Techsauce: Transforming Thailand and Southeast Asia Into The Next Big Investment Hub

Techsauce is a leading tech ecosystem builder based in Thailand. It is known for its online platform, tech events, and media coverage that focus on the technology and startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia and beyond. To add, it also provides news, insights, and resources related to entrepreneurship, innovation, and emerging technologies. 

They organize events like conferences, hackathons, and startup competitions, bringing together entrepreneurs, investors, and tech enthusiasts to network and collaborate. Techsauce plays a significant role in promoting and supporting the growth of the startup and tech communities in the region. With that, why don’t you join me in learning more about Techsauce with its CEO and Co-Founder, Oranuch (Mimee) Lerdsuwankij

As the CEO and Co-founder, what inspired you to start Techsauce and what vision did you have in mind for the company?

Techsauce started in 2012. The reason that we started Techsauce was because Thai startups had a hard time accessing mentors, which made it hard for them to learn how to do business. It was quite hard for them to connect with the Venture Capitals as well. Techsauce is designed to be a platform that connects these players together: startups, venture capitals, the government, educational institutions, and corporations that want to support the startup ecosystem and help them create new business opportunities together. This is our mission, to create opportunities and connect the tech ecosystem with each other. Right now, we not only focus on Thailand, but we also support the startup ecosystem across Southeast Asia.

What is Techsauce and what services or products does it offer? What is your mission and how does your services align with this? 

As I have mentioned, we created this platform to create opportunities for everyone to connect with each other. Within Techsauce, we have five business units. The first one is what we call the knowledge provider, which is a knowledge sharing platform to support the startup ecosystem. We have an online media portal to give them the opportunity to learn how to run a business effectively. The second one is where we create activities. This is where the Techsauce Global Summit lies. This is one of the largest tech conferences in Southeast Asia that connects startups, corporates, investors and  policy makers. 

The third one is that we provide a corporate innovation service to support big corporations that want to connect with startups. We help them in part of the Accelerator Hackathon Venture Builder Service. We also have our own accelerator as well which is the Thailand Accelerator to support startups that need to raise funds. We connect the investor and startup and help them fundraise. The fourth one is that we also have another platform which is a subsidiary brand of Techsauce. We call it ConNEXT.  It’s a platform to give advice to top university graduates. If they want to start their own businesses, we will introduce Techsauce to them. If they want to work with the big corporations, we will have a workshop or other activities that connect them together. It’s similar to a job fair event. 

The last one is that we also just spun off another joint venture with ECG Venture Capital to set up the new fund. It’s called Venture Bridge, which is a fund that supports the CVC in Southeast Asia to invest in the startup ecosystem across the world, especially those that want to work with big corporations. These are the five units that we use to support the tech ecosystem and our mission.

What makes it unique from other ecosystem builders? 

At least for Techsauce, we provide end-to-end solutions. It’s not only for the knowledge provider, engagement throughout techsauce global summit, accelerator program, but we also partner with Venture Capital who provide the funding to support startups as well. I think we are quite similar to a one stop service solution. If you are a startup that wants to scale your business, then you can come to us and check out which mentor can provide and give the advice to support your company. If you are a big corporation that wants to work with a startup, but don't know how to do it,  we can give you advice and work as partners.

As your major event, what is Techsauce Global Summit and how does it contribute to the startup ecosystem?

At the Techsauce Global Summit, we have created more than 1,000 business opportunities per year between startups, corporations, and venture capitalists. It serves as a business matching platform to help them scale their operations in Southeast Asia, enabling Thailand to become the digital gateway of the region. Since 2016, we have welcomed over 60,000 attendees from 50 different countries to Thailand.

Can you share any notable success stories or projects that TechSauce has been involved in?

I think that there are some that stand out. But, I think it is better to mention our overall or general success.As I mentioned, through the Techsauce program, we have been able to help startups fundraise more than USD$70 million. We believe that with the help of Techsauce, we can help Southeast Asian countries meet and create partnerships between startups, venture capitalists, and big corporations to drive innovation together.

What are some of the future goals or expansion plans for TechSauce?

We are currently looking for local partners in different countries in Southeast Asia to create deep and strong collaboration. To build this strong collaboration, we are looking for events or activities in each country that we can bring Techsauce into and vice versa. We can also support the delegates from different countries who want to expand to Thailand, Techsauce will be the launchpad platform for those businesses or entrepreneurs who want to come to Thailand. This is the next step of Techsauce: to be the next investment destination for the world.

Oranuch (Mimee) Lerdsuwankij is the CEO and Co-Founder of Techsauce. Mimee’s role is incredibly important since she is responsible for the overarching vision and strategic direction, identifying growth opportunities, fostering partnerships, and exploring potential revenue streams to expand Techsauce's influence within the tech and startup ecosystem. With fervor and dedication, Mimee is a vocal advocate for the tech and startup ecosystem, using her influence, experience, and knowledge in educating the world about the importance of a strong startup and tech ecosystem not just in Thailand but in the rest of the world.

Visit www.techshake.asia if you would like to know and connect more with Techsauce.