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Funding into SEA’s female-led startups falls 42% to US$480.8M in 2023: Tracxn

Funding into female-led startups in Southeast Asia (SEA) saw a 42 per cent y-o-y drop in 2023, according to Tracxn research.

Woman-led startups in Southeast Asia raised US$480.8 million in 2023, compared to US$831.9 million last year. The downturn was not confined to a specific sector or geography but across diverse sectors and geographical locations.

Also Read: Meet the 27+ women headline-makers in the Southeast Asian tech startup ecosystem

2021 saw the highest funding by female-led ventures, raising US$1.2 billion. In that year, funding surged across all stages. While the late-stage funding rose by 626 per cent, early and seed-stage funding increased by 137 and 90 per cent, respectively.

In 2021 and 2023, the highest funding was observed in the late stage.

In 2022, the bulk of the funding came in the form of early-stage deals. Late-stage funding declined 66 per cent in the year, while early-stage and seed-stage funding rose 61 per cent and 47 per cent, respectively

Southeast Asia is home to over 1,700 startups with at least one female co-founder. There are 657 funded women-led startups, of which 14.3 per cent have progressed to the Series A stage and 1.8 per cent to Series C or beyond.

In Southeast Asia, Singapore dominates the female-led startup landscape, with US$3 billion in funding raised across 380 rounds to date. Jakarta secured US$935.9 million through 106 rounds, while Cyberjaya’s female-founded ventures received US$86.3 million across ten rounds.

Also Read: Buy from her: Elevating women’s entrepreneurship

Singapore has 936 woman-led companies, followed by Jakarta (173 companies) and Kuala Lumpur (107).

The city-state ranks seventh in the world in terms of funding raised by women-led startups to date.

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The post Funding into SEA’s female-led startups falls 42% to US$480.8M in 2023: Tracxn appeared first on e27.