July, August & September 2020
Startup News Asia’s third quarter 2020 round-up of Thailand’s startup news from July, August and September.
The news headlines below detail tech or startup news items from Q3 2020 connected with an aspect of Thailand’s startup ecosystem; a Thai startup announcing a new service, product or VC investment, or an article covering something impacting on the Thai startup ecosystem in some way, such as a government or corporate startup investment program, for example.
The focus is obviously on Thailand’s startups, but tech, VC and startup news headlines are included from the wider region and the world beyond, where useful, to provide points-of-reference, food for thought, and wider industry knowledge for Thailand’s startups.
September 2020 | August 2020 | July 2020
Thailand’s startup news: September 2020
- Thailand: Facebook blocks access to 1 million-member Royalist Marketplace, group critical of the country’s king, bowing to military-dominated government pressure
- Thailand: An intro to Freshket, simplifying getting fresh produce from farms to tables and food processors on the back of recently raising $3M Series A funding
- Thailand: Gov’t earmarks $60M for cybersecurity safeguard systems at state-run hospitals following ransomware attacks
- Thailand: Sunday insurtech startup secures $9M with machine learning-powered risk prediction, setting sights on Indonesia expansion
- Thailand: Central Bank’s blockchain-enabled bond infrastructure passes test with $1.6BN government savings bond sale spanning one week
- Thailand: Indonesia’s Gojek ride-hailing giant adds to Grab rivalry with launch of multi-service Thailand app
- Thailand: A broad overview of the country’s moves into 5G
- Thailand: Digital ministry to commence legal action against Facebook, Twitter and Google for ignoring content take-down requests
- Consensys blockchain firm awarded contract for Project Ithanon-Lionrock, cross-border payment project using CBDC between Thailand and Hong Kong
- Thailand 5G Ecosystem Innovation Center opens in government’s Digital Economy Promotion Agency headquarters in partnership with Huawei
Thailand’s startup news: August 2020
- Corporate Innovation Summit 2020 3-day virtual conference set for September 15-17, delivered from Thailand by RISE corporate innovation firm
- Thailand: Siri Ventures property developer business looks to add tech to traditional real estate business, from drone deliveries to EV charging and autonomous driving
- Subsidiary of Lufax, China’s retail fintech, partners Thailand’s Kasikornbank to jointly build digital wealth management platform
- Thailand: major mobile operator partnered by Digital Economy Promotion Agency and Thai Media Fund for e-learning platform to enhance digital literacy in young people
- Thailand: Ricult raises $2M pre-A with platform combining deep tech, artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve agricultural efficiency
- Thailand: Office of the Court of Justice, which oversees 91% of Thai courts, ‘actively developing’ blockchain network to move judicial information entirely online
- Thailand: An intro to Let’s Plant Meat, manufacturing meat-free burgers and minced not-meats out of soy, rice, coconut and beetroot
- Thailand: Lightnet partners Switzerland’s SEBA ‘crypto bank’ for blockchain-based focused on remittances for unbanked migrant workers, bridging traditional and digital finance
- Thailand’s largest GSM mobile phone operator launches TechStorm, world’s first 24/7 HD channel focusing on Asian e-sports and innovation stories
- Thailand’s protests highlight the vulnerabilities of major social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
- Australia’s Power Ledger expands partnership with Thailand’s renewable energy company BCPG for blockchain-based Renewable Energy Certificate marketplace
- Thailand’s RISE corporate accelerator expands with Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre partnership in advance of 2020 Global Accelerator Program
Thailand’s startup news: July 2020
- Thailand: Techbite Incubator Program applications close July 31st, seeking students and graduates who want to build a startup
- Thailand Post to develop ‘smart mailboxes’ equipped with IoT sensors in bid to make postal collections more efficient
- Bank Of Thailand cryptocurrency rolls out for businesses before public debut, the third phase in its development of central bank digital currency
- Thailand: Subsidiary of satellite operator Thaicom partners AI and Robotics Ventures for drone and technology collaboration focused on agriculture
- An intro to 5 of the 12 startups from recently-launched Singapore Food Bowl accelerator program, focused on boosting food security
