Startup fundraising in Southeast Asia rebounded sharply in May as the return of megadeals more than doubled the capital raised, compared with the previous month, although investment activity remained below year-ago levels.
According to proprietary data compiled by DealStreetAsia, privately held companies in the region raised $472.1 million across 31 equity deals in May. The amount was 104.3% higher than the $231.1 million raised across 33 deals in April, but 18% lower than the $576.1 million raised across 45 deals in May 2025.
In May, the region produced two megadeals, defined as transactions worth at least $100 million, reversing April’s performance when Southeast Asia failed to record a single such deal.
We also released the Southeast Asia Deep Tech Review: 2025 report, which revealed that the region’s deep tech startups are wresting a higher share of the region’s overall funding at a time when venture investors are writing fewer cheques and scrutinising every dollar deployed. The segment accounted for 23.6% of total venture-backed deal volume in 2025, up from 18.5% in 2024. While the number of deep tech deals slipped from 117 in 2024 to 109 last year, funding value rose 19% to nearly $1 billion. The message is clear: capital hasn’t disappeared; it has only become more selective.
Moving on to the other headlines featured this week.
LP-GP updates
Japan, widely recognised as a private equity hot spot in Asia, is also attracting attention for its venture capital industry, although structural gaps remain. And the government-backed Japan Investment Corporation (JIC) is stepping in as a catalyst to direct global capital flow into the market. We speak to Toshiyuki Kumura, Chief Investment Officer of JIC, for The LP View column.
India saw two early-stage venture investors planning continuation vehicles. While Blume Ventures is planning to launch a new continuation fund with a target corpus of around Rs 375 crore ($40 million), YourNest Venture Capital is looking to raise a continuation fund, targeting a corpus of Rs 300-350 crore, as it looks to transfer a handful of assets from its existing funds into the new vehicle.
In fund updates from SE Asia, Singapore-based climate venture builder 100×100 (formerly Wavemaker Impact) has announced the launch of its second fund targeting $100 million to build new climate companies across Southeast Asia and India.
And, Australian Development Investments is committing up to $8 million to TVM Capital Healthcare’s Southeast Asia Fund.
This week’s Beyond the Buyout edition examines how being blocked from the SpaceX IPO may explain a new era of downsized dollar funds in China and the race among global asset managers to tap private wealth opportunities in Asia.
This month’s issue of the GreenStreet, our climate-focused newsletter, looks at whether nuclear energy could be the much-needed panacea with the region’s energy infrastructure under strain.
IPO and markets
PT Niramas Utama, the Indonesian F&B manufacturer behind the Inaco brand, plans to raise up to $22 million through an IPO on the Indonesia Stock Exchange. The share sale could value the company at around $84.3 million.
Prodia-backed medical diagnostics manufacturer PT Prodia Diagnostic Line Tbk plans to raise up to 62.7 billion rupiah ($3.5 million) through an IPO on the Indonesia Stock Exchange.
Mynt, the fintech company behind Philippine mobile wallet GCash, has secured shareholder and board approval to pursue an initial public offering, taking the first formal step toward what could become one of the country’s largest stock market listings.
Deal scoops
CVC Capital Partners is selling its holdings in The Fast Group, a logistics company in the Philippines, back to the Chiongbian Family, adding to another buyback deal in Southeast Asia private equity.
Germany’s retail major is in advanced discussions to acquire a strategic stake in the Philippine hard-discount retailer DALI, in a deal likely to exceed $100 million and rank among the largest strategic investments in Southeast Asia’s retail sector this year.
CVC Capital Partners is making progress in its attempt to sell Vietnamese maternal and infant care hospital group Phuong Chau after appointing an advisor earlier this year. If the deal fructifies, Phuong Chau could be the second exit in Vietnam by CVC.
London-based private equity firm Apis Partners quietly exited its stake in Indonesian digital payments firm DOKU a few months back. Apis first invested $32 million in DOKU in 2021 for a minority stake. The rest of the company is owned by local tech and media giant Emtek Group and DOKU’s founders.
