10 startups from emerging markets you should know about | CNN Business

1. Snaptee —

There's nothing more popular in Hong Kong than a T-shirt with a slogan on it. With Snaptee, you can make your own. "This is a very accessible app with global appeal," says angel investor Simon Squibb, adding that "the tech is applicable to a wide range of products."

snaptee

2. Baobeihuijia —

In China, more than 20,000 children go missing each year, sold into slave labor, prostitution, or a life on the streets as beggars. Baobeihuijia -- or Baby Back Home -- uses face recognition technology to turn anyone with a smartphone into a search volunteer. So far, the site has had more than 680 successful reunions and more than 13,000 families have listed missing people. "This site is an extension of a blog set up by Professor Yu Jianrong of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences several years ago which was quite successful in reuniting missing children with their families," says Biggs.

baobeihuijia

3. Gogovan —

Hong Kong's Gogovan aims to be the "Uber for logistics" and already has 50,000 plus transactions a day. "Gogovan has very ambitious goals," says Napoleon Biggs, digital media specialist. "They've seen what Uber has done and want to do the same with transport. This plays well across a lot of countries in Asia."

gogovan

4. Foodiequest —

It was only a matter of time before someone worked out a way to capitalize on Asia's love of photographing dinner. Second only to selfies in the universe of photo-sharing, Foodiequest aims to "gamify" food pics. "This aims to be the Instagram of food where so many others have failed," says Squibb.

foodiequest

5. Viki —

Razmig Hovaghimian (pictured) is CEO and co-founder of global TV site Viki, a Singapore-based on-demand video-sharing platform that translates everything from Korean dramas, Japanese films and Bollywood hits to make them accessible to wider audiences. Some 17% of Viki's global TV audience is now in Europe. "It's a very appealing offering," says Biggs. "The UK in particular is such a hotpot of cultures. There's no reason why it wouldn't do well there."

viki

6. Mimi —

This slogan for Mimi reads: "What are your friends like when they're anonymous?" Social networking sites that allow users to cloak their identities are gaining traction in China where internet monitors regularly censor content. Time will tell, however, whether the authorities will allow sites like Mimi to go mainstream. "When it's anonymous, users are more willing to share information. Users may have nicknames, but behind those nicknames are real social connections, friends and colleagues," says analyst Xiafeng Weng of Forrester.

mimi

7. Foureyes —

This Philippines startup deals in spectacles and recently raised funding through a number of angel investors. "It offers lower prices on glasses and lets you experience a virtual try-on of the glasses allowing you to try on a pair at home," says Ping Wong of the Hong Kong Internet Society.

four eyes

8. Triip —

Customizing travel itineraries used to be the work of travel agents, but Triip puts it in the hands of spirited amateurs who can design and sell trips they've put together themselves. "It brings the Airbnb concept to local tours and tour guides in Vietnam, allowing anybody with a tour idea to create their own package and sell to interested tourists," says Wong.

triip

9. Jamn —

Jamn makes the building blocks of song writing easy. Using a system based on the Circle of Fifths, the cornerstone of music theory, it helps musicians to construct chords and understand scale patterns, or new learners to play guitar. "At the moment, they have got 1.8 million downloads and it was selected as the best in the music category in 2013 by Apple App Store," says Wong. "It recently raised US$300,000 in seed money."

jamn

10. Simple Wearables —

Simple Wearables has created a wearable device to bring emergency assistance to the elderly -- it can detect and get help for someone if they've had a fall. "This HK-based startup combines social good with cutting edge wearable technology," says Squibb.

simple wearables

10 emerging market startups to watch

Virtual Think Tank is a digital series focusing on the emerging markets, covering their startups, the power of the middle classes on their economies and the macro environment.

Story highlights

Startups in emerging markets are designed by and aimed at a young population

Investors are making significant outlays in startups in emerging economies

Rocket Internet has a large presence in frontier markets such as Myanmar

Emerging economies are more likely to develop ideas that overcome specific problems

CNN —

If just one thing could define emerging economies it’s a young population – and no other place reflects this more directly than in the world of tech startups.

“If you look at Vietnam or Cambodia or Myanmar, they don’t suffer from the up-ended triangle that we all suffer from in the West of too many old people and too few young people,” said Napoleon Biggs, a Hong Kong-based digital media specialist.

Venture capitalists and startup funds are now circling South East Asia looking for ideas to invest in.

He said groups like Rocket Internet from Germany were very good at identifying “clones,” or emerging market copies of internet ideas that have originated elsewhere.

“They raise significant amounts of money and they’re not embarrassed about cloning because they say it’s all about execution, which it is.”

Frontier markets are where these investors are seeing the greatest returns.

“They’ve gone into places like Myanmar with a vengeance,” Biggs said. “They are bringing western business savvy and they find a local partner to make it happen.”

One recurring feature of emerging market startups is that they are often aimed at solving specific problems in a country.

“In the West, the internet is often slagged off as a place where people waste their time,” said Biggs. “In emerging economies, it’s more likely to be specifically engineered to overcome an existing problem.”

Click through the gallery above to see some of Asia’s most innovative companies chosen by Napoleon Biggs, angel investor Simon Squibb, analyst Xiafeng Wang of Forrester and Ping Wong of the Hong Kong Internet Society.

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