2025 ended on a disappointing note for startups across most of Asia, even as China offered a glimmer of hope.
Private equity and venture capital investments in Southeast Asia fell 23.3% month-on-month in December 2025, as deal count sank to its lowest level in 12 months, according to proprietary data compiled by DealStreetAsia. On a year-on-year basis, the downturn was sharper as deal volume crashed 56%, while deal count eased by about 13% from a year earlier.
In India, startup fundraising declined further to $896 million in December, down from $922 million in November, according to DealStreetAsia’s proprietary data. Deal activity also weakened in December, with the number of transactions falling to 82 from 105 in the previous month. Both deal value and volume were lower than a year earlier, when startups raised $1.38 billion across 98 transactions.
Fundraising by startups based in Greater China, however, rebounded sharply in December with almost $5.5 billion being raised across 231 deals. The overall deal value grew significantly by 75.1%, while the number of investments increased by 26.2% from the previous month, according to DealStreetAsia’s proprietary data.
In another big development of the week, Tiger Global lost a landmark tax case in India involving its $1.6-billion stake sale in e-commerce firm Flipkart to Walmart in 2018. The Supreme Court ruled that Tiger Global‘s transaction was designed as an “impermissible tax avoidance arrangement”; it, therefore, cannot claim an exemption from paying tax on the profit from the stake sale. The ruling will set a precedent for how India applies tax principles and interprets international tax treaties.
Moving onto the other headlines of the week.
LP-GP updates
KKR has raised $2.5 billion for its second fund focused on privately originated performing credit investments in the Asia Pacific. The fundraise comprises $1.8 billion for the KKR Asia Credit Opportunities Fund II and a further $700 million from separately managed accounts focused on the same types of investment opportunities.
Global asset managers have raised record amounts for their secondaries strategies as evolving investor needs are generating more opportunities for alternative liquidity solutions. Coller Capital has closed its ninth flagship fund at $17 billion, while Ares Management has also raised $7.1 billion for its credit secondaries strategy.
Singapore-based StateSquare Capital has secured backing from Taiwanese industrial conglomerate Welhunt for its debut institutional fund. The private equity firm stated that the fund, which is targeting to raise a total of $250 million, held a first close in 2025 with around 60% of commitments secured.
Affirma Capital’s $200-million climate transition private equity fund aimed at supporting Indonesia’s efforts to decarbonise has made its first close in December, and is set to sign its first deal shortly.
Singapore-based Circulate Capital has so far raised $186 million from US and global investors for its latest private equity fund, according to its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Switzerland-based specialist impact investor Blue Earth Capital has raised more than $100 million in the first close of its inaugural impact secondaries strategy, from institutional backers in Europe and the US, including Proparco, the Ursimone Wietlisbach Foundation, and Stella.
German development finance institution DEG has approved its first-ever investment in an Indian debt fund, committing capital to Vivriti Asset Management’s asset-backed securitisation fund based in GIFT City.
Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah’s fund-of-funds unit, Jelawang Capital, has opened applications for funding the next cohort of new venture capital managers under its Emerging Fund Managers’ Programme (EMP).
Startup & VC news
Asian secondary specialist TR Capital is understood to have emerged as the lead buyer for Eight Roads’s stakes in around 40 China-based technology companies, with the total transaction likely to be valued at approximately $80 million.
Jakarta-based JULO’s investors such as Quona Capital, ACV Capital, and East Ventures are said to be weighing secondary exits as the fintech lender’s recent fundraising exercise drags on. A section of shareholders is understood to be pressing for a potential sale.
Zeya Health, a Singapore-headquartered healthtech startup building AI-native operational infrastructure for healthcare providers, has raised $575,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by Antler, with participation from strategic angel investors.
Indonesia has officially launched the International Crypto Exchange (ICEx), a new platform licensed by the Financial Services Authority (OJK), to help deepen its digital asset landscape.
India’s hospitality firm Lemon Tree Hotels Ltd has approved a composite scheme of arrangement that will split the group into two separate platforms, alongside a fresh investment by private equity firm Warburg Pincus into its hotel ownership arm, Fleur Hotels Ltd.
Chinese neurotech unicorn BrainCo has raised about 2 billion yuan ($286.6 million) in a new funding round, said to be the second-largest deal in the global brain-computer interface industry after rival Neuralink’s $650 million Series E round.
