At DealStreetAsia, we are constantly pushing to reinvent the wheel, build something fresh. The Leadership Roundtable is one such exciting initiative we launched this year—a closed-door, editorially driven forum designed to foster open, candid discussions with senior investors.
Our inaugural edition, Asia Secondaries 2025, brought together leaders from Pantheon, LGT Capital Partners, Jefferies, ChrysCapital and Kedaara, who highlighted valuation discipline, market cycles, and the growing sophistication of continuation vehicles as core forces shaping debates around alignment, pricing, asset quality, and the evolving role of secondaries in Asia.
For deeper insights into CV structures, pricing, discounts, and the most prominent deals shaping Asia’s secondary market, download the full PDF for the complete analysis from DealStreetAsia’s inaugural Leadership Roundtable on Asia Secondaries 2025.
Moving onto the other highlights of the week.
LP-GP news
Granite Asia has made the first close of its debut pan-Asia private credit fund at $350 million, anchored by Temasek’s new private credit manager, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, and the Indonesia Investment Authority.
Kuala Lumpur-headquartered Navis Capital Partners is likely to close by April next year at around $200 million, short of its original $350 million target, according to sources privy to the development.
Continuous state backing throughout market cycles help ensure a robust private markets ecosystem even through difficult periods, Khazanah Nasional managing director Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir said at the Malaysian Venture Forum 2025 in Kuala Lumpur recently.
Singapore-based Ikhlas Capital is understood to have crossed the $300-million target for its second private equity vehicle . It is set to complete fundraising by early next year backed by prominent institutional investors such as Temasek, Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund, and KWAP.
British International Investment has committed £308 million ($410 million) to climate finance in Southeast Asia, as it targets to invest up to £500 million in the sector by 2026.
China’s Fudan University has launched a US dollar fund to pool $100 million for investments in scientific research projects grown out of the university, and in the industrialisation and global forays of innovative startups.
La Caisse, one of Canada’s biggest institutional investors, formerly called CDPQ, is considering selling its stakes in private funds worth about $1 billion in the secondary market.
GLP-backed Hidden Hill Capital and nine other asset managers have bagged a HK$300-million ($38.6 million) venture capital mandate each from the government-owned Hong Kong Investment Corporation Limited (HKIC).
British International Investment has committed £308 million ($410 million) to climate finance in Southeast Asia, as it targets to invest up to £500 million in the sector by 2026.
One of China’s largest sovereign wealth funds—SAFE Investment Company—is in advanced talks to sell a portfolio of private fund stakes, marking yet another secondary transaction amid the asset class’s rapid boom. The stakes have a combined net asset value of roughly $1 billion, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund is adding Founders Circle Capital to its venture capital programme, making San Francisco-based FCC the seventh growth investor to take a share in the $1-billion initiative.
Temasek-backed SeaTown Holdings has secured about $900 million in commitments for its Private Credit Fund III at its second close, after raising $612 million at its first close in August.
Global real asset manager CapitaLand Investment Limited has closed a second onshore sub-fund under its renminbi-denominated master fund in China at 1 billion yuan (about $142 million).
Company updates
Indonesian digital credit unicorn Kredivo is said to have secured more than $100 million in fresh funding led by long-time backer Mizuho Bank. According to sources, the deal—structured with a sizeable secondary component—is aimed at providing long-pending liquidity to early shareholders, including Jungle Ventures, Alpha JWC Ventures, and MDI Ventures, rather than meeting the company’s capital needs.
Singapore’s digital supply-chain lending startup Validus has secured around $30 million for its Series D funding round from Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional to drive growth in its core markets.
Indonesian logistics platform Waresix is preparing to file for an initial public offering on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) in the coming weeks, to fund its expansion plans as well as pave the way for exits by some of its investors, according to multiple sources.
The Radical Fund, an early-stage climate technology investor focused on Southeast Asia, has announced the launch of an AI-native studio aimed at building new startups and helping portfolio companies expand into the Middle East.
ABACUS Digital Company, the Thai parent of lending app MoneyThunder, has completed its first bond offering to institutional and high-net-worth investors, in an oversubscribed $31-million issuance.
BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners will invest Rs 2,000 crore ($222.50 million) and take a minority stake in Aditya Birla Renewables. It will also have a “greenshoe option” to invest a further Rs 1,000 crore in the Indian company, taking the total investment to Rs 3,000 crore (about $335 million). The investment values the renewable energy company at Rs 14,600 crore, including debt.
ChemLex, an artificial intelligence startup focused on chemistry and drug discovery, has raised $45 million in a funding round anchored by venture firm Granite Asia.
A host of investors, including Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Accel and Japan’s TDK Ventures, are looking to invest in Indian spacetech startup EtherealX.
IDG Capital and the state-linked CNBM New Materials Fund have co-led a strategic investment of nearly 1 billion yuan ($141.4 million) in China’s Xingi Technology.
Robinhood, the US retail trading platform that helped reshape equity investing for a generation of first-time traders, announced that it is entering Indonesia by acquiring local brokerage firm Buana Capital Sekuritas and licensed digital asset trader Pedagang Aset Kripto. The announcement confirms DealStreetAsia’s report in November that said Robinhood was laying the groundwork for an expansion into Southeast Asia, through Indonesia.
Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit is also preparing to formally enter Indonesia by acquiring local digital asset platform NOBI, highlighting the country’s growing appeal among global trading platforms.
Airwallex, a global payments and financial platform for businesses, has raised $330 million in a Series G funding round that values the company at $8 billion. Separately, it has acquired a majority stake in PT Skye Sab Indonesia, a licensed Category 1 payment service provider.
Malaysian PE firm Creador has acquired a 7% stake in India’s La Renon Healthcare from the promoter family and existing investor Peak XV Partners.
Indonesian online ticketing platform Tix.id is said to have laid off nearly 50% of its workforce, with the layoffs majorly impacting its tech team. Sources familiar with the matter said this marks the second round of layoffs conducted by the management this year.
The Private Infrastructure Development Group has set up a $30-million joint venture platform with Singapore-based August Energy Investment Co to finance and operate energy-as-a-service (EaaS) projects in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand.
IDG Capital and the state-linked CNBM New Materials Fund have co-led a strategic investment of nearly 1 billion yuan ($141.4 million) in China’s Xingi Technology.
Centre Court Capital, anchored by JSW Cement managing director Parth Jindal, has closed its debut fund at Rs 410 crore ($45.5 million) as it looks to invest in companies across sports, fitness, wellness and social gaming.
Singapore-based cross-border payments and digital assets firm MetaComp has raised $22 million in a pre-Series A round as it expands a cross-border settlement network linking bank rails with stablecoin transfers.
Former Alibaba Group executive-led Vision Knight Capital has raised over 4 billion yuan ($565.6 million) for new investment vehicles with the backing of multiple local government guidance funds in China.
SanegeneBio, a Chinese clinical-stage biotech company backed by internet major Tencent, has closed a Series B financing round of over $110 million.
Qai, an artificial intelligence company owned by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund; and Brookfield have formed a $20-billion joint venture to develop artificial intelligence infrastructure in Qatar and select international markets.
Bain Capital is planning to carve out Tanabe Pharma’s ex-Japan assets after striking a $3.3-billion deal to acquire the pharmaceutical unit of Mitsubishi Chemical Group in February, according to sources familiar with the matter. The offering could be worth approximately $400-500 million in total, the sources said.
Early-stage investment platform IAN Group has announced the closure of its second venture capital vehicle, the IAN Alpha Fund, with capital commitments totalling $100 million.
D3 Bio, a clinical-stage biotech company developing innovative oncology therapeutics for patients globally, has raised $108 million in a Series B round to finance the pivotal trials of its lead asset.
Japanese telecommunications and ICT giant NTT Group is reshaping its innovation strategy in Southeast Asia with the launch of Synexia Ventures—a Singapore-based investment vehicle jointly created by NTT’s corporate VC arm NTT DOCOMO Ventures and the leasing and finance unit NTT Finance.
Granite-Integral—the joint venture between Granite Asia and Integral GlobalTech Partners—has made its first investment in the $15-million Series B funding round of Japan’s Notta AI, an AI-based note-taking app.
Bengaluru-based at-home diagnostics company Inito has raised $29 million in its Series B funding round led by Bertelsmann India Investments and co-led by existing investor Fireside Ventures.
HongShan-backed Deep Intelligent Pharma, which operates a generative AI platform to help transform pharmaceutical and medtech innovations, has raised almost $50 million in a Series D funding round led by Dinghui Baifu, the deeptech-focused investment arm of China’s CDH Investments.
Biotech startup Syneron Bio has secured nearly $100 million in Series A and A+ rounds of financing to advance its development of macrocyclic peptide therapeutics targeting oncology and chronic diseases.
Green Energy Origin, a Luxembourg-based supplier of electrolytes and carbon nanotube (CNT) slurries for EV and energy-storage batteries, has secured $110 million in a Series B round.
Vietnamese insurtech startup Saladin has raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A funding round led by SBI Ven Capital through its joint fund with Kyobo Securities from South Korea and NTUitive from Singapore. DealStreetAsia had first reported on the investment on November 29.
Deep dives
Startup funding in India nearly halved month-on-month to $922 million across 105 venture capital and private equity transactions in November as megadeals dried up, according to proprietary data compiled by DealStreetAsia. In October 2025, Indian startups collectively secured $1.83 billion across 100 deals, the data showed. There was just one megadeal (deals valued at $100 million and above) in the month, compared with four megadeals worth $955 million in October 2025.
After years of muted exits and liquidity pressures, private equity investors are taking the recent uptick in distributions with a pinch of caution amid lingering doubts about its sustainability. Mainly two channels have contributed to the improving liquidity scenario—secondary sales and IPOs.
China’s securities regulator has proposed sweeping rules aimed at overhauling oversight of the country’s listed companies, with a focus on tightening corporate governance, improving information disclosure and enhancing investor protection, Caixin reported.
With cases of investments gone wrong and alleged scams piling up, Indonesia’s Financial Services Authority (OJK) is moving to regulate financial influencers, many of whom are believed to lack proper financial training and conceal paid partnerships.
Indonesia’s crypto sector is entering a new phase of consolidation, with global brokerages making their way into a market dominated by local platforms, hoping to fill widening capability gaps, meet the expectations of a young user base, and redraw competitive lines.
