Though still below the highs of 2021, startup financing in Greater China showed clear signs of a robust and sustained recovery throughout 2025, concluding the year with 2,471 deals that cumulatively raised almost $46.3 billion.
The 2025 funding total marked a 23.6% decline from the previous year, as investors focused on disciplined asset selection and dealmaking in a market still recovering from a prolonged downcycle.
Yet, a strong 11.9% increase in annual deal count in 2025 and consecutive growth in startup financing in the last three quarters suggest a healthy return of investor confidence and new capital deployment.
The upward startup financing trajectory that began in the first half of 2025 continued into the latter semester, making Q4 the most funded quarter of the year. In Oct-December, funding for startups headquartered in mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau reached an annual high of about $13.1 billion, up marginally by 2% from Q3 and growing for the third consecutive quarter.
The number of deals in Q4 was down 6.4% from Q3 to 616. But deal flow remained active and relatively stable, hovering between 570 and 658 in the four quarters of 2025, according to DealStreetAsia DATA VANTAGE’s latest report, Greater China Deal Review: Q4 2025.
Deal value grows for three consecutive quarters
Capital is not scarce in Asia, said Michael Liu, Managing Director at Future Standard, in an interview for the report. Oversubscribed funds in India or similar activity in Japan show demand is strong in selected spots, Liu added. “However, compared with the pre-COVID period, China continues to lag the most in fundraising. A meaningful return of Chinese private equity to historical levels would signal that Asia’s recovery is truly complete.”
Q4 2025 records the most megadeals in over three years
Megadeal financing, or investments worth at least $100 million, also experienced a year of sturdy growth.
Although Q4 saw no blockbuster transaction exceeding $1 billion (compared to one such deal in Q3), the overall value of megadeal financing in the final quarter rose. Compared with the third quarter, Q4 saw megadeal financing increase by 6.3% to over $7.1 billion.
The number of megadeals jumped by 39.1% to 32, making Q4 the most active quarter for jumbo dealmaking in over three years.
While more companies successfully raised megadeals in the final quarter, these transactions were concentrated in future-focused industries, most prominently, in Auto & Parts.
32 megadeals rake in 54.4% of Q4 financing
Auto & Parts captured the three largest investments of Q4, raised by startups including intelligent new energy vehicle (NEV) brand Deepal Automobile Technology, autonomous delivery vehicle maker Neolix, and DJI-backed Shenzhen Zhuoyu Technology, a developer of advanced intelligent driving systems and core components.
This demonstrates the immense capital requirements and continued investor fervour for the evolving automotive landscape, particularly in green vehicles and autonomous driving.
Semiconductor was perched on top as the most active industry for dealmaking, with the completion of 66 deals in Q4, underscoring its position as the primary industry of focus in Greater China. However, quarterly financing figures in Semiconductor fluctuated drastically—deal count in the semiconductor industry in Q4 dropped to 66 from 110 in the previous quarter, down 40%, while the deal value fell 35.3% to under $1.6 billion.
This volatility is a defining characteristic of the semiconductor financing landscape, where deep structural forces from geopolitical shocks, the push-pull between state and market capital, and its transition from an immature ecosystem towards consolidation, lead to drastic funding swings between quarters.
Medical Devices, Software, and Pharmaceutical followed Semiconductor as the next most popular industries among investors in Greater China, with the completion of 57, 55, and 51 investments in Q4, respectively.
IPO activity surges in H2 2025
Initial public offerings (IPOs) by Greater China companies gained significant momentum in 2025, particularly in H2, amid improved macroeconomic sentiment, policy support, and high growth of future industries.
After a subdued 2024, there was a surge of IPOs in 2025 by Greater China companies across global stock exchanges, especially in Hong Kong and mainland China.
Their total IPO proceeds throughout 2025 exceeded $30.4 billion, representing a 99.4% jump from 2024. The number of Greater China IPOs also rose substantially to 212 from 185, marking an increase of about 14.6%, according to Dealogic data analysed by DealStreetAsia.
IPO activity reaches its peak performance in Q4
In 2025, the Main Board of the Hong Kong Exchange remained the most favoured IPO destination for Greater China companies in terms of both deal count and IPO funds raised, with 77 such IPOs raising almost $11.6 billion.
A confluence of positive factors made Hong Kong an ideal IPO location for Greater China companies: proactive listing reforms, measures to encourage IPOs by mainland Chinese companies, a resurgence of high-profile jumbo IPOs, as well as improved market liquidity and valuations amid a return of international funds to the city.
The exchange hosted four of the top 10 Greater China IPOs of 2025. These include the listings of NEV maker Chery Automobile, AI chip developer Biren Technology, aluminium producer Chuangxin Industries Holdings, and air conditioner supplier Aux Electric. Its appeal as a gateway to Chinese assets and high-tech investment opportunities is set to position the city for continued IPO leadership in 2026.
The overall onshore A-share market in mainland China, which includes exchanges in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Beijing, continued to play a key role for Greater China IPOs. The number of A-share IPOs totalled 111 in 2025, with over $18.1 billion in combined IPO proceeds.
“Headline developments, including Hong Kong’s resurgence as the world’s largest IPO venue last year [2025], have helped pull China back into focus. Much of the renewed interest in China currently is on the public equity side, led by hedge funds and, to some extent, by long-only public investors,” said Doug Coulter, Partner at LGT Capital Partners
In contrast, IPOs by Greater China companies in the US stayed muted last year. Yet, a total of 23 Greater China IPOs in the US in 2025 suggests that the channel was not completely closed. But the overall IPO proceeds of $744.2 million, which is less than what a single large Chinese IPO would have raised in 2021, indicates that the era of large-scale, high-profile Chinese IPOs in the US is perhaps over.
The Greater China Deal Review: Q4 2025 report has extensive data on:
- Quarterly and annual startup fundraising trends
- Top startup funding deals
- Most favoured industries by investors
- Top investors
- Top IPOs by Greater China firms throughout 2025 and IPO pipeline
- Insights from Greater China-focused private market participants
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