Vietnam’s e-commerce numbers are no longer just impressive; they are disruptive. A US$16.3 billion GMV market growing nearly 35 per cent year-on-year signals not expansion, but acceleration into a new competitive phase. What stands out isn’t just scale, but velocity: Vietnam is now Southeast Asia’s fastest-moving e-commerce battleground.
TikTok Shop’s surge is the clearest marker of this shift. Its rise from challenger to near co-leader reflects how social commerce has moved from experiment to default discovery engine. Live-streaming isn’t a feature anymore; it’s the funnel. Shopee’s declining share shows that logistics dominance alone is no longer enough, while Lazada and Tiki’s marginalisation underscores how unforgiving the new algorithmic economy has become.
Equally telling is the seller shakeout. Fewer sellers generating more revenue points to a maturing market where platforms prioritise efficiency, engagement, and conversion over sheer participation. This mirrors a broader regional trend: Southeast Asia’s e-commerce boom is giving way to consolidation, margin pressure, and ruthless optimisation.
Vietnam’s category mix — led by beauty and fast-growing health segments — aligns with regional consumption shifts, but its urban concentration and low average order values reveal unfinished depth. Compared to Singapore’s profitability and Indonesia’s massive scale, Vietnam’s edge is speed.
For founders and operators, the message is clear: Vietnam offers explosive growth, but survival now depends on mastering platforms, content, and algorithms — not just being present.
REGIONAL
TikTok Shop is eating Vietnam’s e-commerce market alive: Vietnam’s e-commerce market reached US$16.3B in GMV in 2025 across its four largest platforms (Shopee, TikTok Shop, Lazada, and Tiki) up 34.8% YoY, according to Metric.vn. That’s US$44.5M transacted daily, with 3.9M items sold, a 15.2% increase.
Late-stage capital tightens grip on Southeast Asia’s fintech market: In 2025, total fintech funding across the region decreased 21% YoY to US$1.4B; Late-stage funding not only held up but expanded, rising 13% to US$930M, underscoring a decisive shift away from early experimentation towards de-risked growth.
CoinGecko eyes US$500M sale as crypto M&A heats up: CoinGecko’s potential sale underscores crypto’s maturation: data aggregators are no longer scrappy startups but strategic assets in a US$2.5T to US$3T market. For Malaysia, success could spotlight its under-the-radar crypto talent amid Singapore’s regulatory shine.
Southeast Asia’s cyber boom is fuelled by fear—and AI: The region’s cybersecurity market is exploding, valued at US$2.8B in 2024 and forecast to grow at a blistering 28.5% CAGR through 2030, according to MarketsandMarkets. This isn’t hype; it’s a data-backed arms race.
China’s humanoid robot leader AGIBOT sets sights on Southeast Asia: AGIBOT’s commercial offerings span multiple use cases: the A2 series for reception and hospitality; the X2 series for entertainment and education; the G2 series for industrial manufacturing; the D1 series for inspection operations; and the C5 autonomous floor-care robot.
Toku files for SGX Catalist IPO, doubles down on partner-led go-to-market strategy: The IPO marks a significant milestone for Toku, as it seeks to capitalise on rising demand for intelligent customer engagement solutions.
SGInnovate backs Botsync in extended Series A amid AMR market surge: In 2025, Botsync claims it recorded 240% growth in production trips, surpassing one million live production trips in real-world environments. Revenue grew 230% YoY, primarily driven by expansions from existing customers rather than new logos.
Philippines to join Malaysia, Indonesia in blocking Grok: The move comes after concerns about sexualised images generated by the system, said Henry Aguda, the country’s Information and Communications Technology Secretary. Aguda said the cybercrime centre is working with the telecoms commission to implement the block.
FEATURES & INTERVIEWS
Smarter AI models don’t automatically translate into adoption, says i10X’s Patrick Linden: The i10X co-founder argues that trust, discovery, and workflow integration—not raw model intelligence—remain the biggest barriers to AI adoption.
AI’s first real casualties: The tech jobs that vanished in 2025: According to data compiled by UK-based forex company RationalFX, nearly 245,000 jobs were lost in 2025 as companies swapped human salaries for software subscriptions.
Why Toku’s public listing could reset expectations for Singapore startups: Toku’s proposed SGX Catalist listing signals renewed confidence in Singapore tech IPOs, validating Asia-built AI infrastructure, disciplined scaling, partner-led expansion, and region-first strategies as founders and investors navigate 2026.
Big Tech’s efficiency paradox: Record profits, record layoffs: The report from RationalFX highlights that tech layoffs are not a sign of corporate distress, but a calculated restructuring. By removing “layers of management,” companies are attempting to become “leaner” and more agile.
Why Asia’s tech giants are cutting from the middle: The reality is that the traditional IT service model — built on large-scale human labour — is being challenged by new technologies that require a completely different, and often smaller, skill set.
