SE Asia Deals Barometer Report: Startup funding plunges 80% to $136m in Jan

Following a buoyant December that sparked optimism in Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem, January 2025 has cast a shadow over the revival in the region’s fundraising landscape.

Startups in the region secured only $136 million from 35 equity deals, marking a steep 80.3% drop from the $692 million raised in December 2024, according to proprietary data from DealStreetAsia.

The sharp decline was fueled by the complete absence of megadeals—transactions worth $100 million or more—that had helped raise figures in the previous month. In December 2024, four such deals boosted the region’s total fundraising.

On a year-on-year basis, too, the decline was double-digit, with funding falling 37.7% compared to the $218.4 million raised from 80 deals in January 2024.

There were 14 deals in the month with undisclosed funding sizes.

The average deal size, based on transactions with disclosed amounts, last month also dropped significantly to $6.5 million from $34.6 million in December. This shift reflects a growing investor preference for early-stage investments amid macroeconomic challenges.

The largest deal in the region last month amounted to just $50 million, raised by VOOX Exchange, a Singapore-based AI-powered cryptocurrency platform backed by Pinnacle Capital, a global private investment firm focused on emerging technologies.

This was followed by Endowus, a licensed wealth advisor based in the city-state, which raised an additional $17.5 million in its latest funding round.

Southeast Asia’s top funding deals in January 2025

The analysis excluded digital asset bank Sygnum, which claims to be Singapore-based but has its fundraising entity in Zurich. The company recently closed a funding round, raising $58 million and achieving a post-money valuation of over $1 billion.

Throughout 2024, startups in the region raised approximately $4.6 billion across 633 transactions, DealStreetAsia’s compilation showed. The deal volume slipped 10.3% year-on-year, while deal value plunged 41.7%.

Singapore stays on top

Singapore startups continued to attract the lion’s share of investments in January, even as the region experienced a funding slump. Startups in the city-state raised approximately $121 million across 23 transactions, or 89% of the total funding in January.

This reflects Singapore’s persistent role as the financial and innovation hub of Southeast Asia, even in a slowing market. The top five deals in January happened in Singapore, led by VOOX, which raised $50 million.

Indonesia trailed behind with $14 million raised from nine deals. Skor Technologies, the parent company of Skorlife and Skorcard, led the funding scene in the archipelago, with $6.2 million in seed funding from Argor Capital.

Malaysia recorded a single transaction worth $1 million. Vietnam saw two deals, though the amounts were undisclosed.

The Philippines and Thailand reported no publicly announced startup deals for the month, highlighting a stark slowdown in activity in these markets.

Fintech attracts majority of Jan’s investments

DealStreetAsia’s compilation showed that the fintech sector continued to evince significant investor interest in January, drawing in $92.8 million from 13 deals, accounting for 68.27% of total funding in January.

The largest fintech deal of the month came from Singapore-based fintech VOOX, which raised $50 million from Pinnacle Capital, a private investment firm known for its focus on emerging technologies.

This was followed by Endowus, a licensed wealth advisor in Singapore, which secured $17.5 million in a Series C round led by Prosus Ventures, UBS, and MUFG, with participation from OKS Ventures News and Asia Companion Fund.

Fintech was followed by healthtech, which registered four deals, agritech / agriculture with three transactions, and software & IT, e-commerce, and consumer with two deals each.

Seed stage tops January activity

According to DealStreetAsia’s data, seed rounds accounted for 13 deals, making it the most active funding stage. The biggest seed deal was Skorlife’s $6.2 million raise, followed by Bythen’s $5 million.

The rest of the funding activity was spread across two Series A rounds, 1 Series C round, two corporate rounds, two angel investments, and one pre-Seed round. Twelve deals did not disclose their funding stages.

Some notable debt rounds

There were also some notable debt deals in the region in January, which were not included in the above analysis. Singapore-based biotech startup Mirxes, for instance, received $40 million in structured financing from CBC Group’s R-Bridge Healthcare Fund.

Proceeds from the financing will further accelerate its commercialization efforts in new markets and enable further innovation in its RNA diagnostic technologies.

In another debt financing deal, Indonesian poultry startup Chickin raised $15.26 million loan facility from PT Bank DBS Indonesia, which will serve as working capital to support the company’s business operations.

Skyro, a fintech startup in the Philippines, also received 200 million pesos ($3.4 million) credit facility from the Philippine Bank of Communications to support the company’s operations across the country.