Venture capital excitement cools, but bright spots remain in South-east Asia

THE days of supercharged tech valuations may be over. But even as investors turn more cautious, there are still opportunities to be captured in South-east Asia, said several venture capital (VC) players and experts who spoke at this year’s SuperReturn Asia conference.

Held at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre from Monday (Sept 19) till Thursday, the conference brought together fund managers and investors in the private equity and venture capital spaces, to discuss the latest market developments.

Globally, the pace of venture capital fundraising has moderated in 2022 (see chart), said Angela Lai, a senior research analyst at alternative assets data firm Preqin, during her presentation at the conference. Meanwhile, funds have shifted towards early-stage strategies and are deploying more slowly.