A little more cautious but still hopeful

FundPark, Noetix Robotics, Pave Bank, and more raised funds this week.

Read from your browser FOMO Saturday Welcome to Tech in Asia's free Saturday VC newsletter! Get full access to our subscribers-only premium content and other insightful analysis on the big and messy topics of Asia's tech and startup community by registering here. Hello Betamax, Our annual Tech in Asia Conference took place in Jakarta last week, and we had a great time. I spent most of it on duty at our Speakers Lounge - it's all hands on deck whenever Conference season rolls around - and had the opportunity to chat with several folks in the ecosystem. Looking back, I can say there's still optimism in the community, even with the chips down and the effervescent optimism of the early 2020s now faded. We may be a little more cautious, but we remain hopeful. And we're going to keep going. #JustKeepBuilding As I always say, if you're solving real problems and have your fundamentals down pat, you'll be alright. This week's top-funded companies - which tackle a variety of issues, from financial inclusion to home services - show just that. You can find all other important investment deals that happened in the last few days in our weekly funding news wrap-up. Let's dive into the biggest deals and M&As that recently took place. -- Stefanie THE BIGGEST DEALS BY MARKET FundPark is a Hong Kong-based company that provides financial solutions to underbanked or unbanked SMEs. It has raised US$71 million in series B money from Alpha Nova Capital Management, Radiant Tech Ventures, and Ares Management. Noetix Robotics focuses on the development and manufacturing of humanoid robots. The Chinese firm has secured US$41 million in a bridge round from CRRC Transformation and Upgrading Fund, F&G Venture, Jiadao Private Capital, Join Hands Capital, and Vertex Ventures. Pave Bank, a digital bank based in Singapore, has bagged US$39 million in series A money from Accel Partners, Financial Technology Partners, GC&H Investments, Helios Investment Partners, Kazea Capital, Quona Capital, Wintermute, and Yolo Investments. Moladin, a used car marketplace in Indonesia, has scored US$35 million in an early stage round from Ascend Capital, CyberAgent Capital, DST Global, East Ventures, K3 Ventures, Northstar Group, Peak XV Partners, and Rocket Internet. Snabbit is a platform for on-demand home services in India. It has raised US$30 million in a series C round from Bertelsmann India Investments, Elevation Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Nexus Venture Partners. Here's the complete list of this week's funding chart: 89 deals worth over US$406 million. PUT YOUR STARTUP IN THE SPOTLIGHT Want your startup featured on Tech in Asia? We're trying something new: you share your story, and we turn it into a Startup Spotlight article using generative AI. The article is then reviewed by editors, published, and promoted like any other story. Here's a look at some of the startups we've put in the spotlight recently: BetterPrompt is a company that turns AI prompts into mini-apps. Rezerv helps service businesses like gyms manage bookings and payments more efficiently. The SaaS firm says it retains 95% of its customers. BenKon is a Vietnamese company that designs smarter cooling systems for businesses. Want to see your startup or portfolio company here next? Just fill in this form. BEHIND THE GLASSWALL Fundraising often involves reaching out to several contacts, many of whom founders might not have dealt with before. To provide some transparency to this process, we created Glasswall, a platform for founders to give feedback and recommendations on investors. Check out the full list here. ✅︎ "Met the managing partner at an event and explained our business model. He drew out the entire model on a whiteboard and showed where there was potential breakage, all within 15 minutes. Then he sent his analyst to do DD [due diligence] and wrapped up the investment within four weeks. Post investment, they exercised pro rata and continuously introduced us to more potential clients." - Read more ❌"[Runs] like a small shop, not a professional organization. All decisions made at the top. Guys at the top often make decisions for personal gain." - Read more ✅︎ "It wasn't merely about the numbers or the metrics; it was about recognizing the potential and the passion behind our endeavor." - Read more EXCLUSIVE LISTICLES Lists of most active investors in the region China | India | Indonesia | Japan | Singapore | Southeast Asia List of top-funded startups in Asia China | India | Indonesia | Israel | Japan | Hong Kong | Singapore | South Korea | Vietnam THOUGHTFUL READS 1️⃣ The state of startups Venture funding has rebounded since 2022, but the divide is more apparent now than before. Nearly half of global startup funding in Q3 went to AI companies, with megarounds making up the majority of investments. However, seed funding continues to dip. Check out this piece from Crunchbase News to get a lay of the land. 2️⃣ Values + business How can businesses navigate the intersection of values and profit? In this episode of the Rapid Response podcast, Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert and Chobani CEO Hamdi Ulukaya, speaking at the Masters of Scale Summit, share their thoughts on how to build and grow a business while also prioritizing causes that matter most. 3️⃣ AI and the workplace, and what's next More from the Masters of Scale Summit: How is AI redefining the workplace? The discussion explores topics such as AI optimism, its impact on employment, and the rise of "AI slop." It features Aaron Levie, CEO of Box; Aneesh Raman, LinkedIn's chief economic opportunity officer; and AI Clara Shih, Meta's head of business AI. 4️⃣ A matter of national security Private capital has long steered away from defense and national security ventures. However, rising geopolitical tensions have given rise to "sovereign resilience," a new frontier for investment that covers areas such as cybersecurity, disinformation management, and threat detection. This article from the Venture Capital Journal goes deeper. 5️⃣ Like Jenny No, not the K-pop star. This piece from The Business Times profiles Granite Asia partner Jenny Lee, discussing her entry into the VC world, her global experience studying and working abroad, and Granite Asia's plans for the road ahead. EVENTS HAPPENING You can also check out our curated list of trending tech events and Tech in Asia's signature events. [AD] Sumsub's What The Fraud Summit covering all things anti-fraud and more, from November 19 to 20 Tired of dealing with the recent explosion in fraud cases and malicious actors? Join Sumsub's What The Fraud summit to get a better handle on things. At the event, there'll be sessions by experts hailing from AWS, DBS, EY, LSEG Risk Intelligence, Mastercard, NETS, Revolut, Singpass, IMDA, GXS Bank, and more. They'll provide top-tier insights into AI-driven scams, digital identity, and next-gen compliance, along with practical workshops for compliance officers, AML teams, and fraud specialists. Sign up here. ADVERTISE | SUBSCRIBE | HIRE | FIND JOBS P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Tech in Asia thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Too many emails? Switch to a different frequency or get new content through our preference center, or unsubscribe. You can also remove yourself from all Tech in Asia emails over here. Copyright © 2025 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. Tech in Asia (Podium Level 3), 1000 Toa Payoh North, News Centre, Singapore 318994 A member of The Business Times.