While global public markets are showing tentative signs of recovery, Southeast Asia’s ability to deliver clear, dependable exit pathways remains a defining test for the region’s digital economy. Capital may be returning, but confidence hinges less on sentiment and more on proof — specifically, whether investors can realistically see how and when liquidity will materialise.
The e-Conomy SEA 2025 report is unambiguous on this point. Exit viability now sits alongside profitability as a primary filter for capital allocation. This reflects a broader shift from growth narratives to outcome certainty. Investors are no longer asking who can scale fastest, but who can exit credibly.
Globally, IPO activity is beginning to thaw, particularly across the US, Europe and parts of North Asia. Southeast Asia, however, continues to lag. A 21 per cent decline in IPO activity across the SEA-6 in the first half of 2025 underscores the gap between global recovery and regional readiness.
Yet the picture is not uniformly bleak. Indonesia and Malaysia have emerged as the region’s most reliable public exit engines, accounting for roughly 70 per cent of IPO volume over the past year. Singapore’s pipeline, while slower to convert, suggests preparation rather than retreat.
For venture capital, exits are not a luxury; they are the system’s oxygen. The cautious re-emergence of late-stage funding reflects expectations that IPO and M&A routes will reopen meaningfully. As profitability improves and listing pipelines solidify, Southeast Asia’s next test is execution. Confidence will follow results, not projections.
REGIONAL
Trade finance platform Olea bets on AI and Web3 as it closes US$30M Series A: Investors include BBVA, XDC Network, and theDOCK. With fresh capital, Olea scales technology-driven trade finance to support inclusive global commerce and resilient supply chains.
Singapore’s deeptech startup Galatek nets US$30M Series A: The firm focuses on automation and AI solutions for life sciences and semiconductor manufacturing. The funding will help expand its product development, strengthen its supply chain, and grow teams in Europe, North America, and Southeast Asia.
AnyMind Group enters offline retail with acquisition of Japan’s Sun Smile: By integrating Sun Smile, AnyMind Group will extend its BPaaS offering beyond digital channels to include offline retail distribution. This enables brands to manage social-driven demand, e-commerce operations and in-store sales as part of one data-linked ecosystem.
Pyxis bags US$10M to scale electric vessels across SEA: Investors include Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, SEEDS, and Shift4Good. Pyxis will advance its Electra smart ecosystem with deeper IoT integration, predictive maintenance tools and vehicle-to-grid capabilities and develop ultra-fast marine charging infrastructure.
GoTo appoints Hans Patuwo as CEO, replacing Patrick Walujo: Patuwo previously served as COO and led the company’s financial services and cloud migration projects. Before joining GoTo, he worked at multinational companies in the US, China, and Singapore, including McKinsey.
Antler invests US$5.6M across 14 AI startups with early commercial traction: The investments target applied AI businesses operating across industrial, enterprise and infrastructure-focused sectors, with several of the startups reporting active customers in multiple international markets.
Grab, China’s Momenta team up on autonomous driving in SEA: As part of the deal, Grab will make a strategic investment in Momenta. The companies plan to integrate Momenta’s autonomous driving systems into vehicles for deployment on Grab’s platform, focusing on Southeast Asian urban mobility.
Vietnam boosts cross-border e-commerce to become export hub: The country introduced a national e-commerce development master plan for 2026-30 and enacted a new law on December 10. Vietnam’s total cross-border online import-export turnover was US$4.1B in 2024, with online exports estimated to rise 18% to US$2B in 2025.
REPORTS, LISTICLES, AND FEATURES
Recovery without returns: Why SEA’s tech exit problem persists: As the region moves into its next digital decade, the convergence of increasing profitability and more apparent IPO activity in key markets is essential for restoring complete, long-term investor confidence and driving continued capital deployment across the technology ecosystem.
Who made it through: SEA’s startup winners, survivors, and failures: The region’s startup reckoning split winners, survivors and casualties, rewarding fintech infrastructure, profitability and regulatory alignment, while ending growth-at-all-costs narratives and forcing painful reinvention across the ecosystem.
15 SEA startups using tech to fix what systems can’t: From mental health and healthcare access to sustainable food systems, farmer livelihoods, and workplace equity, these companies sit at the intersection of innovation and impact.
Why fintechs should learn about customer retention from e-commerce firms: Fintech firms typically have inventories that are limited to the same types of products and services. As most financial products are intangible, communicating the real value of products to customers before they buy and finding ways to purchase more can be a challenge.
After the Gold Rush: What comes next for Southeast Asia’s digital economy: After a decade of breakneck growth, the region’s digital economy faces slower expansion, tougher regulation, and higher execution demands.
INTERNATIONAL
North Korean hackers steal crypto worth US$2B in 2025: This marks a record haul and a more than 50% rise from 2024. A major portion of this total came from a US$1.5B theft at Bybit in February. The country was responsible for most of the US$3.4B stolen from the global cryptocurrency industry between Jan and early Dec 2025.