Masan High-Tech Materials, a global supplier of tungsten and other minerals, said it is in discussions with potential strategic and financial investors as its parent company, the Vietnamese conglomerate Masan Group, considers divesting up to a 5% stake, amid global efforts to secure critical mineral supply chains beyond China.
Indonesian mid-market private equity firm Adivira Capital has acquired Singapore-based medical aesthetics group DRx. Adivira is seeking to pair the Singaporean asset with its recently acquired stake in Indonesia’s Euromedica Group.
Deal updates
Pints AI has raised $5.6 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Tin Men Capital, which invested from its second fund. SBI Ven Capital was the co-lead in the round.
Sarvam, an Indian sovereign AI startup, has raised $234 million in the first close of its $300-million Series B round at a post-money valuation of $1.5 billion. HCLTech will invest $150 million as the lead strategic investor in this round.
The $1-billion China-ASEAN Investment Cooperation Fund II has invested in Singapore-based data centre operator Racks Central to support its Southeast Asian expansion.
SolarSquare, a residential rooftop solar startup in India, is raising $53 million in a Series C funding round anchored by US- and Singapore-based venture capital firm B Capital.
IFC has proposed an investment of up to $86 million in Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank.
Philippine digital bank Tonik has secured an investment from K2 Investments, the investment platform of former CVC Capital Partners executive Krzysztof Krawczyk.
Singapore-based frontier technology company Acrab has emerged from stealth with over $350 million in cumulative financing to build hardware and software infrastructure for agentic AI. Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, and Vertex Growth were among Acrab’s earliest backers.
Gurugram-based pet healthcare network Vetic has secured $40 million in a funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, which has been an investor in the company’s multiple earlier rounds as well.
India’s AI verification and accountability platform Pramaana Labs has raised $27 million in a seed funding round led by Khosla Ventures. The funding also saw participation from Accel, Boldcap, Nexus Venture Partners, Premji Invest, and Unbound.
Motilal Oswal Alternates has committed nearly $80 million to JBM Ecolife Mobility Pvt Ltd through its private credit fund, alongside other group entities.
London-based private equity firm Apis Partners, through its newly closed $1.23-billion fund, has invested $50 million in Asia-focused payroll payment processing and embedded workforce finance platform BIPO.
Analysis and interviews
In a recalibrated venture capital world where the historical “beta-driven” growth model is no longer a viable standalone thesis, Richard Yang, managing partner of Sinovation Ventures, believes China remains “an indispensable destination” for global investors seeking returns by investing in productivity-enhancing technologies. While public market enthusiasm over AI has practically driven up private market valuations across AI, LLMs, and embodied robotics, Yang expects a reality check, noting that public markets “will correct for sure.”
Two Indonesian fintech peer-to-peer lenders, Akseleran and AwanTunai, are facing mounting questions over their business continuity as both companies grapple with operational and financial pressures. For Akseleran, which connects retail and institutional lenders with SME borrowers, concerns among retail lenders have intensified amid slow progress in recovering funds tied to several large defaulted borrowers. Separately, AwanTunai is understood to be winding down a significant portion of its unsecured SME lending business, prompting questions about the future of the company.
The Indonesian rupiah had sunk to record lows, while global ratings agencies have sounded caution about the country’s fiscal position and policies amid broader macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures. Yet, amid investor jitters over the higher risks in Indonesia, it is also the time when development financing is most needed, Nishant Kumar, Head of Coverage, Asia at Private Infrastructure Development Group, pointed out in an interview. PIDG is guaranteeing up to $42 million of bonds to be issued by PT Ketrosden Triasmitra (Triasmitra), a publicly listed telecom infrastructure company in Indonesia.
Asia PE-VC Summit 2026 update
Asia’s private capital markets are entering a new cycle. Capital is becoming more selective. DPI, exits and fund discipline matter more than ever. LPs are reworking their Asia allocation thesis. Private credit, secondaries, private wealth, family offices and GCC capital are becoming more important to the region’s private markets conversation. That is the focus of DealStreetAsia’s 11th Asia PE-VC Summit, taking place in Singapore on September 23-24, 2026. Take a look at what the summit will cover across the two days.
