SE Asia Deals Barometer Report: Startup funding plunges 94% in Feb

Startup funding in Southeast Asia fell sharply in February 2026, reversing previous month’s surge driven by a single multibillion-dollar data centre investment, even as the number of deals ticked up modestly.

Startups in the region raised about $128.7 million across 27 equity deals in February, up slightly from 25 deals in January but down 94.1% from the $2.18 billion raised in the previous month, according to data compiled by DealStreetAsia.

The steep decline reflects the absence of outsize transactions following the $2-billion Series C round by Singapore-based DayOne Data Centers that accounted for the vast majority of capital deployed in the prior month.

On a year-on-year basis, too, funding contracted, with February’s total dropping 47.8% from $246.8 million across 30 deals in February 2025. While the deal count rose slightly from January’s level, it remained 10% lower than a year earlier, highlighting a venture market that continues to operate at subdued levels despite occasional spikes in capital flows.

Excluding transactions where the amount was not disclosed, the average deal size in February stood at about $9.19 million. However, 13 deals, or nearly half of the month’s tally, did not disclose funding amounts, suggesting that the true average ticket size could be smaller.

There were no megadeals in February, defined as transactions worth $100 million or more, underscoring how January’s number was skewed due to a single deal.

The largest deal in February was the $60-million Series D round raised by Deep Intelligent Pharma, an AI pharmaceutical development unicorn. New investors in the financing included Trustar Capital, Jinyi Capital, and Kaitai Capital, while existing backers CDH Investments and Xinding Capital also increased their stakes.

The transaction helped lift the healthcare and healthtech sector to the top of the month’s funding table by value.

The second-largest deal was much smaller at $13.6 million, raised by Singapore- and US-based biotech startup Engine Biosciences. The round was backed by existing investors Polaris Partners, ClavystBio, SEEDS Capital, Coronet Ventures, and Vantage Bio, illustrating the narrower cheque sizes seen across the rest of the market.

Top 5 deals in February

Funding remains concentrated in Singapore

Fundraising remained heavily concentrated in Singapore, where startups secured $111.5 million across 19 deals, accounting for roughly 86.6% of Southeast Asia’s total funding value in February, DealStreetAsia’s compilation showed.

The largest deals in the city-state were sealed by Deep Intelligent Pharma and Engine Biosciences, underscoring Singapore’s continued dominance as the region’s primary hub for venture-backed startups.

Indonesia ranked a distant second with $12.5 million across two deals, accounting for about 9.7% of regional funding. The disclosed capital came from mobile cafe startup Jago Coffee, which was backed by new and existing investors.

Based on DealStreetAsia DATA VANTAGE calculations, Jago Coffee secured a post-money valuation of approximately $46.7 million in the round, a sharp increase from its earlier valuation of around $16 million. The other Indonesian funding deal in February did not disclose the amount raised.

Vietnam followed with one deal worth $4.2 million, or about 3.3% of the total regional funding. The country’s lone transaction in February was signed by Ekko, a Hanoi-based earned-wage access (EWA) startup which raised a $4.2-million seed round.

The financing was led by South Korea-based Impact Square, an initiative that supports and invests in impact startups across Southeast Asia; and Switzerland-based Foundation Botnar, a philanthropy-focused venture capital firm.

The Philippines logged one deal worth $500,000, while Malaysia and Thailand each recorded deals without disclosed amounts, underscoring the uneven distribution of capital across the region.

Health dominates funding landscape

By value, healthcare and healthtech dominated February’s funding landscape, attracting $73.6 million across three deals, or roughly 57.2% of the month’s total capital raised.

The sector was followed by food and beverages, which raised $12.5 million; and fintech, which remained the most active vertical by deal count with seven transactions totalling about $9.1 million.

Other sectors that saw funding included mobility technology ($8.47 million), hospitality ($7.92 million), marketing technology ($5.5 million), e-commerce ($5 million), and agritech ($4.3 million).

Smaller rounds were recorded across manufacturing, data analytics and AI, and business process automation, while sectors such as regtech, cybersecurity, and green tech saw deals without disclosed values.

Seed rounds top funding stage

By funding stage, seed rounds were the busiest, accounting for 10 deals totalling about $9.7 million, signalling continued early-stage activity even as investors remained cautious on larger cheques.

Later-stage funding was comparatively limited but still accounted for the biggest cheques of the month. Besides Deep Intelligent Pharma’s $60-million Series D round, the region saw a Series B deal worth $12.5 million.

Besides, there were three Series A rounds totalling $21.9 million, four venture rounds with undisclosed series raising $13.6 million, and smaller investments across pre-seed, pre-Series A, pre-Series B, private equity, and corporate rounds.

DealStreetAsia’s February dataset includes venture capital, private equity, and corporate equity rounds, and excludes debt transactions in line with its monthly scorecard methodology.