Growth is easy, distribution is hard

Demand isn't the problem. Getting there is. Three stories on the distribution gap in Asian tech this week.

Read from your browser Sunday Newsletter Welcome to Tech in Asia's Sunday newsletter, your weekend brief on the biggest moves in Asia's tech and startup world. Subscribe to this newsletter or send story tips to editors@techinasia.com. Ensure our articles appear in your Google searches: IN FOCUS Peter Cowan on the distribution pains facing startups today Meet the chips SEA firms want but can't have A look a where China's funding data is now and where it may go soon Hello Betamax, "Build it, and they will come." That mantra may work for fictional baseball parks in movies like Field of Dreams, but our top stories this week are a reminder why it doesn't hold up in business. Having a great product or soaring demand for your services isn't enough - you need to get it into customers' hands and hearts. In other words, growth might be easy, but distribution is hard. Take my colleague Scott's story on AI chip manufacturer Cerebras. The company makes GPUs that it says comfortably outperform those from rivals like Nvidia, but selling them to customers outside the US is tough thanks to export rules. There's a similar dynamic playing out for home services startups, as Samreen's article explores. While startups in the space are seeing surging demand for things like on-demand cleaning and repair, scaling those services means solving a far messier problem: recruiting workers, maintaining quality, and earning enough trust for customers to let strangers into their homes. Finally, Miguel's exploration of Philippine digital bank Tonik's financials shows that even in fintech, success depends on distribution. The company has reached cash-flow breakeven by focusing on lending rather than chasing user growth, but it still faces the challenge of getting credit into the hands of the right customers. Not to get too meta, but journalism also faces big distribution challenges, and this newsletter is one of our ways of getting the stories that matter to you. Let's dive in. Peter Cowan, engagement editor EDITOR'S PICKS 1️⃣ Cerebras builds gigantic AI chips. Can SEA get its hands on them? Almost everybody in Southeast Asian tech wants more AI chips, and they wanted them yesterday. Silicon Valley-based manufacturer Cerebras wants to try to fill that demand with its large, powerful chips, but breaking Nvidia's chokehold on the industry will be a tall order. 2️⃣ Help wanted: Can India's home services playbook work in SEA? On-demand food delivery and ride-hailing platforms have become part of everyday life across Southeast Asia and India. Home services companies, however, have struggled to replicate that success. The challenge isn't demand but everything that comes after: building trust, managing workers, and delivering consistent service. A new generation of startups believes it can finally crack the category. 3️⃣ Tonik lowers loan growth forecast, hits cash-flow breakeven in Q1 Tonik has reached cash-flow breakeven by concentrating on credit rather than customer acquisition. Now it faces a new challenge: maintaining growth while managing risk in a weakening economy. SHORT CUTS 1️⃣ From the boardroom to prison Indonesia's tech scene continues to produce headlines for all the wrong reasons. Four former executives at two different state-backed VC firms were sentenced to prison last week over their involvement with a corruption case surrounding investments in agritech startup TaniHub. Alongside the eFishery scandal and the ongoing trial of Gojek founder Nadiem Makarim, it's been a bleak 18 months for the country's tech scene. One can only hope that it truly is darkest before the dawn and that the weight of these incidents brings change. 2️⃣ Carro revs up Down Under Carro is finally expanding in Australia. The Singapore-based used-car marketplace acquired the Australian used-car platform CarPlace to enter three of Australia's four largest markets. In October 2025, my colleague Samreen reported that Carro was eyeing expansion to Australia, and while it took a bit longer than first planned, a much-anticipated IPO could be on the horizon. A Southeast Asian tech champion going public would be good news for an ecosystem that hasn't had much glad tidings lately. 3️⃣ GCash eyes cashing in Speaking of IPOs, Mynt, the Manila-based fintech firm behind GCash, has taken a significant step toward its own. The firm's board and shareholders have approved the company's plan to pursue a potential domestic listing. The firm was previously targeting a listing in 2025, but poor macroeconomic conditions put paid to those plans. A listing could answer the question we asked with this article at the end of last year. ONE VISUAL STORY YOU SHOULDN'T MISS You can't spell China without AI As if you needed another reminder of how AI is eating the world, a look at our data on startup funding in China offers one. Tech in Asia data shows that AI firms raised more than US$8 billion in the last 12 months, almost 4x as much as the next closest vertical. A big chunk of that capital flows through local government guidance funds that bet on tech. Beijing is reining in that model amid scrutiny over the rapid expansion of smart home and consumer tech firm Dreame Technology. That could put a dent in the numbers, and when it does, you'll see it in our data. WEEKEND DEEP DIVE What if it all came out? Imagine the group chat with your three closest friends was leaked online. Would you survive the reputational damage of having anyone able to read your unfiltered thoughts, darkest jokes, and deepest insecurities? This New York Magazine article is essentially a long anxiety spiral about digital exposure and how AI is making the threat dramatically worse. Hackers who once needed a sophisticated team working around the clock can now do the same damage solo, in hours. The piece centers on a Disney engineer whose password manager was compromised, exposing his entire digital life in one breach. He lost his job over porn that Disney claimed to find on his work laptop, videos he says he watched at home on personal devices, which his employer allegedly accessed by breaching his personal iCloud account. The uncomfortable truth for those of us who spend our days on Slack, WhatsApp, Gmail, and the like is that our digital lives are more extensive and vulnerable than ever. Sleep tight. SINGAPORE'S FINTECH BENCHMARK IS RISING. The industry is evolving. So is the benchmark. Singapore's fintech sector is entering a new phase, with innovation expanding across payments, digital assets, enterprise fintech, insurtech, neobanking, wealthtech, alternative financing, and regtech. As the industry matures, the bar is rising for the companies defining how financial services are built, delivered, and scaled in the local market. That is what Singapore's Top Fintech Companies 2027 aims to spotlight. Organized by Tech in Asia and Statista, the list recognizes companies developing or providing innovative, tech-backed financial products and services in Singapore. Last year, over 500 companies were evaluated, reflecting the depth and competitiveness of the local fintech ecosystem. If your company is shaping the next chapter of fintech in Singapore, this is your opportunity to be considered among the industry's leading players. Apply now to compete for a place among Singapore's Top Fintech Companies 2027. EVENTS HAPPENING You can also check out our curated list of trending tech events and Tech in Asia's signature events. A sneak peek into our TIA Conference lineup To get the TIA Conference 2026 conversation started, we are excited to confirm that leaders from global giants like Heineken, HSBC, Singtel, alongside regional powerhouses such as Fairprice Group and AI Singapore, have already joined our 2026 lineup to share their journeys from ambition to production outcomes. Join 1,500 of the region's most serious enterprise leaders and builders as we move beyond the sandbox. First release ticket sale ends on June 21. Get yours today. ADVERTISE | SUBSCRIBE | HIRE | FIND JOBS P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Tech in Asia thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Too many emails? 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