SE Asia Deals Barometer Report: Startup funding jumps 92% MoM in May

Investment activity in Southeast Asia rebounded sharply in May as startup funding nearly doubled from the previous month, driven by a series of large private equity and corporate investments.

Startups in the region raised $656.3 million across 47 deals last month, show proprietary data compiled by DealStreetAsia, up 92% from $342.6 million in April. The May total also outpaced the $537.2 million raised in May 2024, even as deal volume declined from 59 transactions a year earlier.

The rebound was driven by a handful of outsized cheques, data show.

Four private equity rounds raised $330.2 million, or half the region’s monthly haul.

The amount raised in May already surpassed the average monthly funding from January to December last year, which was around $380 million. During the said period, funding peaked in December at $629.7 million. For this year so far, May’s haul is the largest in terms of deal value and volume.

The higher month-on-month funding figures were also buoyed by a megadeal—a transaction worth $100 million or more—in Malaysia. During the month, Ashita Group, a B2B2C, e-commerce, and social commerce player, announced a private equity investment of up to $155 million from CPFam-LDA Asia Growth Fund and AEI Capital Group ahead of its upcoming public listing.

Meanwhile, the second-highest funding, also a PE investment, went to Singapore-based healthcare and life sciences company AddVita. The company secured about $89 million in investment commitment from Temasek-backed investment firm SeaTown Holdings.

The investment, made through SeaTown Private Capital Master Fund, will back AddVita’s ‘buy-and-build’ strategy to acquire niche distribution businesses across Asia, focusing on medical, laboratory, and pharmaceutical products and services.

Top deals of May 2025

Out of the 47 deals publicly announced in May, 16 did not disclose funding size. The average deal size, calculated based on transactions with disclosed figures, stood at $21.2 million, up from $15.6 million the previous month.

The tally includes venture capital, private equity, and corporate rounds, while debt deals were excluded from the monthly scorecard.

Singapore continues lead

Singapore retained its lead as the region’s fundraising hub, accounting for $358.8 million across 23 deals, or over half of the month’s total capital. In contrast, April witnessed $292.2 million from 19 transactions, accounting for 85% of the month’s total deal value in the city-state.

Addvita’s $89 million private equity funding was the largest in the city-state in May. This was followed by MariBank, which raised $78 million from its parent firm, Sea Ltd, to scale up operations and strengthen its position in the region’s digital banking landscape.

Startups in Malaysia raised $184.3 million from seven deals, propelled by outsized investments in the digital banking and property technology sectors, led by Ashita Group’s $155-million investment from AEI Capital.

In Indonesia, startups were involved in 10 transactions during the month but attracted just $28.2 million. The largest funding in the archipelago was the $10 million Series A round in construction materials and solutions startup BRIK, DealStreetAsia’s compilations show.

Vietnam raised $85.1 million, largely lifted by the $80 million investment in proptech startup Meey Group by Global Emerging Markets, a $3.4 billion alternative investment group headquartered in the US.

The Philippines and Thailand each registered one deal with no disclosed funding value.

E-commerce tops funding

E-commerce was the biggest winner in May, sector-wise, as startups in this space raised $165 million in funding from just two deals, anchored by Ashita’s $155 million fundraising.

In terms of value, proptech followed with $89.2 million. Digital banking also raised $78 million while data analytics / AI secured $60 million during the month.

Green tech emerged as the most active segment with nine deals but pulled in only $40.2 million, indicating continued fragmentation and early-stage risk aversion in the climate vertical.

Overall, investors backed companies in 18 distinct verticals, but 8 of those sectors disclosed less than $10 million each, underlining selective risk appetite. Transactions in the consumer products, telecommunications, and regtech sectors did not disclose the amount raised.

Funding stages

Private equity funding accounted for the bulk of the money raised by startups during the month at $330.2 million from four transactions. Besides Ashita and AddVita, Meey Land Group Joint Stock Company and Blue Planet Environmental Solution sealed PE deals worth $80 million and $6.2 million, respectively.

In addition, two corporate rounds contributed $80.2 million.

A single Series C deal brought in another $60 million. This was raised by Singapore-based enterprise AI firm Whale. The investors include Temasek Holdings, Linear Capital, BOSCH Ventures, Singtel Innov8, MDI Ventures, MTR Lab, and Gentree Fund.

Early-stage funding remained subdued, with pre-seed and seed rounds totaling only $22.4 million across 14 transactions. Fourteen deals, which raised $75.4 million in total, did not disclose their funding stages.

Debt rounds

Among notable debt deals in the region in May, Indonesian P2P lending platform Amartha secured a $55-million loan from three European development finance institutions as part of a larger $199-million syndicated facility led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Vietnamese private equity-backed financial services firm F88 also secured a $30-million loan from London-based international financial organisation Lendable.

The fresh loan from Lendable will be used to drive business growth, expand operations, and achieve a revenue growth target of 30%, as well as increase the total number of customers by 30% this year.

EasyCash, an Indonesian fintech lending startup, also secured $15.3 million in debt financing from CTBC Bank.

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