FUNDING in South-east Asia declined sharply in the second half of 2022 from the first half, dropping 48 per cent from US$6.8 billion to US$3.6 billion, Cento Ventures has reported.

This funding winter has only continued into the first half of this year.

Neo Wei Sheng, partner at venture capital (VC) firm Qualgro, said: “This same sentiment is going to be around for at least a year, and comes from the main sources of capital – the US, Europe and Japan, where the tap has been tightened.”