By: Jotham Lim

The first day out of the two-day Wild Digital SEA 2019 conference went smoothly without a hitch, covering a wide range of topics from autotech, building IPOs and unicorns, to artificial intelligence.

Throughout the panel discussions, and networking discussions happening across the event, there are several key takeaways stemming from the common touch points during the conversation.

• There is a huge potential in the startup scene here in ASEAN, with a rapid increase in funds being invested and raised.
• Acquiring talent remains one of the top concerns amongst entrepreneurs in the startup community.
• Malaysia is relatively better than our neighbouring countries in terms of providing regulatory framework and infrastructure in order to let the startup community thrive, but more is still needed to be done.

Khairul Khairi from Gobi Partners also commented that he has seen a rise of B2B2C companies sprouting up in the marketplace. “You do not have to be profitable, but you need to at least have a light at the end of the tunnel, a chance of profitability. There is nothing wrong with being a rhino, which is basically a fat, ugly version of a unicorn,” said Khairul.

The Wild Digital SEA 2019 conference is held at Le Méridien Kuala Lumpur on 3rd to 4th July 2019, with a goal of bringing together key opinion leaders in the internet space, providing exposure and networking opportunities for those who are attending the event.