Convergence of Technology in the E-Commerce World and Venture Capital Landscape in South East Asia

Emerging Southeast Asian Countries

Southeast Asia represents one of the fastest growing economic regions in the world (Asian Development Outlook, 2011). A major reason for this economic juggernaut has been the growth of emerging Southeast Asian countries, which have developed rapidly over the past decades (Asian Development Outlook, 2014). An outcome of this impressive growth has been increased investment opportunities for private equity investors to include venture capital and business angel investors (Scheela et al., 2015; Scheela, 2014).

According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) global report (Amoros and Bosma, 2014) entrepreneurship is a major factor in this impressive growth cycle in Southeast Asia. GEM researchers Amoros and Bosma (2014) report that entrepreneurs in the emerging countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam have shown above average intentions to become entrepreneurs because of both increasing economic opportunities and the high status of successful entrepreneurs in this region.

Recent private equity research has focused on the impact that business angels have on the development of high-tech industries, to include E-commerce technology, in these five emerging Southeast Asian countries. We will review these studies to determine the impact business angel investors can have on the E-commerce world in Southeast Asia.3.0 Convergence of Technology for E-commerce World.