South-east Asia fintech funding dips to US$682 million in H1 2026: Tracxn report
Singapore-based firms secure bulk of financing, followed by those from the Philippines and Malaysia
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[SINGAPORE] Fintech in South-east Asia secured funding of US$682 million in the first half of 2026.
This is a 4 per cent dip from US$711 million in H1 2025, a report by data platform Traxcn indicated.
Singapore-based fintech firms secured the bulk of fintech funding in South-east Asia for H1 2026, accounting for US$535 million.
This was followed by the Philippines, which raised US$62 million, of which US$60 million was in a single-fundraising round by fintech Salmon Group. Third was Malaysia, which raised US$42.5 million.
Across funding stages, seed-stage investment rose 45 per cent in H1 2026 to US$78.1 million from US$53.8 million in the previous corresponding period.
Late-stage investment dipped 2 per cent to US$451 million in H1 2026 from US$458 million in the same period last year.
Early stage investment had the biggest drop in H1 2026, falling 23 per cent to US$153 million from US$199 million in H1 2025.
This reflects investors backing new ideas and proven late-stage startups, while pulling back from funding the riskier stretch of growing a company.
The number of funding rounds fell from 50 in H1 2025 to 34 in the previous corresponding period.
Airwallex and Edena Capital were the only fintech startups that raised a US$100 million round in H1 2026.
Airwallex, a payment services platform, raised US$320 million in a Series H round. Meanwhile, Edena Capital, a tokenised exchange platform, raised US$100 million in a Series D round.
There were only six acquisitions for H1 2026, a drop of 45 per cent compared with the 11 acquisitions in the same period a year ago.
Finergic, a wealth consulting platform, was acquired by HCL Technologies for US$14.7 million during this period. This is the highest value acquisition in H1 2026.
There were no exits via initial public offerings in H1 2026 compared with one in H1 2025.
Exits are taking longer, with acquisitions in H1 2026 having an average of 20.4 years between the first funding round and being acquired.
The acquisitions also raised an average of US$14.7 million of funding.
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