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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: 
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Hello Betamax, "My strategy, strategy, will get ya, get ya, baby." 🎶 This line from the song "Strategy" by K-pop girl group Twice kept playing in my head while I was going through this week's funding data. If you're not a K-pop fan, you may recognize the song from the soundtrack of Kpop Demon Hunters, a film that took the world by storm in 2025. "Strategy" was playing in my head because fundraising, investments, and M&As all require strategic moves. Sure, you have a whole class of funds called "strategic investments," but in itself, the fundraising and investment landscape is all about making tactical bets: If I go with this investor, what other opportunities can they offer beyond just the money? By giving this startup funding, what returns could I see? What can this acquisition do to keep my company ahead? It's a long game, and it can take a long time to see these strategic bets pay off. But when it does, it probably feels pretty sweet. 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 COUNTRY🇨🇳 Sunrise is a developer of AI computing chips. Based in China, it has raised US$298 million in strategic investment from Bloomsky, CAS Star, CCB PE, Chia Tai Group, Infore Enviro, Janchor Partners, PICC Capital Investment Management, and Tongcheng. 🇮🇩 Ajaib is an online investing platform for millennials in Indonesia. It has bagged US$270 million in series C funding from SBI Holdings. 🇮🇱 HiBob is an HR tech platform. Based in Israel, which is located in West Asia, it has secured strategic investment worth US$166 million in a round led by Salesforce. 🇮🇳 Yuma Energy is an India-based company that focuses on developing accessible, affordable, and carbon-free transportation solutions. It has bagged US$35 million in series A money from Magna International. 🇦🇺 Gridsight is an AI-powered SaaS platform that helps electrical utilities optimize grid reliability, modernize infrastructure, and integrate renewable energy. Based in Australia, it has raised US$26 million in series B money from Aera VC, Airtree, Energy Transition Ventures, Galvanize Ventures, and Insight Partners. Here's the complete list of this week's funding chart: 68 deals worth over US$1.2 billion. |
M&AS🇸🇬 Bback, a recovery brand that sells alcohol recovery, hydration, and liver wellness products, has been acquired by investment firm DSG Consumer Partners. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. 🇮🇳 Unacademy, an Indian edtech startup, has been acquired by higher education and skilling company UpGrad for US$206 million. |
STARTUPS THAT ARE RAISING FUNDSFundraising 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 Singapore-based micro-entertainment studio licenses, produces, and distributes original short-form dramas. 🇮🇳 This startup from India uses AI for the procurement, quality testing, and refurbishment of affordable laptops on its marketplace. 🇮🇩 This company aims to provide low-cost molecular diagnostics for cancer and other diseases in Indonesia. 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.
- ✅︎ "Investor-friendly, smart, and they do the right amount of due diligence without the nonsense. Super hardworking, and our success in raising each of our rounds was off the back of their advice, involvement, and mentoring." - 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're quite different from your typical SEA VCs in a good way. A good breath of fresh air. Very down to earth." - Read more
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SCALING FOR A NATIONIn conversation with Director of Open Government Products  Building software for an entire nation is the ultimate test of large-scale deployment. Open Government Products (OGP) has cracked the code on solving real-world problems through rapid prototyping and autonomous execution. With only a few days remaining until the Tech in Asia Conference, Li Hongyi, director of OGP, joins us to discuss the framework it used to identify citizen pain points before writing a single line of code. Discover how multidisciplinary teams are empowered to challenge established processes, design for diverse usability, and drive adoption across millions of users. This session moves deep into the mechanics of production: how to measure success through public value and outcomes, and how to make the ruthless decision to scale, pivot, or stop a product. Join us to learn the strategies needed for industrial-scale deployment. |
EXCLUSIVE LISTICLESLists 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 READS1️⃣ It's all in the data Ina Fried, chief technology correspondent at Axios, has been unpacking the privacy and data-sharing policies of AI consumer products from companies like OpenAI and Meta in her long-running series What They Know About You. She digs deeper into this topic in this episode of the Pioneers of AI podcast, sharing why data is key to AI companies' business models, how they're getting more of it, and what this means for everyday users. 2️⃣ Minding the gap The story of Southeast Asia's startup scene is usually a regional one. However, it seems a wider gap is manifesting within the region. Singapore has received the lion's share of the money, bagging 61.4% of Southeast Asia's equity deal volume, while its neighbors have seen the numbers drop. This piece from e27 takes a closer look at this disparity. 3️⃣ Getting low Investment in Singapore's fintech sector has dropped significantly, with the city-state's fintech scene experiencing the most subdued first half of the year in nearly a decade. Fintech raised more than US$499 million in the first half of 2026, down from US$1.45 billion in the same period last year, likely because of investors being far more cautious and consolidating behind deals they see as sure bets. Read more on the Singapore Business Review. 4️⃣ In pursuit of transformation There are many reasons why an attempt at organizational change may fail. One that isn't often discussed, according to this article from the MIT Sloan Management Review, is anxiety - particularly leadership anxiety. This can lead to something called "defensive organizing," which stalls the entire process. 5️⃣ The revolution of our minds The rise of AI is marking the beginning of a "Cognitive Revolution," says Konstantine Buhler, partner at Sequoia Capital. In a post on the firm's blog, he writes that, just as the Industrial Revolution yielded significant benefits for humankind despite being terrifying, this Cognitive Revolution will "end the way the last one did: with the world unrecognizably better." Check it out here. Today's edition was written by Stefanie Yeo. It's edited by Mina Deocareza. |
EVENTS HAPPENINGYou can also check out our curated list of trending tech events and Tech in Asia's signature events.
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More ways to connect at the conference Extend your Tech in Asia Conference 2026 experience this September 15 at AWS Happy Hour. It gathers founders, investors, enterprise leaders, and startup partners over drinks. Make new introductions, continue the day's conversations, and explore potential investments, partnerships, and collaborations in a relaxed networking setting. Have a conference pass? Register your interest for AWS Happy Hour. |
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Why do AI pilots stall before they scale? Start your day right at Tech in Asia Conference 2026 with a closed-door AI leaders breakfast co-hosted by Wonderful. Senior enterprise leaders will gather to discuss moving beyond stalled AI pilots and addressing execution challenges across strategy, integration, governance, and people through structured peer exchange. Have a conference pass? Register your interest for the AI Leaders Breakfast. |
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Keep the conversation going Wrap up Tech in Asia Conference 2026 with an evening of drinks, conversations, and new connections at Avenue Lounge. After Hours Networking brings together fellow attendees, speakers, partners, and leaders from across the tech and business community for a relaxed evening of meaningful interactions, with The Peak and Her World joining as media partners. Have a conference pass? Save your spot for After-hours Networking. |
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China's next global move Taking place on September 15 at the Tech in Asia Conference 2026, this exclusive luncheon gives you an early look at the report "Chinese Companies' New Playbook for Going Global" and gives you access to a moderated discussion on China's AI innovation, global expansion, and what these shifts could mean for Southeast Asian businesses. Already have a pass? Register your interest for the luncheon. |
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