Thailand unicorns remain elusive as banks’ dominance stifles fintechs

[BANGKOK] While unicorns worldwide struggle with funding challenges and waning investor interest, Thailand’s fintech sector has managed to sidestep the drought – though not for the reasons one might expect. The country has no fintech unicorns and few foreign venture capital (VC) firms operating within its borders.

“In Thailand, the reason we don’t have fintech unicorns is because if you would like to do a startup, you need venture capital, and we have so few VCs and private equity funds here,” Chonladet Khemarattana, president of the Thai Fintech Association, told The Business Times.

He added: “All the VCs are actually CVCs (corporate venture capitalists).”