SE Asia Deals Barometer Report: After Sept spike, startup funding cools in Oct

Southeast Asia’s startup funding cooled in October as investors stayed selective following September’s rebound, when fundraising had surged on the back of the $188 million private equity investment in UltraGreen.ai.

There were no transactions last month in the $100 million+ megadeal range.

Proprietary data compiled by DealStreetAsia showed that startups in the region raised about $320 million from 36 equity deals in October, down 41.5% month-on-month from $547 million across the same number of transactions in September.

The deals include venture capital transactions and a corporate round; debt transactions were excluded.

On a year-on-year basis, however, the October figure was up 13.1% from the $283 million raised in October 2024, even as deal count fell 29.4% from 51 to 36.

There were 11 deals in the month with undisclosed deal sizes. The average disclosed deal size in October dropped to $12.8 million, from about $21 million the previous month, highlighting the dominance of smaller transactions in the market.

With no megadeal—a transaction valued at $100 million or more—recorded in October, deal value was more evenly distributed across mid-sized rounds. The top five deals cumulatively raised only $214.5 million.

October’s biggest deal was valued at only $70 million. This was signed by Singapore-based wealth management platform Endowus in a round anchored by Illuminate Financial. Endowus said the new capital will fund expansion across Asia, deepen its AI-driven advisory capabilities, and support new pension and retirement solutions in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The second-largest deal was signed by Berkeley Energy Commercial Industrial Solutions (BECIS), which secured $45 million in equity financing from existing shareholders KLP Norfund Investments, Pula Investments, and Siemens Financial Services.

Top Deals of October 2025 in SE Asia

The funding retreat in October comes as Southeast Asia witnessed the weakest quarter for equity funding in over six years in Q3. Only 112 deals were sealed in the three months ended September, according to the Southeast Asia Deal Review: Q3 2025 report by DealStreetAsia DATA VANTAGE.

Singapore continues lead

Startups in Singapore continued to dominate capital formation in October, attracting about $261.8 million, or about 82% of the month’s total, across 26 deals. Of the top five transactions in October by value, four were signed in Singapore, with Endowus and Berkeley Energy leading the pack.

The city-state’s average deal size, based on transactions with disclosed amounts, stood at $16.4 million, down from $21.8 million in September.

Indonesia followed with $46.8 million, accounting for 14.6% of the month’s total, from four deals, boosted by the $35 million funding in credit card issuer Honest. The equity round was led by Japanese credit card issuer Orico, which is a part of Mizuho Financial Group.

Vietnamese startups raised $8 million in total from two deals, while the Philippines secured $2.85 million from two transactions, DealStreetAsia’s compilation further showed.

Malaysia saw two funding deals in October that raised a combined $220,000.

Fintech tops among sectors

October data compiled by DealStreetAsia showed that fintech bagged the most funding in the month, with $169 million across 10 deals, accounting for nearly 53% of the total value, supported by continued interest in payments, embedded finance, and digital lending.

The sector’s funding was led by Endowus’ $70 million, followed by Indonesia’s Honest ($35 million), and Singapore digital platform Sign, which raised $25.5 million from YZi Labs.

Startups in the software & IT space raised $8 million, business/workflow tools $6.14 million, health tech $5.8 million, and robotics & drones $3.45 million.

Large cheques scarce

Early-stage rounds remained the busiest by count in October, while large cheques were scarce.

Seed rounds saw 17 deals that raised a total of about $64.7 million, led by Singapore’s Telcoin, which secured the largest seed funding during the month with $25 million. This was followed by Umami United, the company behind the plant-based ‘Umami Egg’, which secured about $20 million in funding.

There were also five pre-seed deals that captured $0.9 million, reflecting smaller average tickets at the very early stage. Two Series A transactions gathered a comparatively large $49.5 million, anchored by the $39 million that Singapore’s Pave Bank raised in a round led by US venture capital firm Accel.

The month’s value was concentrated in unclassified venture rounds (11 deals) that together accounted for about $204.4 million, or 64% of the total funds raised.

Debt rounds

There were five debt deals in October that were not included in the monthly deal scorecard.

Among the notable debt deals during the month, Philippine non-bank lender Asialink Group of Companies has secured a $75-million syndicated term loan arranged by Standard Chartered Bank to further expand its loan portfolio this year.

British International Investment (BII) also agreed to provide a $75-million financing facility to Blueleaf Energy, a pan-Asian renewable energy platform and independent power producer (IPP) owned by a fund managed by Macquarie Asset Management.