The spike in oil prices triggered by the war in the Middle East was top of mind for leaders who gathered in Cebu, Philippines, this week for the ASEAN Summit. Leaders signalled the need for a more coordinated response to energy security, floating the idea of a shared fuel reserve that member states can tap to cushion future shocks.
As oil prices have surged across Southeast Asia, attention has turned to how ride-hailing firms will absorb the energy shock.
Early signals from Grab suggest resilience, at least for now. The Nasdaq-listed firm this week reported a twelvefold jump in net profit to $120 million, with revenues hitting a record $955 million in Q1.
Yet, beneath the headline numbers, stress may be building. Grab’s partner incentives surged 42% year-on-year to $305 million, pushing total incentives to $650 million, which is just over 10.5% of on-demand GMV—above its historical range, as my colleague Katrina Bianca Cuaresma pointed out in her analysis of the company’s quarterly earnings.
This brings back a familiar toolkit from the growth-at-all-costs days: incentives are once again doing the heavy lifting as platforms use it to sustain demand. Investors, for now, appear unfazed—shares of Grab rose this week post-results, snapping a weeks-long slide.
In Indonesia, sovereign wealth fund Danantara has taken a sub-1% stake in GoTo—a move far short of taking control but nonetheless signals the government’s intent to protect the politically important constituency of gig workers.
President Prabowo Subianto has also proposed slashing maximum ride-hailing commissions to 8% from 20%, framing it as relief for drivers grappling with rising fuel costs.
Yet, analysts told my Jakarta-based colleague Marsya Nabila that lowering the platform’s share of the fare does not necessarily translate into higher driver income as commissions are only one piece of a tightly-regulated fare structure.
Taken together, these developments suggest the region is entering a delicate balancing act: governments are stepping in to shield workers and stabilise energy prices, even as platforms recalibrate incentives to keep growth intact.
Scroll down for our other top headlines of the week:
Reports and data-led stories
This week, we released our quarterly reports on startup fundraising trends in Greater China and Southeast Asia.
Investments in Chinese startups were off to a strong start in 2026 as both deal count and value reached new highs in the first quarter. A sustained state-led tech push is steering record venture funding towards tech- and innovation-oriented startups, primarily targeting AI & robotics, semiconductors, space tech, and other emerging strategic industries. Fuelling up this market is a return of global US dollar investors, noted the report.
Against this backdrop, preparations for our first Asia Private Equity Leadership Summit in Hong Kong are underway. Do take the time to see what’s on the agenda and register to join us on May 20.
Startups in Southeast Asia raised $2.81 billion across 98 equity deals in Q1 2026, marking the lowest quarterly deal count in at least eight years. Indonesia recorded just five deals, highlighting how far activity has fallen in what was once the region’s largest startup market. The slowdown has also been compounded by governance concerns, which resurfaced this week as the Jakarta High Prosecutor’s Office detained three executives linked to fintech platform KoinWorks as part of an investigation into an alleged fictitious lending case.
This week we also released one of our monthly funding trackers that showed startup funding activity in India cooled in April 2026, with total capital raised declining to $1.21 billion from $1.47 billion in March.
Startup and corporate news
India minted a unicorn this week—Skyroot Aerospace, a private space launch company that raised about $60 million at a valuation of $1.1 billion. The round was co-led by Sherpalo Ventures and GIC, with participation from other existing investors including the founders of Greenko Group and Arkam Ventures.
In another significant fundraising, on-demand home services startup Pronto raised an additional $20 million in its Series B round from venture capitalist Lachy Groom, doubling its valuation to $200 million in just two months.
We also got wind this week that Vietnamese pharmacy retail chain Pharmacity is in talks with impact investing firm Leapfrog Investments to raise a new funding round. Pharmacity is backed by Mekong Capital, SK Group, TR Capital, and American distressed asset investment firm Avenue Capital Group.
In another scoop, we reported that Malaysian hospital operator Avisena is looking to raise funds to support its next phase of expansion, including capacity addition, specialist hiring, and potential greenfield developments.
The cap table of Indonesia-listed hospital operator Medikaloka Hermina could undergo a potential reshuffle as one of its minority investors is looking to exit its stake, while another backer wants to increase its holding.
Singapore-based flexible workspace operator JustCo has filed a preliminary prospectus for a mainboard listing in Singapore, seeking to tap public markets after returning to profitability and positioning itself for a new phase of regional expansion.
Singaporean fintech company Atome Financial has secured about $149 million in fresh capital injection from its parent, Advance Intelligence Group.
Aura Private Equity has led a follow-on investment alongside fellow existing investor WICapital into the Philippines digital rewards and loyalty solutions provider Giftaway. The latest transaction brings the total institutional investment into Giftaway to $25 million.
Silicon Box, the Singapore-based semiconductor design and device integration services startup, has raised $150 million in a new funding round. EDBI, the investment arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), joined the unicorn company’s cap table following the round.
LP-GP news
Mark Hindriks, Managing Director, Investments at the Temasek-backed asset manager Azalea Investment Management spoke to us about the private equity secondaries market. Secondaries have evolved from simple portfolio acquisitions to structurally complex transactions. “There is a growing structural acceptance of secondaries as a portfolio management and liquidity tool across both LP-led and GP-led transactions,” said Hindriks.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has proposed an equity investment of up to $20 million in the $225 million fifth fund of early-stage venture capital firm 3one4 Capital. Fund V will focus on seed to Series A investments in Indian technology-driven companies.
KKR-backed financial advisory platform Ascend Asia added Infinity Financial Advisory, SG Alliance, and PromiseLand Financial Advisory to its network, bringing together legacy and newer firms with the classic private equity buy-and-build strategy. Following the latest acquisitions, Ascend Asia has expanded its network to more than 2,000 advisors in Singapore.
That’s all for this week. Stay informed.
