Early-stage startups pique investor interest amid funding slowdown

EARLY-STAGE startups have seen continued interest from investors even as their later-stage counterparts encounter tighter cheque books and financial scrutiny.

Valuations that are more in touch with reality have helped to drive investor interest into seed and Series A and B fundraising startups. Founders are also seeing venture capital firms that typically don’t invest in early-stage startups showing interest and even term sheets.

“There is this shift that everyone is coming in early, my seed round with Vertex Ventures, it was considered one of the rare ones that they came in at that stage,” said Daphne Ng, chief executive officer and co-founder of document infrastructure startup, Dedoco.