Chinese embodied AI startup X Square Robot has secured 1 billion yuan ($143.3 million) in a Series A++ round of financing from investors including TikTok owner ByteDance and HSG (formerly Sequoia Capital China).
Indian venture capital firm Dharana Capital has raised $250 million for its second growth fund from investors including leading US university endowments, health systems, and other non-profit institutions.
Indian healthcare management platform Sukino Healthcare Solutions has raised $31 million in a Series B funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, confirming DealStreetAsia’s report last week.
Thailand’s Flash Group is shutting its courier and logistics operations in Malaysia this month, ending a four-year push into one of Southeast Asia’s most competitive delivery markets.
Atome has secured a renewed and upsized $345-million syndicated debt facility, underscoring lenders’ confidence in the Southeast Asian digital finance platform as it scales a profitable consumer credit franchise across the region.
Indian venture capital firm Dharana Capital has raised $250 million for its second growth fund, from investors including leading US university endowments, health systems, and other non-profit institutions.
Startorus Fusion, a Chinese startup focusing on the commercial application of nuclear fusion power, has secured 1 billion yuan ($143.3 million) in its Series A funding round jointly led by CICC Capital and three government-owned investment firms in Shanghai.
China’s X Square Robot, which develops general-purpose embodied intelligence robots, has pocketed 1 billion yuan ($143.3 million) in a Series A++ round of financing from investors including ByteDance and HSG (formerly Sequoia Capital China).
Oricell Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company operating in China and the US, has secured $70 million in a Series C1 funding round to speed up its global expansion and clinical development.
Vietnamese conglomerate Masan’s integrated retail unit, The CrownX, has only two overseas shareholders remaining on its cap table— Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and Korea’s SK Group. TPG, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, SeaTown Holdings, and Credit Suisse were among its backers earlier.
Pan-Asian fintech platform WeLab has closed a Series D round of financing at $220 million to fuel its expansion in Southeast Asia and strengthen its market status in Hong Kong.
The International Finance Corporation is investing up to $100 million in a green bond issued by KASIKORBANK (KBank), one of Thailand’s largest commercial lenders.
Hupo AI, an enterprise AI startup backed early by Meta’s investment arm, has raised $14 million in Series A funding led by DST Global Partners, just over a year after rebranding from its original mental health platform AMI Labs.
Jakarta-based restaurant commerce startup Opaper has been fully acquired by PT Elektronik Distribusi Otomatisasi Terkemuka, providing exits to a host of global investors including Precursor Ventures, Ratio Ventures, Plug and Play, and W-Fund, as well as Indonesia-based Trihill Capital and several angel investors.
CapitaLand Ascendas REIT is acquiring a newly built Class A logistics facility in the US Midwest from DHL in a sale-and-leaseback deal valued at S$94.5 million ($73.8 million).
Indonesian grab-and-go coffee chain operator Kopi Kenangan significantly narrowed its losses in 2024 as revenue growth and tighter cost controls lifted operating cash flow.
The International Finance Corporation disclosed a slew of investments in India this week. It has proposed an equity investment of nearly $25 million in HDFC AMC Structured Credit Fund–I. It has also proposed to invest up to $250 million in Nexus Select Trust (NXST) through a loan. IFC is investing another Rs 6 billion (about $67 million) of debt and Rs 1.5 billion (about $17 million) of equity in Brookfield India Real Estate Trust (BIRET)
Emversity, a higher-education embedded training and employability platform in India operated by Beyond Odds Technologies Pvt. Ltd., has raised $30 million (Rs 271 crore) in its Series A funding round led by Premji Invest.
State Street Investment Management is investing $65 million (Rs 580 crore) in Indian digital investment platform Groww’s asset management arm.
Indonesian direct-to-consumer eyewear brand SATURDAYS has raised $6.5 million in fresh funding from Openspace Ventures and Altara Ventures, according to filings with Singapore’s ACRA.
Sea Ltd has pumped S$75 million ($58.2 million) worth of fresh capital into its Singapore-based digital banking unit MariBank, according to regulatory filings. This comes less than a year after Sea Ltd pumped $78 million into MariBank in May 2025.
China’s SpacemiT has raised over 600 million yuan ($86.1 million) in a Series B funding round, as the computing chip company is set to introduce its latest RISC-V K3 chips that will continue to focus on powering AI-enabled devices and robotics.
