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For Southeast Asian founders and investors, 2025 presents a powerful paradox. We\u2019re living in a time of extreme volatility\u2014geopolitically, climatically, and technologically. Yet, in that volatility lies opportunity.<\/p>\n
For decades, supply chains were a backend function\u2014something startups outsourced, optimised, or ignored. But this assumption no longer holds. In today\u2019s world, supply chains aren\u2019t just operational\u2014they\u2019re strategic, visible, and investible. They define your startup\u2019s resilience, sustainability, and ultimately, its valuation.<\/p>\n
At the Fosus Asia Pacific Supply Chain Sustainability Summit 2025, I presented why global trade is shifting under the weight of multipolarity, climate change, and AI-driven digitalisation. For Southeast Asian founders, these aren’t distant megatrends. They\u2019re the tectonic forces shaping how you build, scale, and exit in this decade.<\/p>\n
Through this article, I hope to shine light on the opportunities startups and founders like yourself can capture in this geopolitically volatile world.<\/p>\n
In a multipolar world, neutrality is a myth. The post-Cold War era of globalism, led by US-dominated institutions like the WTO, is fracturing. Regional blocs are replacing multilateral consensus.<\/p>\n
For SEA startups exporting hardware, electronics, or even food products\u2014this fragmentation means regulatory balkanisation. You\u2019ll face divergent data privacy rules, compliance requirements, and tariff barriers based on which markets or investors you align with.<\/p>\n
To give an example, if your supply chain touches Taiwan, Singapore, India, and Europe\u2014you\u2019re no longer just managing logistics. You\u2019re navigating a complex geopolitical chessboard. And you need to be good at it.<\/p>\n
Also Read:\u00a0Rethinking supply chains and trade in Southeast Asia amid global tariffs<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Startups relying on AI chips, electric vehicle parts, or rare earths need to know this: access to critical resources is now political.<\/p>\n These aren\u2019t abstract events. They will shape your cost of goods sold, your product timelines, and whether your next big AI product even gets the compute power it needs.<\/p>\n So ask yourself: is your startup\u2019s tech stack or component source geopolitically vulnerable?<\/p>\n The IPCC\u2019s 2023 report made clear: global infrastructure\u2014especially its ports and coastlines\u2014is highly vulnerable to extreme weather.<\/p>\n Take the Panama Canal drought in 2023. El Ni\u00f1o triggered severe water shortages, reducing ship capacity from 50 feet to 44 feet. Vessels had to offload cargo. Shipping delays stretched for weeks. Costs ballooned\u2014groceries, parts, everything.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re a founder building a physical product in the SEA region, and you don\u2019t have climate disruption contingencies\u2014you\u2019re already behind.<\/p>\n But here\u2019s the upside: climate change is also opening up new frontiers.<\/p>\n Climate regulation is no longer a regulatory burden. It\u2019s a market signal and a capital attractor.<\/p>\n If your startup contributes to carbon tracking, waste-to-value loops, or port-side optimisation, you’re building not just a business\u2014you\u2019re de-risking national infrastructure. Investors are watching.<\/p>\n Also Read:\u00a0Enhancing cyber supply chain resilience: A vision for Singapore<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n If you think AI is just for apps, think again. It\u2019s transforming the physical layer of how trade works.<\/p>\n Midea in China, for instance, slashed product design lead times by 45 per cent using an in-house PLM platform. That\u2019s not a SaaS unicorn\u2014that\u2019s what smart manufacturing looks like in 2025.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Xiaomi\u2019s Su7 EV factory has gone fully \u201cdark\u201d\u2014718,000 sqm of space, 700 robots, only 30 humans. Car produced every 76 seconds.<\/p>\n The opportunity? Founders building for factory intelligence, robotics coordination, predictive quality control, or blockchain-tracked ESG compliance are sitting on untapped verticals.<\/p>\n Enter the next frontier: Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs).<\/p>\n Imagine a smart contract-based procurement system that doesn\u2019t rely on a central platform\u2014but executes payments, delivery terms, and ESG verification automatically. With blockchain as a backbone, carbon data becomes immutable. Trade financing becomes instantaneous. Supplier compliance is no longer manually audited\u2014it\u2019s verified on-chain.<\/p>\n Sounds fringe? Ethereum did it. Supply chains will do it next.<\/p>\n And if you\u2019re building infrastructure for DAOs, smart contract standards, or cross-border digital trust layers\u2014you\u2019re not early. You\u2019re right on time.<\/p>\n At the Fosus Summit, I said that supply chains are no longer invisible\u2014they\u2019re now geopolitical chess pieces, climate resilience testbeds, and digital battlegrounds.<\/p>\n Founders who master this space\u2014who understand that the new battlegrounds of commerce are not only price and product but route, regulation, and resilience\u2014will lead the next generation of SEA unicorns.<\/p>\n And investors: if your thesis doesn\u2019t include supply chain resilience, digital trade infrastructure, or decarbonisation platforms, you may be underestimating where the next breakout opportunity will come from.<\/p>\n Supply chains and geopolitics are no longer in the back office anymore. We\u2019re at the frontlines.<\/p>\n Follow ‘Geopolitical Action 4 Leaders<\/a>‘ for actionable insights in a Geopolitically VUCA world.<\/em><\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note: e27<\/b>\u00a0aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by\u00a0submitting<\/a> an article, video, podcast, or infographic.<\/p>\n Join us on\u00a0Instagram<\/a>,\u00a0Facebook<\/a>,\u00a0X<\/a>, and\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a> to stay connected.<\/p>\n We\u2019re building the most useful WA community for founders and enablers. Join\u00a0here<\/a> and be part of it.<\/p>\n Image credit: Canva Pro<\/p>\n The post Startups, meet geopolitics: Why your next risk isn’t a competitor – it’s the supply chain<\/a> appeared first on e27<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For Southeast Asian founders and investors, 2025 presents a powerful paradox. We\u2019re living in a time of extreme volatility\u2014geopolitically, climatically, and technologically. Yet, in that volatility lies opportunity. For decades, supply chains were a backend function\u2014something startups outsourced, optimised, or ignored. But this assumption no longer holds. In today\u2019s world, supply chains aren\u2019t just operational\u2014they\u2019re […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[14],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fresnoforeclosure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fresnoforeclosure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fresnoforeclosure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fresnoforeclosure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fresnoforeclosure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1767"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.fresnoforeclosure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1770,"href":"http:\/\/www.fresnoforeclosure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1767\/revisions\/1770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fresnoforeclosure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.fresnoforeclosure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1767"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fresnoforeclosure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1767"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.fresnoforeclosure.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1767"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Trade is a weapon, and you\u2019re probably in the crossfire<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Climate change will break your supply chain (or rebuild it smarter)<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Sustainability isn\u2019t just policy\u2014it\u2019s a funding advantage<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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AI and digitalisation: The supply chain itself is becoming smart<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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DAOs, tokenised trade, and the borderless supply chain<\/strong><\/h2>\n
To conclude: In 2025, supply chains are a founder\u2019s edge<\/strong><\/h2>\n