Despite the broader market lull driven by the ongoing Middle-East conflict, our reporters have been on top of every deal in the region. First, the week’s exclusives.
In the Philippines, General Atlantic has sold most of its stake in live-streaming platform Kumu to multiple buyers, including a group of existing investors, according to regulatory filings.
In Vietnam, fintech unicorn MoMo has hired Morgan Stanley and Jefferies to help evaluate options after the company received inbound offers, including M&A interest. On the other hand, co-living startup M Village is in advanced talks to close a new funding round with the participation of a Japanese investor.
In Indonesia, beauty brand Rosé All Day Cosmetics is understood to be exploring a potential sale as the founders and investors look for exit options. Unilever Indonesia is also planning to divest its Buavita juice brand, as it looks to streamline operations, exit non-core categories, and prioritise high-growth, high-margin segments in the country.
Meanwhile, DealStreetAsia’s proprietary data revealed that Indian startup funding halved to $1.47 billion across 110 deals in March 2026, from $2.21 billion across 123 deals in February. Notably, the February surge was largely driven by Neysa’s $1.2-billion fundraise. There were two megadeals—transactions valued at $100 million or more—in March, by Allfleet and Weaver Services.
Funding news
India’s KreditBee has entered the unicorn club with a $280-million funding round, valuing the fintech firm at $1.5 billion. The round was led by Motilal Oswal Alternates, Hornbill Capital, and MUFG-backed Dragon Funds.
Surgical robotics firm BIOBOT Surgical received S$10 million in fresh funding this month, with Temasek-established ClavystBio picking up 4,001,960 Series C preference shares for S$5 million.
Dutch development bank FMO is considering a senior loan of up to $20 million to Bangladesh-based food processing company Pran Agro Limited. It has also committed to invest $15 million in Indian non-banking financial company Aye Finance.
Shanghai-based brain-machine interface startup StairMed has raised a 500-million-yuan (about $73 million) strategic financing round led by Alibaba, with the participation of existing investors Tencent, FountainBridge Capital, and OrbiMed, among others.
Indian business services platform SILA has raised $100 million from global private equity firm Permira.
Asia’s pan-regional intercollegiate basketball league, the Asian University Basketball League, has closed a Series A funding round led by Blue Pool Capital, the investment firm of Alibaba co-founder and Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai, building on his earlier seed investment in the league.
Chinese artificial intelligence startup ShengShu Technology has raised 2 billion yuan ($292.59 million) in a funding round led by Alibaba Cloud.
Chinese commercial satellite developer Spacety Co. Ltd. has raised 1.3 billion yuan ($190 million) in equity financing to scale up production ahead of a planned initial public offering.
LP-GP updates
India-focused fund manager Motilal Oswal Alternates expects a surge in buyout and control deals as the country’s private equity market matures. “Given the way the industry is shaping up, we could allocate about 20-25% of our corpus to control and buyout deals,” said Vijay Dhanuka, MD and co-head of Motilal Oswal Alternates (private equity).
InCred Alternative Private Investments has closed its first special opportunities credit fund at a hard cap of Rs 1,500 crore. The fund received commitments from domestic family offices, ultra-high-net-worth individuals, and international investors.
Interviews
Southeast Asian tech giant Grab is experimenting with open-loop financial products, such as open-loop BNPL (buy now, pay later) or open-loop credit cards, as it eyes a deeper slice of the region’s fintech pie, president and chief operating officer Alex Hungate said in an exclusive interview.
Emerging managers in South and Southeast Asia raising follow-on funds could take longer to secure commitments as development finance institutions grow more conservative, partly due to a strategy shift. “Some DFIs may still be dealing with a lot of tail-end portfolios, with underperforming funds. Today, I think they would rather make fewer bets, concentrate on the bets that have gone well—and there are quite a few,” said Eric Marchand, managing partner at Collyer Capital.
Chinese wealth management group Noah Holdings is planning to double down on AI assets across public and private markets. “The development of AI infrastructure is a critical area that can absorb massive investment. It is replacing traditional assets as the new frontier for large-ticket tech financing,” said CEO Zander Yin.
AI initiatives in operational value creation are expected to show margin impact quickly, with initial signs within three months and full scalability typically emerging within 12 to 24 months, depending on the pace of execution, said Adrian Letts, Managing Partner, Private Equity Group and Head of Business Operations, Brookfield.
The balance sheet
Lazada South East Asia Pte. Ltd. halved its operating losses in FY2025 to $491.4 million from $991.2 million in FY2024, reflecting a broad-based reduction in expenses. However, impairment charges continued to weigh on its bottom line, according to its latest regulatory filing.
PT Fore Kopi Indonesia Tbk, the operator of the Indonesia-based coffee chain Fore Coffee, reported a 55% jump in net profit to 90.1 billion rupiah ($5.3 million) in 2025 from 58.2 billion rupiah ($3.4 million) in the previous year, while operating income climbed 59.3% to 105.8 billion rupiah.
Singapore-based cashback platform ShopBack swung to a profit of $208.4 million in the financial year ended March 31, 2025, reversing a $65.1-million loss a year earlier, regulatory filings showed. However, this was largely due to fair value adjustments on preference shares rather than improvements in underlying operations.
Waste management firm Blue Planet Environmental Solutions and its subsidiaries saw a 251% rise in net loss for the year ended March 31, 2025, even as revenue rose nearly 45%, according to audited filings. The main drag on the bottom line was finance costs, which more than tripled to S$19.3 million during the period.
And before I go, a reminder…
We are hosting our inaugural Asia Private Equity Leadership Summit in Hong Kong on May 20, 2026. The summit is designed as a highly curated, content-driven platform for private capital decision-makers addressing allocation strategies, liquidity considerations, and investment opportunities across Greater China, South and Southeast Asia, North Asia, and other key regional markets. Book your seats now!
