Emerging market companies leapfrogging western rivals

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Recorded16 Dec 2025

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From Pony.ai launching a robo-taxi service during a Shanghai storm to E Ink revolutionising the way supermarkets label their shelves – emerging market companies are in many cases leapfrogging western counterparts. In this episode, investment manager Alice Stretch reveals to host Leo Kelion some of the most disruptive companies innovating at speed in Asia and Latin America. Background:Alice Stretch is an investment manager in Baillie Gifford’s Emerging Markets Equity Team. In this conversation, recorded as part of our annual Disruption Week briefings, she explores some of the growth companies in her portfolios turning constraints to their advantage and reducing friction in their customers’ lives. Companies discussed include: PolicyBazaar – the Indian insurance platform making it easier for people to protect themselves against life’s financial shocks.Nubank – the Brazilian digital lender extending access to banking and credit.Meituan – the food delivery and local services app extending its reach beyond China.MercadoLibre – the Latin American ecommerce and fintech giant expanding into advertising.Mobile World – the Vietnamese conglomerate that has expanded from mobile phones to competitively priced groceries.Sea Ltd – the Singaporean gaming, shopping and fintech group eyeing the possibilities of agentic AI.TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) – the world’s leading chip manufacturer.E Ink – the Taiwanese e-paper pioneer building on its ebook success to provide supermarkets with updateable price tags and marketers with low-power digital billboards.Pony.ai – the first driverless car company to offer a robo-taxi service in four of China’s most populous cities. Resources:Disruption Week Emerging markets: how we do what we doEmerging markets: from imitators to innovatorsEmerging markets: the next engines of growth (podcast)Emerging markets in 2050: growth in a changing worldImecShort Briefings on Long Term Thinking hub Companies mentioned include:AmazonByteDanceChromaE InkMercadoLibreMobile WorldMeituanNubankNVIDIAPolicyBazaarPony.aiSea LtdStellantisTSMC Timecodes:00:00 Introduction – Pony.ai takes to Shanghai’s roads02:00 The imitators become the innovators05:10 How PolicyBazaar benefits from not being locked into a legacy system 07:10 Nubank: reducing friction while expanding access to banking and credit09:25 MercadoLibre’s multi-act expansion leads it to advertising technology10:25 Mobile World’s move from selling handsets to groceries11:50 Ways Sea Ltd developed capabilities while operating under constraints13:45 Sea CEO Forrest Li’s ability to adapt and pivot15:25 Taking the long-term view and a generalist approach17:30 Studying the semiconductor industry with the help of Imec and TSMC19:45 Investing in Chroma and E Ink in Taiwan21:10 Walmart and other supermarkets adopt E Ink’s updateable price labels22:45 The case for investing in Pony.ai as a long-term growth investor24:10 Pony.ai’s cost advantage and international partnerships25:55 Taking macroeconomic and geopolitical risk into account27:15 Putting deep knowledge and research to our clients’ advantage

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