Startup Asia: South East Asia Accelerator Ecosystem

Southeast Asia (SEA) is one of the world’s most dynamic and rapidly evolving startup regions. With a population of over 650 million, rising digital adoption, and deeply diverse markets, the entrepreneurial energy here is enormous. Countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia collectively host a wide spectrum of innovation — from highly capitalized fintech unicorns to lean, bootstrapped social-impact ventures.

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Startup Asia: An Overview of East Asia’s Accelerator Ecosystems

East Asia — especially Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong — is often viewed as a powerhouse of innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship. These markets are among the most advanced in infrastructure, talent, and capital. But even in such developed ecosystems, many early-stage founders struggle with rigid, traditional accelerator models.

Colors: Curtains in the Wind III

I’m publishing this series on LinkedIn called Colors to explore a topic that I care deeply about: the Renaissance Mind. I am just as passionate about entrepreneurship, technology, and business, as I am about art and culture. In this series, I will typically publish a piece of art – one of my paintings – and I request you to spend a minute or two deeply meditating on it. I urge you to watch your feelings, thoughts, reactions to the piece, and write what comes to you, what thoughts it triggers, in the dialog area. Let us see what stimulation this interaction yields. For today – Curtains in the Wind III

Curtains in the Wind III | Sramana Mitra, 2019 | Watercolor, Ink, Pastel | 18 x 24, On Paper

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Success in Entrepreneurship Is Personal

The 1Mby1M Mantra has always been: Excess is not a Requirement for Success in Entrepreneurship. YOU get to define what success means for you. It’s personal. It’s your prerogative.

Do not live other people’s lives.

December 4 – 710th 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable for Entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs are invited to the 710th FREE online 1Mby1M Mentoring Roundtable on Thursday, December 4, 2025, at 8 a.m. PST / 11 a.m. EST / 5 p.m. CET / 9:30 p.m. India IST.

If you are a serious entrepreneur, register to Pitch and sell your business idea. You’ll receive straightforward feedback from Sramana Mitra, advice on next steps, and answers to any of your questions. Others can register to Attend to watch, learn, and interact through the online chat.

709th 1Mby1M Roundtable Recording

In case you missed it, you can listen to the recording here:

Roundtable Recap: November 20 – Manipur Discovers 1Mby1M

During this week’s roundtable, we had our first ever entrepreneur pitch from the tiny Indian state of Manipur, tucked away in the fast Eastern corner, by the Myanmar border. In a discussion at the end of the session, we learned that the state has about 90 startups, and a WhatsApp group has about 180 entrepreneurs and aspiring founders.

This reminded me why I started 1Mby1M: to democratize entrepreneurship education, incubation and acceleration.

BioLeads

As for our entrepreneur pitches, first we had Ritvik Dubey from Toronto, Canada, pitch BioLeads. We discussed TAM and Fundability.

Ridezz

Next, we had Sunny Paliwal from Jaipur, India, pitch Ridezz, a 2-wheeler ride sharing app. We discussed how to bootstrap to validation.

Nibiaa

Then we had Aeroshil Nameirakpam from Imphal, India, pitch nibiaa. Imphal is the capital of Manipur. Nibiaa is generating a small amount of revenue. The company has good potential to grow, but needs to tighten its go-to-market strategy quite a bit. It can be done.

You can listen to the recording here:

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1Mby1M Virtual Accelerator AI Investor Forum: Daniel Ibri, Mindset Ventures (Part 5)

Sramana Mitra: Earlier you said you wanted to discuss how venture capital is changing. We have a little time, so I want to explore that.

There’s a point of view circulating that even though venture capital is focused on vertical AI right now, AGI could make vertical AI irrelevant. And if AGI arrives during the timeframe when current gen-AI companies mature and prepare for exits, those exit opportunities might disappear. These are existential threats for venture capital. How do you think about that?