Startup investment across Asia revealed a mixed picture in July, with notable growth in Greater China driven by mega-deals and a sharp slowdown in Southeast Asia and India, signalling divergence in regional market dynamics.
Startup fundraising across Asia showed a mixed picture in July, with Southeast Asia cooling sharply after June’s unusually large haul, India seeing a pullback in big-ticket cheques, and Greater China posting its strongest month in more than two years. DealStreetAsia’s proprietary data suggest the June surge was not the start of a broad recovery, but rather the result of a handful of outsized transactions.
In Southeast Asia, privately held companies raised about $697.9 million across 30 equity deals in July, down 83.5% from $4.22 billion in June. DealStreetAsia’s data point to June’s four-year high as an outlier rather than evidence of a sustained rebound. A similar pattern has appeared before: in July 2023, the region’s funding was also lifted by an exceptional deal, when Lazada’s $845 million raise accounted for much of the month’s total.
India’s startup market also softened. Funding fell to $959.8 million in July from $2.12 billion in June, a drop driven largely by the absence of June’s $900 million CRED round. Deal volume declined only 8.3%, suggesting investors remained active even as average cheque sizes fell. That chimes with broader trends in the Indian market, where Moneycontrol reported a deep funding slowdown through 2023 and a weaker monthly run rate compared with the boom years before it.
Greater China was the clearest outlier. Startup fundraising climbed to $11.6 billion across 272 deals in July, a 28-month high, though the total was heavily skewed by one transaction: Kling AI’s near-$3 billion round. DealStreetAsia said 26 megadeals, worth almost $8.4 billion, made up 71.9% of monthly financing. The concentration underscores how much regional fundraising is still being driven by a small number of very large bets.
The wider week also included signs of continued investor interest in selected growth stories. GV, Alphabet’s venture capital arm, invested in Singapore-based biotech company Engine Biosciences shortly after Pfizer Ventures backed the business with nearly $7.5 million. In Singapore, sustainability software company Gprnt is seeking a $10 million Series A round, while AI firm Graas, which acquired Trustana, said it is open to more acquisitions and expects to turn profitable in the fourth quarter.
Elsewhere, capital formation at the fund level remained active. Climate-tech venture builder 100×100, formerly Wavemaker Impact, is expanding from South-East Asia into India with a second vehicle targeting $100 million. Accel has raised $550 million for its ninth India-focused early-stage fund, while Mirae Asset Venture Investments and Bluehill.VC both completed new India-related closes. BlackSoil Asset Management said its second credit fund has deployed nearly $79 million across 40 companies, highlighting how lenders and venture firms alike are still finding room to back selective opportunities despite a more cautious market.
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