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Southeast Asia’s VC Funding Shows Signs of a Rebound in 2025—Is the Momentum Here to Stay?

  • Shivirta C.
  • Jul 23
  • 2 min read

After a sluggish second half of 2024, Southeast Asia’s tech startup ecosystem is showing signs of life again. In the first half of 2025, startups across the region raised $2 billion, marking a 7% increase year-over-year. While the pace may not be meteoric, the trend is clear: SEA’s venture capital (VC) and angel investing landscape is gaining momentum—one steady quarter at a time.

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Funding is Up—But the Landscape Has Changed


  • Q1 2025 saw $909M raised, followed by $1.09B in Q2, a quiet but meaningful recovery.

  • Compared to H2 2024, total funding dipped 24%, but the YoY growth suggests a bottoming out and slow climb back.

  • The growth is fueled not by a seed-stage frenzy, but by a late-stage resurgence—a sign of ecosystem maturity.


📊 Late-stage funding surged by 140% in H1 2025 compared to H2 2024, reaching $1.4 billion.



The Maturing Ecosystem—Investors Shift Gears


  • A clear pivot is underway: from early-stage experimentation to backing proven, scalable business models.

  • Enterprise infrastructure and B2B startups are taking center stage, attracting strategic capital.

  • Investors like East Ventures, 500 Global, and Wavemaker Partners are recalibrating their theses toward growth-stage winners.


Angel Investors—Now’s the Time to Enter the Arena


  • With lower seed-stage volume, angels have more negotiating power and a wider surface area to explore.

  • This "quiet period" in early-stage funding could be the best time to invest before the next spike in valuations.

  • Angels can play a critical role in bridging early-stage capital gaps left by VCs focused on later stages.


Singapore’s Dominance—A Double-Edged Sword?


  • Singapore attracted 92% of SEA’s funding in H1 2025, thanks to policy support, infrastructure, and capital access.

  • While great for Singaporean founders, this centralization poses risks for regional diversity and resilience.

  • Emerging hubs like Jakarta and Thu Duc received just $28M in Q1—a stark contrast.


The Comeback is Quiet, but Real

SEA’s tech investment scene is far from the frenzy of 2018–2021, but the fundamentals are shifting in the right direction. Startups are maturing. Investors are refocusing. Angels are needed more than ever.

Whether you’re a founder, angel, or VC, now is the time to pay attention—not to the hype, but to the quiet momentum building beneath the surface.


 
 
 

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