HubSpot surveyed 600 founders and startup leaders in Singapore, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines to discover that the Southeast Asia (SEA) and India regional ecosystems remain resilient and demonstrate significant signs of maturity.

HubSpot research “Startup Ecosystem Pulse SEA and India” has revealed that startups in Southeast Asia (SEA) and India are successfully coping with global economic challenges and funding shortages, proving to be adaptable and resilient, and continue to contribute to the growth of the region’s digital economy.

The survey showed that more than half (53%) of surveyed startups in the region found it easier to grow their businesses last year compared to previous years.?Startup founders in SEA and India recognize the need to balance growth and profitability. Most regional startups (98%) agree that achieving profitability has become more critical in the last year than before.

The survey also revealed that, for digital-native startups, AI presents the most significant economic opportunity and plays a pivotal role in their business strategy. The fondness for AI is particularly strong in India and Indonesia, where more companies expressed the importance of embedding AI into their daily processes to accelerate their company’s growth.

Not only are the local startups leveraging an established tech infrastructure, such as generative AI and high-quality data, to identify new opportunities and drive innovation in their operations, but they are also doubling down on core markets and building robust customer relationships crucial for long-term sustainability.

Startup founders in Southeast Asia and India acknowledge that customer acquisition and retention have become more manageable, with 55% of the respondents claiming that they have gotten easier to deal with in the past year.

However, that might be true only for existing markets. At the same time, geographical expansion presents significant challenges for regional startups, with 23% of founders finding it more challenging to enter new markets lately.

Increased competition (31%), stricter customer demands (31%), and access to capital (29%) were mentioned as the main challenges to customer acquisition among those who observed this business aspect worsen last year.

You might also be interested in How to register a startup in India.