Breaking the Chains of Tech Mediocrity: How Thailand’s Upcoming Events Platforms & Ecosystem Builders are Changing the Negative Perception Loop, One Show at a Time
A comprehensive field guide into new blood tech conferences and platforms I am most excited about in 2023 to get a fresher taste into the Thai tech ecosystem
Recently I’ve been having dinners with my VC friends Golden Gate Ventures, Spark Labs, Atlas Capital, Seedstars and Mandalay Venture Partners asked me the same question this past week: Where are best founders in Thailand? Why are there not many global teams working on ideas that are big enough and have the confidence to expand?
I didn’t have a great answer, except that for the most part, they’re probably right.
As Deloitte puts it in their recent “Thailand startup and venture capital ecosystem study” (and as I have been saying for the past decades on various reports that I have been involved helping to publish), we are stuck in a perpetual negative loop that we cannot get out of. One of my personal observation is that a lot of us (myself included) are part of this narrative:
- gathering at the same, well-worn conferences and meetups,
- lamenting amongst ourselves the lack of progress in the ecosystem,
- blaming the government / corporations and their venture capital or venture studio arm for our all our ecosystem woes.
While it is extremely painful to do a reality check on our tech and our own capabilities, it pains ecosystem builder like myself to see that after a decade, we have not built the ecosystem support programs like accelerators, angel syndicates and other program that help new founder compete on a more level playing field. In the end, only the best few manage the task of finding investors, ecosystem support and talent to really put together a venture-backable business.
However, it is not all doom and gloom, as many new-blood ecosystem builders are ready to prove the naysayers wrong. We may have been disappointed in the lack of progress over the years, but if there is one thing I know about Thailand is that we never stop dreaming, stop doing and stop trying to make our beloved country a better place. We turned our battered country during the pandemic into a 2nd best digital nomad city in the world, a new “Amsterdam of Asia”, and a global Crypto hub. New ecosystem builders and conferences are driving the change while our politics are at a standstill by building new conferences to show our success stories, connect investors to startups and mentors to mentees, and build a vibrant ecosystem where new projects can be showcased and attract talent.
These new shows are the place to witness the new Second Coming of Thailand tech ecosystem, Thailand 5.0, whatever you like to call it, but here’s my pick for the shows that I am most excited to spend time in to really get a sense about the next vintage of founders who are building some of the most exciting projects.
Tech Investment Show 2023
Feb 16–19, 2023 @ Queen Sirikit National Convention Center HALL 7
October 26–29, 2023 @ Queen Sirikit National Convention Center HALL 7 & 8
A newcomer to the Tech conference circuit this year, TIS2023 is a perfectly timed conference during this recession and Seed-to-Series-A crunch where some of the most promising startups struggle to meet regional investors who struggle to find a good excuse to come to Bangkok. With over 40 VCs and Angel Groups attending and over a hundred startups confirmed to be pitching and exhibiting in the 4 days, the organizers have really beat all the odds to get this show going in a very short amount of time.
Hosted by IBEO.Asia, the organizers backed by M Vision Public Company Limited, the publicly listed Mobile Expo conferences organizer that draw close to 700,000 attendees annually has delivered a decent turnout and value in the first edition, with many founders and VCs being matched at this show. The theme continues to rotate and heading towards becoming an annual gathering for startups from across the world to fundraise and expand into Southeast Asia via Thailand.
Update: This show will be back in 2024 check out the details on https://www.techinvestmentshow.com!
Southeast Asia Technology (SEAT) Conference 2023
March 28–29, 2023 @ The Crystal Box, Gaysorn Urban Resort,
Gaysorn Village, Bangkok, Thailand
The most premium tech conference experience I ever attended in Bangkok so far, I believe that in a few years time this could be considered the Davos of Tech Conferences not just in Bangkok but in Southeast Asia. SEATCON, which stands for Southeast Asia Technology Conference, is an exclusive invited-only event that bring you to meet leaders in frontier technologies under the theme “Future of Everything”. The most exclusive guest list of only 200 attendees that are the top leadership of the Thai corporate and investment community combined with about 30 global speakers in the very heart of downtown Bangkok, you get a real chance to rub shoulders and speak intimately in a relaxed, trusted setting with some of the most powerful individuals in the world (as every guest of this conference has been curated). The show is sophisticated, laid back and very accessible and is worth the investment is you are looking to get deals done, whatever the ticket prices this year will be (last year it was $3000 USD but I am hearing will be adjusted to make this year’s edition slightly more accessible, yet still very exclusive).
For more information, check out: https://www.seatcon.co for their upcoming announcements!
TEP x OIIO Asia Techland
May 25–28, 2023 (https://0110techland.co/home)
Staging a comeback in the second edition since Covid, Social Lab Co., Ltd. in collaborating with the Thai Real Estate Association (TEP) is bringing sexy back to events like no other in Asia. By bringing bleeding-edge living innovations, lifestyle, safety, convenience, energy saving, and environmental tech, “TEP X OIIO” ASIA TECHLAND 2023 — “The Best Living Tech Experience in Asia” event that will take place from 25–28 May 2023 at the Royal Paragon Hall will take experiential conferences to a whole new level. In 2019, the first event was successfully held with over than 60,000 registered attendees. Now heading towards 2023, this “Asian” edition is already being dubbed the “CES” of Asia.
