AI goes physical - literally

D-Robotics, Advanced Navigation, Blinkit 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, As AI continues to take over our newsfeeds - and maybe the world - I've noticed a rising interest in "physical AI," which is when the tech is integrated into physical machinery to perform real-world tasks. Never mind an AI agent who can book flights for me - what I need is a robot that can wash my dishes and put them away. Well, that may be a reality sooner than I think. Currently, there are lots of startups in the market exploring the physical AI space, including today's top-funded company. I look forward to the day Rosie the Robot - the robot maid in the animated show The Jetsons - comes to life. 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 and M&As that have recently taken place. -- Stefanie THE BIGGEST DEALS BY MARKET 🇨🇳 Based in China, D-Robotics provides a universal base for robot software and hardware. It has raised US$120 million in series B funding from DiDi Chuxing, GLV, Jinqiu Capital, Linear Venture, Plum Ventures, Synstellation Capital, Ubiquant, Vertex Growth Fund, Xingrui Capital, and Y&R Capital. 🇦🇺 Advanced Navigation is an Australia-based company that develops AI robotics and navigation tech. It has bagged US$112.18 million in series C money from Airtree, National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, and Quadrant Private Equity. 🇮🇳 Blinkit AI is an assistant that generates text, articles, images, videos, voiceovers, and chatbots. Headquartered in India, it has secured US$48.7 million in strategic investment from Eternal. 🇮🇱 Israel-based Onyx Security is developing a secure control plane to oversee AI agents. It has scored US$40 million in seed funding from Conviction Partners and Cyberstarts. 🇸🇬 Mozark is a deeptech company from Singapore that runs a digital experience testing platform. It has raised US$40 million in series B funding from International Finance Corporation, Kalaari Capital, and RMB Capitalworks. Here's the complete list of this week's funding chart: 64 deals worth over US$700 million. M&AS 🇮🇳 Indian edtech company Unacademy has been acquired by fellow edtech firm upGrad. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. 🇮🇳 Saveo is a B2B marketplace for Indian pharmacies. It has been acquired by healthtech company CureBay for an undisclosed sum. STARTUPS THAT ARE RAISING FUNDS Fundraising is hard. To make things slightly easier, we've compiled this list of fundraising startups for our subscribers. Do you run a startup that's raising at the moment or know someone who does? Sign your company up for listing here. 🇯🇵 This Japanese startup develops AI assistants for doctors. 🇸🇬 Hailing from Singapore, this company operates an engagement platform aimed at driving brand growth through interactive experiences. 🇮🇳 This Indian firm offers AI-powered wearable tech. You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia over here. 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. ✅︎ "Very detail-oriented and evaluates the business or future plans very fundamentally, so having proper clarity is very important for founders before they pitch." - Read more ❌ "Gave us the wrong feedback in terms of valuations, and now they are forcing us to fundraise because they want a markup in their portfolio while not even wanting to support a top-up." - Read more ✅︎ "They reached out to us via LinkedIn and got the conversation started. We received the investment in about 1.5 months after initial discussion. Nice surprise to have a VC cold outreach to us and actually invest." - 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 proof is in the pudding Total funding for tech startups in Singapore edged up 1.59% in 2025, even though the number of funding rounds fell from 359 to 201. It seems investors are concentrating capital in fewer countries and being more cautious about their bets, with many shifting toward backing startups with clearer paths to profitability. The Asian Business Review dives deeper. 2️⃣ All eyes on defense tech Defense tech is rising to prominence as the world sees more conflicts, more threats, and more bad actors. This could also drive some significant returns for investors. In this interview with Decode39, Kinetica chairman Isaac Applbaum shares his thoughts on the sector. 3️⃣ Goodbye trends, hello convergences In this episode of the Masters of Scale podcast, Amy Webb, founder and CEO of Future Today Institute, talks about why she retired her famous trends report, why convergences matter more, and how business leaders can avoid being distracted by the "shiny." 4️⃣ Building a better future The UNICEF Venture Fund has announced its Femtech Ventures cohort. It's offering support to tech founders across Africa and Asia to develop solutions and services to help women and girls access quality healthcare, safe mobility, and economic opportunity. Check out the full list of startups here. 5️⃣ Anatomy of a VC In this piece for Sifted, Elena Mazhuha, partner at Flyer One Ventures, discusses the different types of investors that make up the "body" of VC - from brains to hearts to… a**holes. Which part of the VC body are you? EVENTS HAPPENING You can also check out our curated list of trending tech events and Tech in Asia's signature events. Southeast Asia is shaped by the generosity of ideas! The spirit of Hari Raya reminds us that generosity strengthens communities. In business, the exchange of ideas can shape industries. This June, leaders from across Southeast Asia will gather at the Asia Economic Summit (AES) to discuss the forces driving the region's economic future. From capital flows to emerging industries, the conversations at AES influence how the region moves forward. In this same spirit, bring your circle to AES and get 20% off when you purchase two delegate passes. Secure your spots 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. 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