INTERNATIONAL
Prudential, HSBC join US$220M Series D for Hong Kong’s WeLab: WeLab said the funds will support expansion in Southeast Asia, deepen its leadership in Hong Kong, and help launch new AI-driven business lines, along with product and platform enhancements.
Australia deactivates 4.7M under-16 social media accounts: Platforms such as TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram provided data to the Office of the eSafety Commissioner, which is reviewing compliance. Meta reported removing over 500K accounts, including 330K from Instagram and 173K from Facebook.
OpenAI debuts Google Translate-like ChatGPT for over 50 languages: ChatGPT Translate mirrors the interface of Google Translate and lets users translate text with style presets such as “more fluent” or “academic.” It currently supports text input on desktop, and both text and voice input on mobile browsers.
Publishers seek to join Google AI copyright lawsuit: Publishers Hachette Book Group and Cengage Group allege Google copied content from their books without permission, as part of broader legal disputes involving authors and visual artists over AI training practices.
SEMICONDUCTOR
TSMC Q4 revenue hits US$33.2B; The Taiwan-based semiconductor foundry reported revenue rise 20.5% and net income climb 35% YoY, while revenue and net income increased 5.7% and 11.8% from the previous quarter, respectively.
South Korea holds emergency talks on US AI chip tariffs: The meeting, led by Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan, came after the US outlined a plan to impose a 25% tariff on certain AI chips that are imported into the US and then reexported to other countries.
Taiwan firms to invest US$250B in US chip production: In return, the US will cut reciprocal tariffs on Taiwan to 15% from 20% and remove tariffs on some pharmaceuticals, aircraft parts, and natural resources. TSMC has bought land in Arizona and may expand operations there.
South Korea to invest US$159M in chip, battery research: The funds will be distributed across 27 projects, targeting the development of advanced technologies in these sectors. About US$127.3M will go to 18 semiconductor projects, including next-generation chip packaging and advanced automotive chips for software-defined vehicles.
AI
Building digital trust in an era of AI: The role of verifiable technology: AI-driven fraud is eroding digital trust, pushing organisations beyond cybersecurity toward identity verification, where blockchain-based verifiable technology emerges as a scalable solution to restore authenticity, security, and confidence in digital interactions.
Why AI security demands a different playbook in Asia: Asia’s rapid AI adoption is exposing enterprises to new AI-specific threats beyond traditional cybersecurity, making AI governance, monitoring, and regulation critical to prevent shadow AI risks, data leaks, and costly breaches.
AI’s promise in Asia: Can technology finally include everyone?: Asia’s AI boom risks excluding people with intellectual disabilities unless inclusion is embedded by design, unlocking social impact, fairer systems, and major untapped market opportunities across education, work, and care.
AI storytelling for healing: Turning memories into digital legacies: A personal journey shows how AI storytelling helps preserve fading memories, turning family stories, images, and voices into lasting emotional keepsakes that restore purpose, connection, healing, and continuity across generations.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Nasdaq tumbles, but Bitcoin soars past US$97K on massive short squeeze: US stocks retreated amid tech rotation and geopolitical pressure, while global markets stayed mixed. Bitcoin surged past US$95,000 on ETF inflows, signalling crypto’s growing decoupling from equities.
The rise of ‘Strava Jockeys’: How Indonesia’s vanity economy is hacking the fitness tech ecosystem: Running in Indonesia has become elite social currency, spawning “Strava Jockeys” who sell fake fitness data—exposing vanity economics, shadow gig work, and fragile trust in health-tech platforms.
Why venture studios are choosing collaboration over competition: Venture studios are shifting from end-to-end builders to specialised collaborators, partnering across formation, market entry, and capital to reduce execution risk, close follow-through gaps, and scale startups effectively by 2026.
Do you know what ChatGPT is saying behind your back?: AI doesn’t gossip, but it constantly evaluates you—logging prompts, shaping assumptions, and influencing outcomes in ways users rarely see, question, or fully understand.
Why signals matter: Build from zero to a quadrillon: Most Singapore startups fail by chasing noise, not signal. Signal-aware founders prioritise speed, focus, culture, decision-making, and resilience—identifying what truly matters at each growth stage to build enduring, scalable companies.
Value creation: When startups die surrounded by capital: Startups increasingly fail not from capital scarcity but organisational “respiratory failure”, where misaligned narrative, go-to-market, and operations prevent funding from reaching teams that create durable value.
Why does cybersecurity training for employees in Malaysia matter and how to go about it?: As Malaysian businesses navigate the complexities of an increasingly advanced landscape, the importance of cybersecurity cannot be overstated.
The post Ecosystem Roundup: TikTok Shop disrupts Vietnam e-commerce; Fintech funding tightens; CoinGecko mulls US$500M sale; AI job cuts deepen appeared first on e27.