Top Scale-ups in Asia

The Asian continent is not only a region full of innovation, but it’s also home to some of the world’s biggest scale-ups.

With 4.8 billion people living on the continent, it’s no surprise that it has become home to hundreds of unicorns, redefining sectors like finance, health, logistics and more.

Here, we take a look at some of the companies that have managed to scale beyond startup status, solidifying themselves as some of Asia’s most exciting scale-ups.

 

Which Countries In Asia Have The Most Unicorns?

 

According to Stastista, as of 2023 China led the charge with the most unicorns, coming in hot with 340. The second country in the ranking was India, home to 67 unicorns.

Other notable mentions in the region include hotspots like Indonesia, South Korea and Hong Kong.

So, what are some of the biggest scaleups in Asia? Let’s take a look…

 

Airwallx (Singapore)

 

 

Founded in Australia but headquartered in Singapore, Airwallx is a global payment and finance platform designed to help businesses scale.

With over 150,000 companies using the platform across 50 countries, it allows businesses to open global business accounts, accept payments, manage company spend, and much more – all on one unified platform.

 

Pickupp (Hong Kong)

 

 

Pickupp is a courier and delivery startup, allowing people to fulfil online orders and have them delivered within 4 hours.

With easy integration into platforms like Shopify, and a large network of couriers and partners, Pickupp is helping power eCommerce across Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Taiwan.

The company saw a lot of growth during the pandemic and has continued to go from strength to strength ever since.

 

Xtransfer (China)

 

 

XTransfer is one of China’s biggest foreign exchange platforms, allowing businesses to accept and make global payments.

Connecting over 200 countries and partnered with major banks like Barclays, Bank of China and Deutsche Bank, Xtransfer is making cross-border payments easier for businesses across the world.

Xtransfer currently serves over 600,000 businesses, and has offices in 14 countries worldwide.

 

 

Chargebee (India)

 

 

Chargebee is a software company that helps businesses automate billing, reduce churn and scale their revenue operations.

Using AI, it helps businesses to grow their revenue by automating a lot of tasks that clients need, but are time consuming to implement. Since it was founded in 2011, Chargebee has grown into one of India’s most successful companies, changing the way that companies manage their businesses.

 

Yubi (India)

 

 

Yubi is a fintech startup that connects businesses in need of debt financing with lenders that are able to provide them with the capital they need at affordable rates.

Founded as CredAvenue, Yubi quickly scaled from an 8 person business to a tech unicorn, helping over 17,000 businesses get access to the funds they need.

Because of this, Yubi has been a key figure driving India’s economy.

 

Grab (Singapore)

 

 

Grab is Singapore’s super app, evolving from a ride-hailing app into a full-suite of services, including food delivery, payments, insurance and banking.

Today, Grab services 8 countries across Asia, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand – growing into one of the regions biggest supercompanies.

 

MoMo (Vietnam)

 

 

MoMo is the most popular digital wallet in Vietnam, currently serving over 23 million people.

Once just an e-payments provider, MoMo has developed into a company that offers loans, donations and a wide range of financial services.

As Vietnam has a big rural population, it’s helping everyone in the country have access to digital finance.

 

Carsome (Malaysia)

 

 

Carsome is South East Asia’s biggest used car platform. With a presence in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, users are able to buy and sell used cars online.

In addition to make it easier to buy cars, the platform also helps people access financing plans, so they can split the cost of these large purchases across a number of years.