Rocket Internet is increasing its focus on Asia after it opened its first engineering hub in the region.
The center is located in Bangkok, and it will house a tech team that carries out work for Rocket Internet’s portfolio of startups.
The firm currently has 20 people at the base in Thailand, and it said it plans to more than double that headcount before the end of this year.
The focus is very much on mobile, given that it dominates Asia as the primary method of internet connectivity.
The Bangkok hub is head by former Lazada executive Sohil Gilani, who is chief product officer for Asia Pacific Internet Group (APACIG) — the joint venture that Rocket Internet operates in partnership with telco Ooredoo.
“Bangkok is poised to become the tech capital of Southeast Asia. We look forward to tapping into this talent of world class developers, product managers and designers,” Gilani said in a statement.
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Thai ecommerce sector expected to expand by 20% this year
The bullish forecast came as it was revealed the Southeast Asia ecommerce market in 2015 was worth $900 million (Bt31.7 billion) and is forecast to grow up to 16 times that figure , to about $11 billion by 2025.
The Electronic Transactions Development Agency has forecast that the total ecommerce market in Thailand this year will be worth Bt2.52 trillion.
