SE Asia Deals Barometer Report: Funding surges in March as megadeals return

Startup funding in Southeast Asia rebounded sharply in March, with total capital raised reaching $582.2 million across 44 equity deals, according to data compiled by DealStreetAsia, marking a strong recovery after a subdued start to the year.

In value terms, this represents a 352.3% month-on-month surge from February’s $128.7 million, signalling renewed investor appetite across the region.

Deal activity also picked up, with the number of transactions rising 63% to 44 deals from 27 in the previous month, pointing to a broader revival in startup fundraising momentum.

The upswing came even as the US-Israel conflict involving Iran, which began on February 28, injected fresh uncertainty into global markets, underscoring the resilience of Southeast Asia’s dealmaking environment despite heightened geopolitical tensions.

On a year-on-year basis, funding surged 504%, with March’s total rising from about $96.4 million across 43 deals in March 2025.

Average deal size during the month, based on transactions with disclosed funding amounts, stood at about $18.2 million. However, 12 deals, accounting for more than a quarter of the total, did not disclose funding amounts, suggesting the true average ticket size may be lower.

The recovery was driven in part by the return of large-ticket transactions after February’s muted activity, which was weighed down by the absence of sizeable deals.

Two megadeals anchored March funding

There were two megadeals in March, defined as transactions worth $100 million or more.

Thailand-founded AI startup Amity raised $100 million in a Series D funding round anchored by Singapore’s EDBI as it ramps up expansion ahead of a planned IPO.

The round also drew participation from Asia Partners, SMDV, and other investors, including CMLIM Capital.

Meanwhile, Singapore-headquartered modular and prefabricated data centre infrastructure provider EPG also raised more than $100 million in a Series B+ funding round led by Decarbonization Partners, a joint venture between BlackRock and Temasek, along with Alibaba Cloud and other strategic investors.

Top 5 deals in March

Singapore remains a key funding hub

Fundraising remained heavily concentrated in Singapore, where startups secured $433.1 million across 29 deals, accounting for about 74.4% of the region’s total funding value, DealStreetAsia’s data showed.

This underscores the city-state’s continued dominance as Southeast Asia’s primary hub for venture-backed startups.

The largest deals in Singapore included EPG’s $100 million-plus Series B+ round, followed by KAST’s $80 million fundraising, making it the second-largest transaction in the city-state during the month.

KAST, a startup founded by the former Singapore chief of Circle Internet Group, is looking to expand its stablecoin-based payments business globally as adoption of the technology grows.

Thailand ranked a distant second with $100 million, representing roughly 17.2% of total funding. Notably, the country had only one announced deal during the month, but that single transaction, Amity’s Series D round, was enough to make it the region’s second-largest market by funding value.

Malaysia followed with $45.1 million across 13 deals, or about 7.7% of the regional total.

The country’s largest announced deal was CARSOME Group’s strategic investment round of more than $30 million from a group of new and existing investors, including Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited, Gobi Partners, and Asia Partners.

That was followed by Aonic, a Malaysia-founded drone technology company operating across Southeast Asia, which secured $10 million in new funding in a Series A round led by Kairous Capital, a regional private equity and venture capital firm backed by Jelawang Capital.

Vietnam recorded one deal worth $4 million. The country’s lone announced transaction was sealed by electric two-wheeler maker Dat Bike, which raised another $4 million from local investment bank Thien Viet Securities.

The distribution highlights the continued concentration of capital in a handful of markets, with Singapore accounting for the bulk of large-ticket transactions.

Karen Patricia Rogacion, Partner, M&A, Corporate Finance at PwC Philippines, earlier told DealStreetAsia that “any transaction with exposure to the Middle East or critical supply routes is now subject to a significantly higher bar in terms of diligence, valuation and structure.” Investors are recalibrating risk, she said, “not retreating, but pricing and structuring for uncertainty.”

Still, Rogacion added that, at this stage, the conflicts in the Gulf are acting “more as a risk filter than a stop sign for deals.”

Data and AI dominate the funding landscape

By sector, data analytics and AI led the funding landscape, attracting $165 million, or about 28.3% of total capital raised, highlighting sustained investor interest despite broader concerns over valuations and hype in the AI space.

The largest deal in the segment was secured by Amity Corporation.

This was followed by Video Rebirth, an AMD-backed Singapore AI video startup that secured an additional $30 million in an extension round.

Software and IT followed with $140 million, while fintech secured $128.5 million.

Other sectors saw more modest activity.

Green tech accounted for $46.4 million, healthtech brought in $40.6 million, and e-commerce raised $34.3 million (5.9%).

The remaining sectors, including mobility technology, robotics, and agritech, each contributed relatively small shares, reflecting a funding environment still concentrated in a handful of verticals.

In terms of funding stage, late-stage rounds drove the bulk of capital deployment. Series B deals led with $165.5 million, accounting for about 28.4% of total funding, followed by Series A at $108 million and a single Series D round worth $100 million.

Venture rounds with undisclosed series collectively raised $104.4 million, while seed-stage investments totalled $84.7 million, indicating continued early-stage activity even as capital tilted towards larger, more mature companies.

Pre-seed and pre-Series A rounds made up a small portion of the total, contributing less than 4% combined.

Debt deals

DealStreetAsia’s monthly scorecards exclude debt deals, and as such, two debt transactions announced in March were not included in the funding total.

Among the notable debt deals during the month, Princeton Digital Group (PDG), the Singapore-based data centre operator, closed a $350 million financing as part of a plan to raise up to $5 billion in debt this year to fund contracted capacity across Asia.

In Vietnam, rooftop solar startup SmartSolar secured $1.3 million in debt funding to scale financing for small and medium-sized businesses grappling with rising electricity costs.

SmartSolar obtained a $300,000 senior loan from the SECO Startup Fund, a development finance initiative of Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). It also raised a $1 million debt facility from German travel firm SKR Reisen as part of the latest round.