Dear Reader
The news flow this week indicates strong exit activity driven in particular by public market listings, including those in the pipe.
From Moore Threads Technology or ‘China’s Nvidia’s’ debut this week in Shanghai, to Meesho’s upcoming float in India, and SpaceX’s purported listing next year, global investors have more than a few big reasons for optimism.
Yet, geopolitical risk and policy uncertainty remain high, and the impact of US-imposed trade tariffs are yet to be fully-accounted for. More than a few global allocators have told DealStreetAsia’s reporters they are still watching on the sidelines before making decisions on whether to return to the Chinese market, for instance, or increasing deployments in Southeast Asia.
Nevertheless, some managers are capitalising on the momentum. In Southeast Asia, private equity-backed IPOs have fuelled a jump in the region’s public market listing proceeds, to some $6 billion, driving long-awaited distributions and bolstering the region’s PE track record.
The latest offering, of Temasek’s 65 Equity-backed UltraGreen.ai’s debut in Singapore, raised $400 million. Among the other headlining market debuts this year were the Thai initial public offering of Creador portfolio company Mr DIY Holdings, and Eco-Shop’s IPO in Malaysia. In the pipe is expected to be at least a couple more of the Malaysia-based PE firm’s portfolio companies.
More exits
Southeast Asia-focused private equity firm Altair Capital, has made a third exit from its 2019-vintage debut fund that boosted its gross return to over 3x MOIC. All three deals were control buyouts, as the firm’s CEO Gary Ng told DealStreetAsia. The regional investment affiliate of Japanese buyout firm Polaris Capital Group is raising its second fund, with a target of $100 million.
Backers of Indonesian beauty-tech platform Sociolla are said to be close to exit through a roughly $250 million deal. More than $200 million of the deal value is expected to be structured as secondary share sales, allowing at least four early investors—East Ventures, Temasek, Pavilion Capital, and L Catterton—to trim their stakes in the firm.
Funds and fundraising
Singapore-based deeptech startup SynaXG has secured more than $20 million in its first funding round, backed by January Capital, Vertex Ventures, and Qualgro. The capital will help the startup in product development and expanding its engineering team, as well as strengthen collaboration with telecom operators and enterprise clients.
Philippines’ digital-native retail platform Etaily has secured new strategic investment led by Japan’s Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) through its SMBC Asia Rising fund. Other investors include Kaya Founders, JGDEV of the Gokongwei Group, and Asia-based families. The investment brings Etaily’s total funding to over $24 million. Earlier, Etaily raised $17.8 million in a Series A funding round co-anchored by Chinese PE firm SKS Capital and Singapore’s Pavilion Capital.
Tonik Financial, the parent of Philippines-based digital bank Tonik, has raised $12 million from mid-market private equity firm Diligent Capital Partners and other investors including Plio Limited, existing shareholder Altara Capital, and Tonik’s management.
Malaysian government-backed early-stage backer Cradle Fund, is preparing to launch a new fund next year. It will be managed under its venture arm Cradle Seed Ventures (CSV), and follows the last fund that was set up in 2015.
Nexus Venture Partners, which backs early-stage startups in India and the US, has closed its eighth fund at $700 million. Most of the limited partners in the latest vehicle were returning backers of earlier funds. The firm plans to step up investments in AI, enterprise software, consumer tech, and fintech startups.
International Finance Corporation is set to invest up to $37.5 million, in equity and debt financing, in Invesdian Pte. Ltd., a newly formed platform dedicated to developing purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) across India.
In the Greater China region, funding into startups continued to pick up in terms of value, as DealStreetAsia’s tracking shows. There were more than 200 transactions in October, which raised almost $4.5 billion. A big part of that came from a clutch of megadeals, defined as investments of at least $100 million.
The businesses that were funded included those in the automotive sector, particularly autonomous and smart technologies, which amassed nearly $950 million in the month; autonomous delivery vehicle company Neolix raised over $600 million. Another notable funded startup in the month is commercial reusable orbital rocket developer Space Pioneer, which raised some $350 million ahead of a domestic IPO.
In Vietnam, climate tech startups had a funding boom this year, as investor interest in the sector deepened from previous years. But the headline numbers, which at about a collective $100 million are still low compared to other sectors and markets, are not reflective of the challenges the industry continues to face.
In other news
Government-owned Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC) posted an investment income of nearly HK$2.35 billion ($301.9 million) for 2024, though it has deployed less than a fifth of its initial capital of HK$62 billion (almost $8 billion).
HKIC was established in October 2022, and has invested in more than 150 projects. Two companies are already listed in Hong Kong, and more than 10 others have either submitted or plan to submit their listing applications in Hong Kong this year, according to HKIC’s annual financial report.
Indonesia-based trucking company Kargo Technologies plans to deploy more electric trucks for commercial logistics, building out to a fleet of 2,500 units next year.
Vietnam’s Masan Consumer Corporation, the food & beverage arm of Masan Group, will move to the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange this month, in a reflection of the company’s rapid expansion amid rising consumer spending power. The company posted $1.2 billion in revenue in 2024 and $284.4 million in the third quarter of 2025. Between 2018 to 2024, Masan Consumer paid out approximately $1.5 billion in cash dividends to shareholders.
Looking ahead
Even as bourses in Southeast Asia – particularly those in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia – and further away in London and New York continue to vie for listings especially of homegrown companies, the stock exchange in Tokyo has also been working to attract issuers from the region. Read how it has been building a pipeline of potential listings that includes a number of familiar names.
Meanwhile, there are growing questions around the resilience of the private credit industry, the latest being raised by former India central banker Raghuram Rajan at a recent event in Singapore.
In Indonesia, state-owned corporate venture capital (CVC) firms are under scrutiny, following the high-profile corruption and money-laundering probe involving agritech startup TaniHub. The fallout is spurring a broader reassessment of how public capital is deployed into high-risk startups.
Still, even as broader early-stage fundraising has been in the doldrums, investor Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India (VVSEAI) has made it clear that it will continue to back founders of businesses that can make a difference, and generate outsized returns for investors.
