SE Asia Deals Barometer Report: Startup funding rebounds in Nov sans megadeals

Startup funding in Southeast Asia rebounded in November, supported by a cluster of mid- and late-stage cheques, even as the market again went without a $100 million-plus megadeal.

Privately-held companies in the region raised approximately $393.6 million across 36 equity deals last month, according to proprietary data compiled by DealStreetAsia. That was up about 23% from the roughly $320 million raised from the same number of equity deals in October.

On a year-on-year basis, too, fundraising was higher in the month. In November 2024, there were 34 deals that raised about $220 million, implying a surge of 79% in value, while the number of transactions rose a tad.

The November dataset encompasses venture capital and private equity deals, as well as corporate rounds, but debt transactions were excluded, in accordance with DealStreetAsia’s monthly scorecard approach.

While November did not record any megadeals, the month still saw a modest improvement in average cheque sizes based on our analysis of disclosed transactions.

DealStreetAsia’s data showed the average disclosed deal size in November was $13.6 million, up from October’s $12.8 million, underscoring that November’s higher monthly total was driven more by slightly larger rounds than by an increase in deal volume.

Top Deals of November 2025 in SE Asia

Unlike September, when fundraising rebounded on the back of a $188 million private equity cheque into UltraGreen.ai, November’s total was built on a handful of mid-sized rounds rather than a single outsized transaction.

The biggest disclosed deal in the month was signed by Amperesand, a Singapore-based startup providing power grid infrastructure solutions. The startup raised $80 million in its Series A funding round co-anchored by Temasek and Walden Catalyst Ventures.

The second-largest was cornered by Thai digital insurer Roojai, which raised $60 million in a Series C funding round co-led by UK private equity firm Apis Partners and growth equity investor Asia Partners.

Other notable transactions included Video Rebirth (Singapore), which raised $50 million from global financial and strategic backers; Blue Planet Environmental Solutions (Singapore), which secured $30 million in a private equity round led by Novo Holdings in green tech; and Vietnam’s COOLMATE, which raised $22.34 million in a Series C round led by Vertex Growth Fund in e-commerce.

Fundraising remained concentrated at the top even without a megadeal.

Together, these top five deals accounted for roughly $242.3 million, or a little over 60% of November’s total, implying fundraising remained concentrated at the top even without a megadeal.

That compares with October, when DealStreetAsia’s data showed the largest round was $70 million (Endowus), and the market also recorded no $100 million-plus transactions, with deal value more evenly spread among mid-sized rounds.

The rebound in November 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, the lowest quarterly count in more than six years, according to the Southeast Asia Deal Review: Q3 2025 report by DealStreetAsia DATA VANTAGE.

Singapore corners 70% of November deal value

DealStreetAsia’s compilation showed Singapore-headquartered startups raised about $274 million across 23 deals, representing roughly 70% of the region’s November total.

While still dominant, that share was less concentrated than in October, when Singapore accounted for about $261.8 million, or about 82% of the region’s monthly total, highlighting a slight broadening of fundraising beyond the city-state.

Three of the top five deals in November were in Singapore, inked by Amperesand, Video Rebirth, and Blue Planet Environment. The city-state’s average deal size, based on transactions with disclosed amounts, stood at $14.4 million, down from $16.4 million in October.

Thailand ranked second in November, in terms of deal value, with $60.3 million across two deals, largely driven by Roojai’s Series C round. Vietnam recorded $22.34 million across two deals, supported by COOLMATE’s Series C funding round, which was the fifth-largest in the region.

Indonesia logged $18.7 million across three deals, down from October’s $46.8 million, when the country’s total was boosted by a $35 million funding round for credit card issuer Honest.

The Philippines raised $8.3 million across three deals, higher than October’s $2.85 million across two transactions, while Malaysia posted $10 million across two deals. One deal in Cambodia appeared in the dataset without a disclosed amount.

Fintech leads

By sector, fintech remained the most active vertical in November, with eight deals totalling $90 million, based on DealStreetAsia’s compilation, with Roojai’s $60 million Series C funding topping the list.

However, fintech’s share of overall fundraising was smaller than in October, when startups in the sector amassed $169 million across 10 deals, or around 53% of the region’s total.

In November, the biggest boost to total value came from utilities, which contributed $80 million, driven by Ampersand’s Series A. Data analytics/AI drew $62 million across four deals, reflecting continued investor appetite for AI-adjacent models even as the funding environment remains selective.

E-commerce raised $40.94 million across two deals, while software & IT gathered $26.5 million across three transactions. Healthcare/healthtech posted seven deals, the second-highest sector deal count, though total funding was a more modest $20.83 million, suggesting smaller average cheques in that category.

Other verticals included cybersecurity ($10 million across two deals), green tech ($30 million), lifestyle ($15 million), and smaller categories such as telecommunications ($4.05 million), restaurant tech ($5 million), marketing tech ($5 million), food tech ($2.6 million) and adtech ($1.7 million).

Large cheques are still scarce

While November’s value rose from October, the stage mix suggests the rebound was driven by larger late-stage and growth rounds, rather than a broad lift across early-stage activity.

Series C rounds totalled $102.34 million across three deals, while Series A transactions contributed $100 million across two deals. Together, Series A and Series C made up just over $200 million, or a little more than half of November’s total.

At the same time, seed remained the busiest by count, with 15 deals, but they raised only a combined $42.53 million, highlighting smaller average tickets at that stage. Pre-seed rounds contributed $18 million across five deals.

Venture-unclassified rounds added $75.75 million across six deals, underlining how a meaningful share of monthly fundraising continues to be captured in rounds whose stages are not disclosed.

The month also included two corporate rounds totalling $15 million, and one private equity deal worth $30 million and one Series B deal worth $10 million, indicating a mix of funding structures even in a month without megadeals.

Debt rounds

There were three debt deals in November that were not included in the monthly deal scorecard.

Among the notable debt deals during the month, Malaysia’s Carsome secured a new revolving working capital facility worth $36.3 million from MUFG Bank (Malaysia) Berhad.

Vietnamese co-development studio Gears Games also secured $5 million in debt financing from UA and monetisation platform Metica to scale its title Arcane Rush: Auto Battler.