TikTok signs deal to divest US assets to American-led venture: The transaction is expected to close on January 22, with Oracle, Silver Lake, and Abu Dhabi-based MGX together holding a 45% stake in the new entity, to be named TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC.
Coinbase sues three US states over prediction market rules: The lawsuit challenges Michigan, Illinois, and Connecticut’s authority to regulate prediction markets. Coinbase seeks court orders confirming that only the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has jurisdiction over these markets.
One-third in UK use AI for emotional, social support: According to a new report from the government’s AI Security Institute, general-purpose assistants like ChatGPT were most commonly used for these purposes, followed by voice assistants such as Amazon Alexa.
Flipkart acquires majority stake in India-based Minivet AI: The acquisition is intended to enhance Flipkart’s generative AI capabilities for its ecommerce platform, especially in areas like visual, conversational, and AI-led shopping experiences.
IBM to train 5M Indian youths in AI, tech by 2030: The tech giant will deliver the training through its SkillsBuild platform, which offers courses in various digital skills. It will work with Indian educational institutions to expand access to hands-on learning, curriculum integration, and faculty development.
SEMICONDUCTOR
South Korea to deploy 10,000 Nvidia GPUs to startups, AI projects: The government recently spent US$947.2M to purchase these GPUs. The GPUs will be used in a large-scale cluster to support high-speed computing for AI model training and inference in industry, academia, and state projects.
Chinese scientists develop optical AI chip 100x faster than Nvidia: The optical computing chip, LightGen, uses photonic neurons—over 2M integrated onto a single chip—to process and generate high-resolution images and videos using the speed of light rather than electrons.
Nvidia to build new AI campus in Israel: The US chipmaker plans to buy the land from the state for about US$28M, marking the first time an international tech firm in Israel will own its campus property. The site will cover 90 dunams and span about 160,000 square meters.
AI
Why legal’s biggest AI problem isn’t technology: The prosperous future of the legal industry depends on the seamless integration of people, technology, and process. This fosters a community of practice that promotes responsible, inclusive, and commercially effective legal innovation.
Asia’s legal AI challenge isn’t tech; it’s talent and mindset: AI adoption in Asia’s legal sector hinges on people, not platforms — bridging generational divides, reskilling talent, and reshaping mindsets for sustainable change.
How AI is rewriting the rules of cyber defence: The fast growth of AI has created an imbalance between attackers and defenders. Security experts are now playing catch-up against threats that are faster and larger than ever before.
Indonesia finishes initial phase of AI talent factory programme: The initiative, run in partnership with Universitas Brawijaya, aims to increase the number of skilled professionals in AI. It focuses on three areas: providing updated education, connecting graduates to industry needs, and encouraging the development of AI-based solutions.
Agentic AI could transform travel planning: McKinsey: Unlike current chatbots or recommendation engines, agentic AI is designed to handle end-to-end travel logistics, from creating itineraries to booking and adjusting plans if disruptions occur.
AI augmented writing: Augmentation in practice: Merriam-Webster’s 2025 Word of the Year, “slop”, highlights how AI automation degrades trust, while human-led AI augmentation delivers authenticity, performance and meaningful content.
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Tech earnings fail AI test and crypto pays the price: Asian markets fell as tech stocks slid on AI valuation worries, dragging crypto lower as Nasdaq-linked sentiment tightened, with investors demanding earnings proof amid rising global risk aversion and volatility.
The art and science of feedback: A guide for first time founders and new managers: Effective feedback isn’t vibes or bureaucracy. It requires structure, self-awareness and trust — combining human judgment with disciplined systems, and eventually AI, to turn fear into growth.
Human connection will define SEA’s innovation story in 2026: Trust, care, belonging, and emotional intelligence are becoming the new KPIs. In a world where AI can automate almost everything, what can’t be automated becomes even more valuable: Empathy, creativity, local culture, memory-making moments, and real presence.
The future of retail is autonomous: Securing agentic AI for smarter, safer growth: Agentic AI is emerging as a critical enabler in retail. It does not just follow instructions. It reasons through tasks, makes informed decisions, and takes action, enabling a connected frontline to work smarter and respond to customer needs in real time.
Fintech companies targeting the next billion users are living a pipe dream. Here’s why: Using history and fintech, the piece argues top-down tech strategies fail in emerging markets; success with next billion users demands ground-level, merchant-first solutions over one-size-fits-all platforms.
Digital banking in Indonesia: Growing importance and future trends: Digital banking is helping Indonesians to solve problems that a few years ago were hard to imagine solving. It gives access to finances to rural citizens, therefore expanding the abilities for economic rise and development.
How retailers could prepare for the next consumer recession, if it were to come: Reward programmes are a way to retain customers but to make it work, retailers have to track and record the results, including new membership sign-ups, immediate sales growth, and long-term measurable profit increment.
The post Ecosystem Roundup: Why SEA’s tech exit problem persists | N Korean hackers steal US$2B in crypto | SEA startup winners and losers | Galatek, Olea Raise US$30M appeared first on e27.