Southeast Asia’s fintech scene is no longer the free-flowing capital magnet it once was. The US$839M raised in the first nine months of 2025, down nearly 40 per cent from last year, underscores a market recalibrating after years of exuberant funding.
The slowdown–particularly in seed and early-stage deals–signals that investors are tightening filters, seeking traction over hype and profitability over promise.
Singapore’s dominance, capturing 84 per cent of all fintech funding, reflects both its maturity and its concentration of institutional investors. But it also exposes the growing gap between the region’s ecosystems, where hubs like Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City still struggle to attract comparable late-stage backing.
Interestingly, the stability at the late stage, buoyed by mega rounds for Thunes, Airwallex, and bolttech, shows that conviction hasn’t vanished; it’s simply consolidated. Capital now flows to proven business models with regional scale and regulatory resilience.
This funding winter, then, isn’t the end of fintech’s growth story; it’s a reset. As cheap money fades, Southeast Asia’s next fintech wave will depend on discipline: building sustainable revenue, leveraging cross-border synergies, and proving that innovation can outlast the cycle.
REGIONAL
Fintech funding in SEA falls 39% as early-stage capital dries up: The total capital inflow marks a 39% decline compared to the US$1.4B raised in 9M 2024. Seed-stage funding stood at US$62.3M in 9M 2025, a reduction of 63% from 9M 2024.
Police seize US$34M from NextTech founder in crypto fraud case: Nguyen Hoa Binh and nine others face charges of fraudulent appropriation of assets and accounting violations related to the AntEx cryptocurrency project. The seized items from him include 597 gold bars, title deeds to 18 properties, and two vehicles.
17LIVE’s director Karen Chen Xiuling steps down amid US sanctions: Chen’s inclusion on the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List effectively prohibits US entities and individuals from conducting business with her. The firm has clarified that she was not involved in its daily operations.
Vietnam tops SEA in e-commerce optimism despite hurdles: report
According to a new Blackbox Research report, 85% remain confident in the country’s long-term growth, citing strong logistics, digital infrastructure, and entrepreneurial dynamism.
Tim Draper leads US$3.2M bet on Filipino-built crypto wallet Ryder: Louise Ivan Valencia Payawal’s Ryder offers Ryder One, a consumer crypto hardware wallet designed to prioritise ease of use and security that promises users crypto security in 60 seconds.
Verta Bioenergy nets funding to turn farm waste into coal-ready fuel: Investors include NGIE Factory, Wright Partners, AlphaGen VC, and Auravia Capital. The startup focuses on transforming agricultural waste into high-quality biomass pellets that are positioned as a cost-competitive, drop-in replacement for industrial coal usage.
Shopline unit secures MAS in-principle approval for payment license: The approval will allow Shopline, a Singapore-headquartered commerce software provider with operations across Asia-Pacific, to directly process payments for merchants on its platform, pending final approval from MAS.
Global EV sales reach record 2.1M in September: research: China led the market with about 1.3M vehicles sold, making up around two-thirds of global sales. North American sales also reached a record, with US buyers accelerating purchases to secure expiring tax incentives.
REPORTS, FEATURES & INTERVIEWS
Investors bet on algorithms and insurance to tame Asia’s climate-health crisis: As climate shocks escalate, investors are funding AI-driven early warnings and parametric insurance to build scalable, data-led climate-health resilience.
Unlocking climate x health capital: A data-driven blueprint for smarter impact investing: A new five-step climate x health investment toolkit helps investors quantify risk, align capital with policy readiness, and finance scalable resilience solutions.
Senior leaders in Singapore tech industry reflect on how AI is reshaping the workplace: The NodeFlair Salary Report 2025 does not draw correlations between AI use and pay, but the discourse indicates that the trends may evolve.
INTERNATIONAL
GIC sues Chinese EV maker Nio over securities fraud: The Singapore sovereign wealth fund claims Nio and Weineng, a battery asset company established with partners, inflated revenue and profits by prematurely recognising battery sales and concealing Nio’s control over Weineng, a battery asset company established with partners.
Apple CEO promises to boost investment in China during his visit: Cook met with Li Lecheng, head of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, after spending two days in Shanghai. The two discussed Apple’s business in China and explored cooperation in electronics, according to an MIIT statement.
US lawmaker warns TikTok algorithm licensing deal raises concerns: US Representative John Moolenaar, chair of the House Select Committee on China, is awaiting a briefing for more details and questioned whether China would retain influence over the technology, citing uncertainty about the algorithm’s contents.
Tencent’s training-free AI method sparks debate on learning: The new method lets AI models improve using accumulated “experience” instead of retraining, according to a recent paper on arXiv. The technique suggests LLMs can store rules and heuristics from past tasks in an “experience library,” and use them when facing new challenges.
HR unicorn Deel nets US$300M, valued at US$17.3B: Investors are Ribbit Capital, a16z, Coatue Management, General Catalyst, and Green Bay Ventures. The company claims to serve more than 37K businesses and 1.5M workers across over 150 countries, handling US$22B in payroll annually.
