Almost every startup, if not all, dreams of growing bigger and getting listed on the stock exchange one day.
The dream-big mentality is understandable. During the past several years, the startup scene including those of Asia is vibrant. In 2021, Credit Suisse reported that 19 startups in Southeast Asia became unicorns -- or companies with valuations of US$1 billion (34.8 billion baht) or more. DealStreetAsia -- a Singapore-based financial news website, reported that Southeast-Asian startups are raising more money -- from $9.4 billion in 2020 to $25.7 billion in 2021.
But it's not happily-ever-after for some newly listed companies. In the past year, a number of high-tech companies showed signs of struggling. Examples in Asia include Zomato and Paytm from India, Grab from Singapore, Bukalapak from Indonesia and Didi from China, among others.