Forget the boring keynotes,Tech-Showcase and Conference Halls will feature be demo reminiscent of CES in Las Vegas, with a touch of Future Food Court under the concept of “Khaosan Alley in 2030” and other popular Thai foodie destinations with a street food concept that uses robotic arms, with high quality, delicious Thai dishes served in a Cyberpunk surrounding. Take home some memories at the Photo booths and experiential rooms “Snap, Share…with Hands-Free Social”, that is less kitschy but more of an Interactive-Museum, and grab home some giveaways and tokens to win prizes that can be used to play the “Human Gashapon” with the most advanced high-tech prizes up for offer.
Excited already? What are you waiting for: Register here to be part of the most innovative and exciting show in town this May at https://0110techland.co/!
Corporate Innovation Summit 2023
November 14–15, 2023
Corporate Innovation Summit 2023, one of Asia’s Primier and arguable Experiential Conference targeting innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, and startup founders who are driving the future of corporate innovation and creating sustainable impacts to the world is back this November after a 4-year hiatus.
Keeping atuned to the changing times, this year’s theme is ‘Accelerating Growth While Saving the World.’ As the world focuses beyond business growth and embrace sustainability as its new edge by turning climate crisis into new opportunities, this will be another great show for impact and climate tech companies to mark their calendars for. It’s going to be an actioned packed two days with over 100+ sessions, 2000+ CEOs and Top executives, 100+ World Class Speakers and 60+ curated startups exhibiting. For a conference focused on corporate leaders meeting VCs, startups and other leaders, I think this is the right size that isn’t too small or too big.
Organized by RISE, a Leading Corporate Innovation Powerhouse highly regarded in Thailand, with mission to lift up 1% of GDP for Southeast Asia, RISE works with corporates and governments in the region to become more innovative in the faster future through their vast offerings of corporate accelerators, intrapreneur university programs, venture building services, and our experiential conference. Today, RISE are the largest corporate innovation accelerator in SE Asia with 20,000 trained and inspired c-level executives, 500+ regional corporate clients and 2,000+ startup alumni and counting.
Blockchain Thailand Genesis 2023
November 2023 (Date and Location to be confirmed)
Blockchain Thailand Genesis has grown from a local affair into an international blockchain conference that has scaled to take over Royal Paragon Hall, one of Bangkok’s most luxurious shopping destinations! With 3 full stages, over 30+ sessions, 80+ Thai and international speakers, 11 classes of quality workshops, and including more than 52 sponsor booths from notable companies in the digital asset industry, the fine folks at Cryptomind Group has braved crypto winter to host this show late last year despite the meltdown due to FTX. While the buzz may have been muted late last year, if you are a Bitcoin Believer and a Web3 Degen, there is no better show than Blockchain Thailand Genesis as there is an exciting array of meetups, side events, after parties happening across the week. I will definitely be there again this year and do check out: https://www.blockchain-th.com/ for the 2023 edition announcement.
Too many great videos on Cryptomind Group’s Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/@CryptomindGroup/videos
Atlas Climate Tech Exclusive Dinner & Roundtable & SEA Climate Tech Day
Dinner: Monthly at a secret location, Climate Tech Day: May 8,Next one TBC
Starting out as a small gathering of climate allies hosted by
and Kookai Chaimahawong, GPs of Atlas Capital, one of the 1st real and active climate tech fund based in Thailand that invests across the world. Djoann draws his strength in building powerful community of entrepreneurs, corporations, financiers and activist to network, learn and share with one another the various technologies and solutions that each of us are working on and investing it to help adapt our cities and save our planet.I have always attended almost every single dinner and I must say the the quality of the experience and people keeps getting better and better, with a slight hint of Davos and French flair sprinkled everywhere to make you feel like this is an important night. I knew that in no time this dinner could become a conference in it’s own right and that exactly what happened!
On May 8th this year, Djoann, Kookai and the Altas Capital team successfully introduced the category of « Climate Tech » to the region with one of the first — Climate Tech Only — conferences in SEA where solutions and actions (with dollar numbers) were celebrated while greenwashing was BANISHED!
They’ve invited 170 guests with nearly 70% of investors (CVCs, Angels, Family Offices) and people stayed to do networking 1.5h after the end of the event. The 20+ top-notch speakers really worked hard to show the audience what the future could look like for Clean energy abundance, low carbon mobility, clean air & finally Net Zero and climate resilient cities.
While Atlas Capital has deployed their first two funds and is raising their next fund, together within the SEA Climate Tech Coalition the VCs & CVCs that haved joined to together mobilize $1.2b for investment, technology transfer, and commercialization in the region.
If you are in climate tech and sustainability and would like to meet the most important and active investors, allies and changemakers in Thailand, joining the Southeast Asia Climate Tech Coalition with this link: www.tinyurl.com/AtlasSEA and get a spot to the next dinner
Check out more about: https://www.theatlascapital.com/ for more info on the fund and how to pitch at their upcoming events like the Climate Tech Pitch Competition this August 24, 2023.
In closing, As Jeffrey Paine, Partner of Golden Gate Ventures put it for the Thai startup ecoystem: Changes are coming. These new organizers are the change that Thailand need to shake off our negative branding, highlight the best ambitious founders and startups, and continue to prove to the rest of the world that we deserve to be part of the Startup Golden Triangle where we belong with Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. To everyone who read it this far, come to Thailand and see for yourself, and let’s work together to make Thailand not just the happiest place on Earth, but a great place to launch and grow your tech companies from.
