Tech startups ruled the roost when it came to Cambodia.
Of the 129 Tech Startups, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is the dominating sector with a 17.1 percent share, followed by e-commerce with the second largest share of 13.95 percent; together making up nearly one-third of the ecosystem.
It’s been a good year for startups in general. Data from the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s initiative Startup Cambodia shows that 2023 saw the growth of as many as 177 startups in 2023, nearly double the number (98 startups) functional in 2022. Of the total startups, 177, 129 were tech startups and 21 were tech-enabled startups.
Total funding raised by the startup ecosystem in 2023 was around 22.6 billion riels ($5.49 million riels).
After SaaS and e-commerce, the other sectors startups are coming up are online media, Cleantech, EdTech, Fintech, influencer economy, transport and delivery, healthtech, Podcasts, Online Travel, AgriTech and Blockchain.
To promote innovation, Startup Cambodia said the country has seen as many as 11 accelerators, six incubation centres and six hackathons conducted.
When it came to total funding of 22.6 billion riels ($5.49 million riels), the Startup Cambodia Insight Report said most of the funding is in seed, pre-seed and series-A funding levels.
Cambodia’s market has not yet matured, despite “having high growth potential,” said the report. The country is yet to see funding in the levels of B to H that is common in more developed economies like Singapore and Malaysia.
Among the problems, cited in the report is a lack of infrastructure and regulatory support in the ecosystem. The report also said, investors felt that there was “market uncertainty and the withholding tax amount was high”.
The report said investors preferred investing in the logistics, fintech, B2B SaaS, web 3.0, Edtech and healthtech space.
As many as 129 startups (or 73 percent) were tech startups out of a total of 177 startups in the country. SaaS startups in the country include CheckinMe, Jobify, Casstack, Invoice Mouy, LocalizeBook, Kakvei, DelightTech Plc, Khmer Tech Market, Bong IT, eCO app, Kommong, Hor Pao, Optimus, 606 Digital, Digital Mavericks, Polymer Invoice, Campus.by Wonderpass, InsurTech, MGA Cover, Workingna, OceanTechnology Co and Quadusk.
When it came to AgriTech, the most popular startups are those with a hybrid B2B and B2C model like Angkor Salad, CAM-Science, DamDoh App, FlexFloc and Greenovator.
For Blockchain working with the government, there were huge success stories like Bakong, which has become ubiquitous to Cambodian payments with more than 10 million users. Apart from this, there are startups like Selendra, CamDL, Team NID and Verify.gov.kh. All these startups use the decentralized distributed ledger technology to create innovative products.
The Cleantech space has also seen the mushrooming of many startups like Khmer Solar, RUY REACH, SE Cambodia, MAUSO, SOGE Cambodia, EcoBatt Energy Cambodia, Pteah Baitong, EcoSun Solar Cambodia, AET JAY.
So far the startup ecosystem in Cambodia has seen more than 75 programmes – some national (55), some international (20), 96 events, 65 mentors and nine stakeholders participating in it in 2023. In support of these startups, Cambodia has five co-working spaces and seven service providers and 30 corporates partnering with them, as per the report Startup Cambodia Insight 2023.
“Creating a vibrant startup ecosystem that can face high growth of both startups and SMEs is a key driver in contributing to the revival and promotion of Cambodia’s economy and society,” Aun Pornmoniroth, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance, has said about the Startup Cambodia initiative.
Jointly coordinated by Techo Startup Centre (TSC) and Khmer Enterprise (KE), Startup Cambodia initiative got its approval to function in 2019 and fulfills the policy objectives of the Cambodia Digital Economy and Society Policy Framework 2021-2035.
