related support programs, e.g.,
programs by SIPA or NIA.
50%50% Yes
No
18

Survey:
How did you find the 1st investment in the company?
Approximately three-fourth of the startups relied on the founders for their first money, i.e.,
F&F money and through personal network. Only 3% received support through their
mentor/advisor’s network.
Personal network, 26.70%
Mentor/ Advisor's
network, 3.30%
Events (e.g., conference,
meetup, club), 16.70%
Bootstrapped with personal
and F&F money, 50%
Other, 3.30%
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Survey:
What is the current biggest challenges for startups in Thailand?
Among their opinion regarding the biggest challenges for startups in Thailand, lack of technical
talents/engineers was the clear consensus, voted by more than 75%, while collaboration with
private sector was the least concerned at less than 10%.
16.70%
6.70%
40%
40%
33.30%
20%
20%
10%
76.70%
Other
Lack of understanding from private sector
Lack of understanding from public sector
Infrastructure
Lack of capital
Keeping talents
Lack of talents -Business
Lack of talents -Designers
Lack of talents -Engineers
20

Acknowledgement
Our special thanks go to the 30 founders/co-founders from the following companies who have contributed
their time participating in the survey.
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Disclaimer
The information contained in this document is provided for information purposes only. Whilst reasonable
efforts have been made to ensure the most accurate information, TVCA shall not be liable for any errors,
omissions, misrepresentations or other inaccuracies in the information or for any loss or damage suffered
by persons who use or rely on such information.
22

Contact
About Thai Venture Capital Association (TVCA)
Founded in 1994, Thai Venture Capital Association members consist of leading Thai and international venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) firms to diverse
companies operating relating business such as financial advisory firms, accounting firms and law firms. In addition to facilitating closer working relationship
among members, TVCA has been working closely with the Thai government, public and private sectors, providing advice and support to promote VC leading
practices and supporting policies in Thailand.
For more information about this survey report, please email contact@tvca.or.th.
© 2016 Thai Venture Capital Association

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