AI’s security arms race heats up

UpGuard, BOS Semiconductors, Zentrix AI, and more raised funds this week.

Read from your browser FOMO Saturday Welcome to Tech in Asia's free Saturday VC newsletter! Register to 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. Ensure our articles appear in your Google searches: Hello Betamax, A lot of technology is a double-edged sword: Its strengths create new weaknesses, none more so than AI. As companies adopt more and more AI tools, productivity is expected to rise. But with new tools shipping at breakneck speed, some pieced together in-house by vibe coders, security vulnerabilities are popping up just as fast. The solution? More AI, of course. This week's top deal is for Australian cybersecurity firm UpGuard's US$75 million raise. The firm uses an AI platform, likely to ward off the AI-driven cybersecurity threats it faces. As Bart Simpson might say, the ironing is delicious. You can find all other important investment deals from the last few days in our weekly funding news wrap-up. Let's dive into the biggest deals that have recently taken place. -- Peter THE BIGGEST DEALS BY COUNTRY 🇦🇺 Australian cybersecurity firm UpGuard runs an AI-powered platform for cyber risk posture management aimed at unifying the fragmented cybersecurity landscape. It has secured US$75 million in a series C round from Pelion Venture Partners, Springcoast Partners, Square Peg, and August Capital. 🇰🇷 BOS Semiconductors is a South Korean firm that designs semiconductors for mobility applications. The firm has raised US$60.9 million in a series A round with several backers, including existing investors such as Atinum Investment Co. and the Industrial Bank of Korea, as well as new ones like the Korea Development Bank and HB Investment Inc. 🇲🇾 Zetrix AI is a Malaysian company that plans to list its AI unit on the Nasdaq by the end of 2026. It has closed a US$40 million series A round, with participation from the International Finance Corporation. 🇮🇳 Wishlink is an India-based ecommerce platform that connects content creators with consumers and ecommerce brands, allowing shopping on platforms like Instagram and YouTube. It has scored US$17.5 million in a series B round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India. 🇨🇳 Percisphere is a Chinese robotics manufacturer focusing on heavy-payload all-terrain robots. The company has raised a series A round worth US$14.3 million from DayOne Capital, Jiangxi Financial Holdings, Anker Innovations, and China Growth Capital. Here's the complete list of this week's funding chart: 55 deals worth over US$413 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: HeyAmos provides a platform companies can use to manage their visibility on generative AI models. Call Me Sensei is a startup building an AI-powered language learning app. Priyo Shop offers a mobile platform that lets small retailers in Bangladesh restock directly from brands and distributors. Want to see your startup or portfolio company here next? Just fill out 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. ✅︎ "It was a very painless process, always respectful and supportive throughout all stages, from the very initial pitch." - Read more ❌ "Harsh terms. Many other founders have expressed that they were hopeless. I have to strongly agree. Looks fast, but actually slow. Looks smart, but actually indecisive. Looks helpful, but actually insincere." - Read more ✅︎ "They are very straightforward and open with their evaluation and consideration. No nonsense work that was not purposeful. They voiced out what they like and what their concerns are about the business." - 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 We've got the power Renewable energy is more abundant than ever, and that can only be a good thing, right? Wrong, says this BCG report, highlighting that with so much wind and solar power entering grids worldwide, it has cannibalized its own value, driving prices down. The report makes the case for redesigning power markets to ensure that renewables continue to be an attractive investment proposition. 2️⃣ A prompt, my kingdom for a prompt! What do your conversations with AI chatbots look like? Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, reckons they're probably just like they would be with a search engine, which he argues caps AI's potential. In this article, he explains why he's on the 27th version of some of his prompts and lays out how anyone can "metaprompt" to get the best results. 3️⃣ Corps are doin' it for themselves This episode of the Brave Southeast Asia Tech Podcast with Jeremy Au features Ziv Ragowsky, co-founder of Wright Partners, who does a deep dive on corporate venture building in the region. 4️⃣ Hand in robotic hand Some argue that the AI revolution is all about automating away jobs and tasks to make P&L sheets look nicer for large companies. That misses the tech's greatest unlock, according to this Harvard Business Review piece. It says that, when used right, AI actually makes coordinating complex projects across different teams easier than ever. 5️⃣ Logging off Has social media's moment come and gone? This argument keeps getting stronger as more countries impose age restrictions on the likes of Instagram and Facebook, as this Visual Capitalist graphic shows. 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 © 2026 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 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