//

Other trending markets include mobile apps, health tech, big data and e-commerce

The last four years have seen a surge in the startup accelerator space within the APAC region.

According to a report on the startup accelerator sector in Asia and Oceania published by Fundacity — an investment platform connecting startups to investors — 2012 saw the launch of 22 new accelerators, the most in any year so far. Currently, there are about 70 startup accelerators in the region.

While these accelerators are localised to each country, many of them have one thing in common that sets them apart from Western accelerators: The lack of a “lean startup approach”. This approach relies heavily on constant customer feedback, a methodology that is considered intrusive in Asia.

According to the report, India leads the region in startup investments by accelerators, followed by Australia, Singapore and China.

Although India only has 95 startups in accelerators, they have raised a total of US$2,484,550. Australia, on the other hand, has raised only US$1,437,624 in accelerator investments despite having 138 startups in its accelerators.

Taiwan has had the worst luck so far. Despite having 52 startups in its only accelerator AppWorks, none of them has raised received any funding.

Private funding is leading

Among the more generous accelerators are India’s Ciie, which provides up to US$1,119,550 in funding, China’s HAX Accelerator, which invests up to US$1 million and Australia’s BlueChilli, which provides up to US$800,000.

These three accelerators are funded with private capital (from angel investors or investment funds) and usually generate revenue through follow-on investments or startup exits.

Private capital take up 65.77 percent of startup accelerator funding in the region, with public funding taking up 31.58 percent.

With regards to future investments, accelerators responded most positively to the IoT sector. Here is the percentage breakdown of the Top Six:

• IoT (74 per cent)
• Mobile apps (73 per cent)
• Health (71 per cent)
• Big data analytics (71 per cent)
• E-commerce (71 per cent)
• Fintech (71 per cent)

Here is the percentage breakdown of the least favoured investment choices:

• Social media analytics (39 per cent)
• Drones (37 per cent)
• Cleantech (31 per cent)
• Biotech (21 per cent)
• Real estate (18 per cent)

Fundacity’s inaugural report is the first of its kind in Asia. A spokesperson explained that due the extensive time required to gather the necessary information, it was only able to present data from 2014. It will publish a global accelerator report of 2015 in FY 2016.

For the full report, click here.

Image Credit:  scyther5/Shutterstock

The post IoT is the hottest investment choice for APAC accelerators appeared first on e27.

from e27 http://ift.tt/1YL6h3u