This week OpenAI catapulted past SpaceX and ByteDance to become the most world’s most valuable private company. It secured a valuation of $500 billion when a group of investors—SoftBank, Thrive Capital and UAE-based MGX, among others—struck a $6.6 billion deal to buy shares owned by the ChatGPT-maker’s employees.
The half-a-trillion valuation—equivalent to 20 Grabs or five Sea Ltd.’s—underscores the investor stampede in the AI sector even as overall VC activity slows amid liquidity shortages and the uncertainty over US tariff policies.
Deal value in Asia for the first three quarters of 2025 reached $48.9 billion—that’s only half the amount of investments made last year, according to market data provider PitchBook. There were 7,589 deals in the region as of Sept. 30 this year suggesting Asia is on track for just 60% of its 2024 deal count.
Even so, despite the overall slowdown, investors are still pouring capital into AI, as deal value for the first three quarters of this year reached $192.7 billion, surpassing the previous record set in 2021.
This week, too, saw a flurry of AI deals. South Korean AI chip startup Rebellions raised $250 million in a Series C round from Samsung Ventures and Pegatron VC, while Singaporean open-source database startup Supabase secured a valuation of $5 billion in a $100 million Series E funding led by Accel and Peak XV.
Accel and Singapore’s GIC also led a $300m funding round in the US-based AI coding startup Vercel at a valuation of Almost $9.3 billion this week.
Scroll down for other top headlines that defined this week.
Startup funding and corporate news
Several startups that raised capital at peak valuations amid the post-pandemic funding frenzy of 2021 have reached the end of their runway. In other cases, investors are seeking an exit from their bets.
This week our reporters got wind that Advance Intelligence Group, the parent of BNPL app Atome, is considering a new equity fundraising. If successful, it would be among the few Southeast Asian growth-stage startups to secure a major round since 2021. Atome became a unicorn in 2021—along with 22 other Southeast Asian startups that year—following a $400 million Series D round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
Meanwhile, LINE MAN Wongnai’s founding shareholder, Line Corp., has acquired most of the shares held by two investment vehicles of GIC in a secondary transaction, leaving the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund with only a small stake in the Thai unicorn. GIC had invested $140 million LINE MAN Wongnai’s $265 million Series B round in September 2022, which made it a unicorn. Regulatory filings also showed that LINE MAN Wongnai’s losses widened in 2024 despite higher revenue, as operating and financing costs increased.
Velocitor Solutions, an American cloud-based field force productivity and fleet management software startup, acquired Singapore spatial data and AI platform Nextbillion.ai. The 100% acquisition provided exit for the company’s investors—Lightspeed Venture Partners, Microsoft, Mirae Asset, and Alpha Wave Global.
GIC has led a $105-million secondary transaction in US-based workflow orchestration startup Temporal Technologies, valuing it at $2.5 billion. Tiger Global and Index Ventures also joined the investor-led tender offer, and adds to GIC’s recent global bets, including a $1.6b investment in Vantage Data Centers and participation in the €6.7-billion Techem buyout.
Neptune Robotics, a Singapore-based developer of underwater robots for ship cleaning, has raised $52 million in Series B funding led by Granite Asia, with Japan’s NYK Line joining as a strategic investor.
In Indonesia, Emtek has boosted its stake in media subsidiary Surya Citra Media from 61.84% to 67% between January and September 2025, acquiring over 342 million shares in September alone for 105 billion rupiah.
Pluang, which has been steadily raising funds over the past two years. is in talks to raise fresh funding from a Japanese investor.
Swiss impact investor responsAbility is increasing its support for sustainable farming with new investments in agribusinesses in India and Vietnam. The firm is providing debt financing to Qul Fruitwall, a vertically integrated horticulture startup based in Kashmir, and to Nafoods Group, one of Southeast Asia’s top fruit processing and export companies headquartered in Vietnam.
Beijing-based Galactic Energy raised $337m in its Series D round, one of the largest financings for a Chinese commercial space startup.
Interviews and analysis
In an interview this week, Vy Le, Chair of the Vietnam Private Capital Agency (VPCA) and GP at Do Ventures said Vietnam’s private capital ecosystem still faces key gaps in R&D, deep tech funding, and exit opportunities, with IPOs seen as critical for long-term capital flows.
Quadria Capital, a healthcare-focused PE firm with over $4 billion AUM, is expanding into the Middle East for the first time, targeting the GCC’s $120-billion healthcare sector growing at 7–9% annually. Backed by Gulf investors in its $1.07-billion third fund, Quadria plans to scale hospitals, diagnostics, pharma, devices, and primary care, while its healthtech arm HealthQuad will drive digital health, AI, and biotech adoption, said Sunil Thakur partner and head of South Asia at Quadria Capital.
Sydney-based VC firm AirTree Ventures, which recently raised its fifth fund at $425m, roped in several global LPs for the first time. Founder John Henderson credited attracting international capital to the maturation of Australia’s startup ecosystem and strong returns. With the new fund, AirTree will continue focusing on founder-led companies with global potential, while adding artificial intelligence as a priority area.
In crypto news, Vietnam approved Resolution 05, a five-year pilot to regulate digital assets under a state-sanctioned framework, positioning itself as a regional first-mover. The initiative has attracted strong interest from banks and securities firms, which, backed by capital and client bases, are set to dominate early adoption, which may leave startups at a disadvantage.
LP-GP news
Indonesia’s Sriwijaya Capital has launched its debut private equity fund with around $200 million in commitments, backed by conglomerates including Barito Pacific, Indika Energy, and Sinarmas Group. The fund will invest in growth-stage companies in healthcare, energy transition, consumer, business services, and industrials, with Indonesia as its core market and base for regional expansion. Sriwijaya Capital also signed two strategic MoUs to strengthen cross-border investment flows between Indonesia, the Gulf, and other growth markets.
IFC is weighing an investment of up to $25 million in the Southeast Asia sleeve of Seraya Partners’ new infrastructure fund. The SE Asia sleeve will invest in emerging economies including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Asian LPs are stepping up investments in European infrastructure debt, evolving from early movers to a key part of the investor base, said Schroders Capital’s Emaad Sami and Jerome Neyroud.
Vietnam-based ThinkZone has launched its fourth vehicle, Global Minds Fund I (GMFI), to back tech startups from pre-seed to Series A with investments of up to $1 million. The fund aims to support both tech-driven startups addressing emerging market needs and traditional businesses adopting deep tech.
Indies Capital Partners has closed its fourth private credit fund, Indies Special Opportunities IV, at over $300 million—more than double the size of its predecessor.
KKR has secured a $40 million commitment from the ERS of Texas for its third and largest Asia infrastructure fund, which is said to be targeting over $9 billion. The pension fund also backed I Squared Capital’s emerging market fund with $75 million in commitments.
Brookfield Asset Management has raised over $4 billion for its fourth infrastructure debt fund, which is targeting at least $7 billion. Its predecessor closed at $6 billion in 2023, the largest private infrastructure debt fund globally at the time.
Hamilton Lane has launched the Global Venture Capital and Growth Fund (HLGVG), an evergreen vehicle offering access to venture and growth opportunities in private markets.
GL Capital has set up a single-asset continuation vehicle to house China-focused drugmaker SciClone Pharmaceuticals, bringing in an Abu Dhabi Investment Authority subsidiary as lead investor.
