Some developing countries initially benefit from low-cost advantages, but struggle to catch up with other nations once they reach a certain stageThe current debate in China centres around the question of whether it needs to close a significant gap with the West in terms of development
February 23, 2021
Huy Truong
The term “unicorn”, used to describe start-ups worth more than US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion), had not even been coined in 2009, when Stanford MBA graduate Forrest Li began working on his new gaming company with nearly a dozen employees – all cramped in a tiny shophouse in Singapore’s central business district.
Garena, his fledgling gaming company, kept a low-key profile, though its almost immediate success meant investment rounds and expansion plans came thick and fast.
Soon Garena outgrew its small outfit on Maxwell Road, then a move to a two-storey penthouse office beckoned.
A decade on, Garena is now one limb of the gargantuan Sea Group.
Why the rise of Singapore’s tech giant Sea has been a hot topic Illustration: Huy Truong
The term unicorn , used to describe start-ups worth more than US$1 billion, had not even been coined in 2009, when Stanford MBA graduate Forrest Li began working on his new gaming company with nearly a dozen employees - all cramped in a tiny shophouse in Singapore s central business district.
Garena, his fledgling gaming company, kept a low-key profile, though its almost immediate success meant investment rounds and expansion plans came thick and fast.
Soon Garena outgrew its small outfit on Maxwell Road, then a move to a two-storey penthouse office beckoned.