It is earnings season, and this week’s edition highlights analytical takes on the numbers reported by some of the listed tech companies operating in Southeast Asia.
Nasdaq-listed Grab swung to the black in Q2 2025, posting a $20 million profit compared with a $68 million loss a year earlier, driven largely by strong growth in its mobility segment. Revenue rose 23% year-on-year to $819 million, supported by a 21% increase in on-demand GMV and a 13% rise in monthly transacting users to 46.2 million.
After years of burning cash in pursuit of market share, Grab is finally settling into financial stability. Analysts say Grab’s profit profile now rests on firmer ground. For now, Grab has its core businesses humming and its next bets mapped out. The challenge will be keeping the momentum as market realities test those new moats.
Indonesia’s listed e-commerce giant Bukalapak continued its operational turnaround in the first half of 2025, achieving significant cost reductions across key expense categories while maintaining a robust cash and investment position. The improved bottom line comes amid a broader transformation strategy initiated in late 2024, which saw Bukalapak pivot away from lower-margin physical commerce towards scalable digital products such as gaming and financial services. Beyond this topline shift, the company has also pursued cost-efficiency across its entire operational structure.
The Asia PE-VC Summit 2025 on Sept 10-11 in Singapore is a little over a month away. Register now to hear from 100+ top speakers across four summit tracks.
Startup concerns
The South Jakarta District Prosecutor’s Office has detained three individuals over alleged corruption and money laundering involving investments made by MDI Ventures and BRI Ventures in agritech startup TaniHub and its affiliates from 2019 to 2023. Those detained include MDI Ventures CEO Donald Wihardja, former TaniHub president director Ivan Arie Setiawan, and a former company director whose identity remains unverified.
With the Tanihub incident, Indonesia’s startup scene faces fresh turmoil, deepening concerns amid recent scandals like eFishery and Investree. Some investors see the crackdown as a vital move to restore industry credibility and signal serious reform to international backers.
In Vietnam, education group EQuest‘s two units—Viet My K-12 Education Investment JSC and Ngoi Sao Vietnam Education JSC—have lodged a criminal complaint against Pham Bich Nga, the founder of one of its schools, accusing her of alleged fund misappropriation and unlawful asset seizure.
Deal scoops
US private equity firm KKR & Co. has finalised plans to exit a nearly eight-year-old investment in an Indonesia-listed bread maker. The transaction, which values KKR’s nearly 22.2% stake at $140-150 million, may involve a debt component.
The last remaining investors of the wound-down Indonesian startup Ula—-B Capital, Quona Capital, Tencent, Prosus Ventures, AC Ventures, among others—-have exited the company. Currently, the only shareholders listed are founders Nipun Mehra and Alan Wong and a new entity called Unity Business Holdings Ltd.
McEasy, Indonesia’s IoT and SaaS enterprise focused on transportation and supply chain solutions, has secured fresh funding from an existing investor.
Singapore-based digital lending platform AND Global has raised capital in a Series B round anchored by the IFC.
Higood, a consumer brand leveraging TikTok Shop and livestream-led sales, particularly in Indonesia and the broader region, is in talks to raise funds from an investor.
FMO has proposed an investment of $20 million in Indian NBFC Namdev Finvest.
LP-GP news
Ares Management has finalised an agreement to combine Northstar Group’s funds and its employees with its $546-billion alternative asset empire in the fourth major move to grow its Asia business. DealStreetAsia first reported on the deal in January.
Philippines-based early growth investor Foxmont Capital Partners has raised $30 million in the first close of its third fund as it seeks to double down on startups after years of seeding them. The first close was anchored by Dutch Good Growth Fund and backed by Grab Holdings.
Indian deeptech-focused venture firm Java Capital is in the market to raise $30 million for its second fund, with a target to raise 50% of the corpus in its first close likely next month.
Yali Capital has hit the final close of its maiden fund at Rs 893 crore ($104 million), surpassing its initial target of Rs 500 crore with a Rs 310-crore greenshoe option.
HK-based Flow Capital Partners has launched a $125-million Asia-focused credit fund, marking a pivot from its previous China- and Hong Kong-centric lending model.
W Health Ventures has launched its second fund, targeting $70 million with a hard cap of $100 million, to build healthcare startups in India.
Samty Holdings, a Japanese hotel operator owned by Hillhouse Investment Management, has announced the final close of its $390 million private real estate fund.
Japan Post Insurance will invest $2 billion in a new investment vehicle managed by Global Atlantic, a KKR-owned retirement and reinsurance firm.
Vietnam is aiming to raise $100 million for a government-backed VC fund to boost its startup ecosystem.
Inflection Point Ventures has launched a $110-million fund under the GIFT City regime, marking its first foray into cross-border fund structures.
In this week’s edition of Beyond the Buyout, we look at the potential of M&A activity picking up and the growing trend of co-investments.
Analyses and interviews
Chinese biotech firm GeneQuantum recently entered into agreements with Nasdaq-listed Biohaven and South Korea’s AimedBio to develop a class of targeted cancer therapies. Similarly, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Vor Biopharma, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Novo Nordisk, and Merck, too, have snapped up Chinese drug candidates. This report examines why big pharma is making a beeline to buy China’s biotech assets.
Global macroeconomic uncertainties and geopolitical conditions forced the Indonesia Investment Authority to postpone several investments in the first half of 2025. However, the wealth fund plans to make up for this in the latter half of the year, shared CIO Andry Setiawan.
University of Tokyo Edge Capital Partners is expanding globally, targeting companies with strong synergies with Japan, particularly in emerging Asia. It recently closed its sixth fund at $326 million, bringing total AUM to $1 billion. About two-thirds of its investments will stay in Japan, with the rest focused on the US-UK, Southeast Asia, and India.
Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund Danantara is launching a major restructuring plan targeting state-owned enterprises to improve governance and address inefficiencies. The plan will impact projects and jobs, with risks tied to execution.
