SE Asia Deals Barometer Report: Forget megadeals—overall startup funding fell below $100m in March

Let alone the absence of $100-million-plus deals (aka megadeals), overall startup fundraising itself failed to cross the three-digit-dollar mark in Southeast Asia in March.

Deal value last month plunged by nearly 61% month-on-month to a low of $97.5 million, according to DealStreetAsia’s proprietary data.

There were 43 equity transactions during the month, compared to 32 equity deals in February that raised $247 million. The brief surge in February was led by a single megadeal in Vietnam—Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC’s $135 million capital infusion into paediatric and maternity clinic chain operator Nhi Dong 315.

On a year-on-year basis, too, deal value fell by nearly 38%, from $160 million in March 2024.

The largest equity deal in March was signed by Singapore-based e-commerce software platform AMP. The startup secured $12.54 million in funding from Australian venture capital firm OneVentures.

Loca Loka, another Singapore-based startup, raised $12.5 million from undisclosed investors.

SE Asia’s top equity funding deals of March 2025

Out of the 43 equity deals publicly announced in March, 20 did not disclose their funding size. The deals included venture capital, private equity, and a corporate round. Debt deals were not included in the monthly deal scorecard.

The region’s average deal size, based on transactions with disclosed funding amount, dropped significantly to $4.2 million. In February, the average deal size nearly doubled month-on-month to $12.4 million.

Singapore’s funding value rises slightly

Singapore maintained its lead in the region’s startup funding scene, accounting for $64.2 million across 20 deals. The city-state’s funding value rose slightly from February’s $56.9 million, and it continued to dominate in deal volume.

Three of the top five deals in March were signed by Singapore startups. Aside from AMP and Loca Loka, another deal in the city-state that made it to the top five was fintech firm RockFlow’s $10 million Series A1 funding round. Six transactions did not disclose the funding amount.

Vietnam trailed Singapore with $15.9 million raised from five deals—down sharply from the $152.9 million raised in February, which was bolstered by a $135-million follow-on investment into Nhi Dong 315 by Singapore’s GIC.

In March, the largest deal in Vietnam was secured by Ephyra, formerly GameBeast. The startup announced raising $10.5 million in its Series A funding round, which was anchored by Becker Ventures, with participation from family offices in the UAE and Hong Kong.

The Philippines saw seven deals but only two transactions disclosed funding figures – raising around $4 million in total, while Indonesia recorded a single deal valued at $4.3 million.

Thailand and Cambodia each posted one deal, with only Thailand disclosing a value of $2.4 million.

Investors prefer fintech in March

Fintech was the most active sector in March, recording 12 transactions that raised $37.2 million, based on deals with disclosed values. The largest fintech deal was signed by Singapore’s RockFlow followed by Malaysian fintech startup Versa, which bagged $6.8 million in its Series A round.

Healthtech and healthcare, which led sectoral funding in February, slipped to second place in March with five deals, headlined by a $2.5-million Series A round for Vietnam-based clinic chain FDcare.

The month also saw four deals each in green tech and e-commerce, and three deals in agritech, suggesting a continued interest in sustainability and digital commerce.

Early-stage deals still lead

Seed funding continued to dominate in March with 12 transactions, echoing February’s trend of sustained early-stage interest.

The biggest seed funding last month was the $3.8 million raised by PvX, the Singapore-based financing platform designed for scaling consumer apps. The round was co-anchored by venture capital firms Play Ventures and General Catalyst.

March also saw six Series A rounds, three private equity transactions, two pre-Series A rounds, and one each in the pre-seed, corporate, and angel investment stages. Seventeen deals did not disclose their funding stage.

Debt round

DealStreetAsia’s compilation in March included a debt financing of $2 million in Okapi Technologies, a Malaysia-based climate fintech startup in the solar financing space. The debt facility was arranged by German investment firm Aquila.

With the debt financing, Okapi plans to double down on its growth initiatives in Malaysia to capture these tailwinds while establishing beachheads in new markets in the region.

[Note: Debt deals are not included in the monthly deal scorecard].