SEA’s Unicorn Founders Give Up More Equity Than Their Peers

Read the full article here.

Southeast Asia’s business community is buzzing as many of the region’s tech unicorns prepare to go public. Their listings are a validation of the blood, sweat, and tears of their founders, who will be worth millions through the value of their stakes in these companies.

However, according to a Tech In Asia report (26 October 2021), large tech companies that have gone public over the past three years, as well as those that are planning to have an IPO soon, indicates that many Southeast Asian founder have faced greater levels of dilution compared to their peers from other regions.

One possible reason cited for the higher level of dilution is that South-east Asia is not a single integrated market, unlike China or the US.

Another reason may be that most of these companies went through their initial fundraising at a time when venture capital interest in the region was far lower than it is today.

The article also highlighted the rise of venture debt in the SE Asia region could likely to ​improve this dilution problem. Venture debt is seen as founder-friendly, as it helps over-diluting shareholder equity at the early stages of a company’s growth.

On this issue, Genesis’ Managing Director, Jeremy Loh said, ““When these companies went through their initial fundraising rounds, venture debt was not a well-established source of funding in this region. However, the landscape has changed over the past two years. With increased acceptance of venture debt as a complementary financing tool, I am confident that future unicorn founders can retain a larger portion of their shareholder equity”.

Read the full article here.

Read more about venture debt: Top 10 questions Every Founder Asks About Venture Debt