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How we mapped 1,150 startups across six countries.
Our approach to country selection, sector taxonomy, company classification, and the changes we made between the 2024 and 2025 editions.
Six steps to the Landscape
01
Countries
We focused on six countries that have the biggest tech startup ecosystems: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.
02
Taxonomy
For the inaugural 2024 edition, we used the taxonomy from the Global Green Economy Report by Arup and Oxford Economics (2023). We adopted and added to the original 46 activity areas (106 sub-activities), then grouped activities into 7 thematic sectors.
03
Assignment of companies
Each company is assigned 1 industry and as many as 3 activities, recognising that some technologies are effective and impactful in different use cases. Companies are primarily classified by the location of their headquarters.
04
How we found the companies
We drew on our own databases (accumulated from over a decade of scouting for innovation programmes), other databases (such as Tracxn and CB Insights), web searches, and consultations with ecosystem partners.
05
Startup & SME definition
"Startups" are companies founded 5 years ago or fewer; "SMEs" are companies founded between six and 20 years ago. In this report, we use "startups" or "startups and SMEs" as shorthand for startups, scale-ups, and SMEs.
06
2024 versus 2025 database
Of the 1,157 companies covered in 2024, 136 (12%) are no longer operating. We added 116 companies and dropped 48 founded before 2005. The database is now a live document we continually update.
2025 taxonomy changes
For the 2025 edition, we evolved the taxonomy by adding activities, clarifying sub-activities, and reorganising the sectors. Key changes:
Important caveats
We acknowledge that some companies headquartered in Singapore may have the majority of their operations elsewhere in Southeast Asia.
We recognise that we may not have the full count of companies. For example, startups in stealth mode and SMEs could be delivering great products without a public profile.
Given that our intent for the Landscape is to point to opportunities in the green economy rather than to delve into the specifics of the startup ecosystem, we have not included year-on-year comparisons or detailed analysis of the startups.
We recognise that "scale-ups" is not a commonly used term. We use "startups" or "startups and SMEs" as shorthand for startups, scale-ups, and SMEs.