Robots are getting busier

Cred, Dexforce, CarbonSix, 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, The theme of today's newsletter is robots. Out of the five biggest deals this week, three are in the robotics space. Whether it's medical robots or manufacturing ones, it's clear that the idea of "embodied AI" - where we bring the tech into the physical world, not just the digital one - is getting a lot of attention. There's definitely a lot of opportunity for robots to make a difference, especially in jobs that are considered "dirty, dangerous, and demanding." I'm pretty excited to see how much further we can take these robots, and what more we can do with them as new software and hardware solutions develop. And if we can somehow build a robot that can clean my house, fold my laundry, and put away the dishes for me, that'd be perfect too. 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 🇮🇳 Cred is a fintech company based in India. It has raised US$900 million in series H money from Meta Platforms (Facebook). 🇨🇳 Headquartered in China, DexForce develops 3D vision software and hardware products. It has bagged US$148 million in series B funding from Hengjian Holding, ICBC Asset Management, Lens Technology, Nanshan SEI Investment, Qianhai Fund of Funds, Shenzhen Capital Group, and Zhurui Capital. 🇰🇷 CarbonSix focuses on cutting-edge robotics automation for manufacturing. Based in South Korea, the firm has raised US$40 million in series A funding from Cortentia, DSC Investment, Foothill Ventures, IMM Investment, KDB Bank, LB Investment, SV Investment, Storm Ventures, Xquared, and Zeitgeist Capital. 🇦🇺 Sicona Battery Technologies, a battery materials tech and manufacturing company from Australia, has secured US$31 million in series A funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. 🇸🇬 Biobot Surgical provides first-in-class robotic solutions for prostate biopsy and treatment. Based in Singapore, it has raised US$15.4 million in series A money from ClavystBio and ZIG Ventures. Here's the complete list of this week's funding chart: 72 deals worth over US$1.4 billion. M&AS 🇮🇳 CirclePe, a rent financing startup that hails from India, has been acquired by AI-powered property management platform Crib. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. 🇹🇭 Eazy Digital, an insurance tech startup headquartered in Thailand, has been acquired by Igloo (Axinan). The financial details of the deal were not made public. 🇸🇬 Infinium Robotics, a Singapore-based company that offers solutions to automate inventory management at retail stores and warehouses, has been acquired by investment company Deutsche Defence Beteiligungen for US$24 million. 🇮🇳 Phitku, a personal care brand from India, has been acquired by private equity firm Ananta Capital for US$11 million. STARTUP IN THE SPOTLIGHT This startup is building the trust layer for enterprise AI As AI agents start making more and more decisions within enterprises, proving that these agents are safe has become a challenge. That's what the startup Protum is trying to solve. The gap: While 88% of enterprises use AI, only 6% see measurable business impact. Protum is built to close that gap. The fix: It's not another static governance report, but an AI governance platform and operating model designed to simultaneously give assurance to security, tech, and board-level stakeholders. The pitch: Protum is betting that enterprises will pay for assurance the way they already pay 6x more for services than for software. This article is part of our Startup Spotlight series. To get your startup or portco covered, fill out this survey. 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. ✅︎ "Deep industry expertise and supply chain focus make for thorough discussion and deep understanding of the space." - Read more ❌"[Investor] takes your data room and literally disappears. Do not bother. First, it was investing from their main fund, then the narrative was changed to a sub-fund. Then it is complete ghosting. Absolutely unprofessional." - Read more ✅︎ "She came to the conversation well-prepared, having thoroughly reviewed our deck beforehand, and instead of asking us to present it, she focused on asking insightful questions to clarify specific points." - 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 case for philanthropic capital While regular donations remain essential to philanthropy, there's been a rise in "risk capital," where donors function more like VCs, providing funding to support startups in the social impact space. Much like a regular VC backing, they often involve debt and equity structures, which have a positive downstream effect. This piece from Shaun Seow, CEO of Philanthropy Asia Alliance, dives deeper into the phenomenon. 2️⃣ Let it crash AI is everywhere and in everything - and according to Vijay Pande, founder of VZ.VC, the tech needs to crash. In a post on X, he shares that the AI bubble bursting would be the best thing for the larger economy in the grand scheme of things, paving the way for a real golden age of AI. Check it out here. 3️⃣ The age of the giga VC General Catalyst, Founders Fund, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, and Sequoia Capital are the biggest names in VC right now, raising billions of dollars to fund the brightest startups. Their participation in a round can make a world of difference to a company - but it also comes with expectations and risk. This piece from Inc dives deeper into these giga VCs. 4️⃣ Workers in the age of AI Former US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo recently launched Raise Us, an initiative to develop a people strategy to match the nation's tech strategy. In this episode of the Rapid Response podcast, host Bob Safian speaks to Raimondo to unpack the human cost of AI innovation, managing AI displacement, and the collective action needed to build for an AI-driven future. 5️⃣ Building within your means This may be a newsletter focused on VCs and funding, but it's also good to acknowledge that VC money isn't necessarily the road to success. Ingrid Carney, founder and CEO of maternity wear brand Ingrid & Isabel, shares more about the decision not to take external funding, its influence on the way the company was built, and her thoughts on the retail landscape today. Learn more from this Retail Brew story. Today's edition was written by Stefanie Yeo. It's edited by Mina Deocareza. 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