Equity dealmaking in Southeast Asia ticked up modestly in H2 2025, signalling an end to the prolonged contraction in dealmaking activity. Quarterly data also point to stabilisation, with deal counts holding steady. However, 2025 closed with one of the lowest annual deal counts in more than six years. Moreover, the recovery in H2 remains uneven and increasingly market-specific.
Funding value rebounded sharply to $3.51 billion in H2 from $1.86 billion in H1. The increase, though, was driven largely by a small number of outsized transactions rather than a broad-based recovery in activity.
Southeast Asia minted four unicorns in 2025, up sharply from just one in 2024 and two in 2023, reinforcing the growing concentration of capital in companies with clearer scale potential and sustainable growth profiles.
Read the Southeast Asia Startup Funding Report: Full year 2025 for:
- Quarterly, half-yearly, and annual startup fundraising trends in SE Asia
- Top deals of 2025
- Most favoured industries by venture investors
- Fundraising trends by country
- Trends in climate tech funding
- Insights from prominent founders, fund managers, and corporate executives.