UK moves to seize US$6.8B bitcoin in China fraud scheme: Authorities uncovered 61K bitcoin in 2018 during a money laundering probe involving two Chinese women, including Yadi Zhang, who pleaded guilty to related charges last month. The fraud, tied to Tianjin Lantian, targeted about 128K investors in China.
Sam Altman says OpenAI shouldn’t act as global moral authority: His statement comes after he said the company is “not the elected moral police of the world” after criticism over its decision to allow content such as erotica on ChatGPT. OpenAI has faced increased scrutiny about user safety, especially for minors.
SEMICONDUCTOR
TSMC profit rises 39.1% to US$14.8B in Q3 2025: The Taiwan-based chipmaker reported Q3 2025 revenue of US$33.1B, with net income at US$14.76B; Revenue rose 30.3% y-o-y and 6% from Q2, while net income increased 39.1% y-o-y and 13.6% q-o-q.
Nvidia, Australia’s Firmus Technologies partner on AI data centre: Construction has started on two sites in Melbourne and Tasmania as part of Project Southgate, with a planned investment of US$2.9B and a power capacity of 150MW. Firmus said the data centres will use Nvidia’s GB300 chips and are expected to begin operations by April.
Ant Group unveils AI framework that is 10x faster than Nvidia’s: The company said the inference framework called dInfer targets models that differ from widely used autoregressive systems like ChatGPT, which generate text one word at a time.
MIT spinout Vertical Semiconductor secures US$11M for AI power chips: Vertical says its technology aims to improve energy efficiency and reduce heat compared to conventional approaches, using a novel vertical GaN architecture. The company has demonstrated its technology on 8-inch wafers with standard semiconductor manufacturing methods.
AI
A brief history of AI: Is winter coming?: For many of us today, when we hear AI, we infer it to be ChatGPT or other generative tools. But each generation before us experimented with AI long before it became mainstream and has played a role in both fiction and reality, offering us glimpses into what the future could hold.
AI and the human touch: How leadership paves the way: As AI continues to revolutionise business practices, leadership within organisations must ride the wave of transformation, evolving their strategies to ensure successful AI integration into existing work processes as well as workplace culture.
AI for the rest of us: What it really looks like in a scrappy SME: The lesson for SMEs trying to get started with AI is this: ‘do not aim for perfection, aim for progress. You don’t need to automate everything overnight. Start with a clear problem you want to solve’.
From human to AI: Embracing change and thriving in the new world of work: From manufacturing to customer service, AI is making tasks faster, easier, and more efficient. It’s not just blue-collar jobs that are at risk; white-collar jobs are also feeling the heat as AI technology continues to advance and disrupt the job market.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Why Dubai’s AI and smart city strategy is attracting SEA startups: Its pragmatic approach to business has attracted interest from Singapore for years, with Singapore ranking among the top 10 sources of FDI into the city. 22 per cent of all project announcements from Singapore fall in the software and IT services segment.
Breaking free: How co-working spaces can shift Malaysia away from overwork: By promoting work-life balance, encouraging breaks, and prioritising productivity over hours, co-working spaces can help reduce the culture of overwork.
Is hybrid work arrangement the future of work?: Three out of four employees felt that flexible working arrangements should be the new norm in Singapore. One in two even expressed that if they were to look for a new job, they would only be open to an organisation that offers flexible working arrangements.
Embracing AI’s promise: Navigating the future of marketing: It’s crucial to remember that the marketing industry is not monolithic; it’s a rich tapestry of brand communicators, growth strategists, and product marketing professionals. Some have embraced the AI frontier more readily, revealing the landscape’s promises and pitfalls.
Can co-working spaces change Malaysia’s work habits?: Despite the increase in demand for co-working spaces, Malaysia is still not in a position to fully utilise them due to its working culture. This article delves into reasons why local firms still fail to understand the impact of co-working spaces.
Exploring Sri Lanka’s potential as a premier global IT hub: In many ways, Sri Lanka has cultural traits and practices similar to South India’s. Many South Indians, and in general, Indians have a strong inclination towards the STEM fields. India boasts the 2nd highest number of total graduates from STEM per year.
The power of financial models for startups: A guide for founders and VCs: A well-constructed financial model provides VCs with insights into whether a startup’s plan leads to a substantial opportunity. It serves as a compass, guiding both founders and investors through the intricacies of the market.
Why the next decade of influence belongs to those who build trust: The future of influence in Asia isn’t about bigger numbers; it’s about better alignment. Founders, speakers, and creators alike are learning that credibility, consistency, and care compound faster than any viral spike.
The future of AI for SMEs in South Asia: Many SMEs, particularly those in informal sectors, lack long credit histories. AI can help financial institutions evaluate them more accurately, enabling faster and fairer access to loans. In the future, SME owners will rely on real-time dashboards that replace guesswork with data-driven insights.
The post Ecosystem Roundup: SEA fintech funding plunges 39 per cent | US$34M seized from NextTech founder | 17LIVE director quits amid US sanctions appeared first on e27.