Tech startup funding in South-east Asia falls 13% in Q1 as late-stage deals decline: Tracxn

SOUTH-EAST Asia’s technology startup space recorded a 13 per cent year-on-year drop in total funding to US$816 million in the first quarter ended Mar 15, 2024, new data has found.

This came as late-stage funding declined, data intelligence platform Tracxn said in its report released on Wednesday (Mar 27).

It noted that Q1 2024 was also the lowest-funded quarter among the past five quarters for this segment. There was also an absence of large deals (more than US$100 million) during the Q1 period, with only three Singapore-based companies raising more than US$50 million.

Funding for the South-east Asia tech startup scene was down 40 per cent from the same period in Q4 2023, which raked in US$1.36 billion for the quarter.

Late-stage funding was down 80 per cent to US$175 million in Q1 2024 to date, from US$860 million in Q4 2023.

Early-stage investments jumped 60.9 per cent to US$526 million in Q1 2024 to date, from US$327 million raised in the fourth quarter ended Dec 15, 2023.

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Seed funding, meanwhile, stood at S$115 million for Q1 2024 to date, down 48 per cent year on year and 36 per cent lower from the previous quarter.

Among South-east Asia markets, Singapore-based tech startups took the top spot for the highest amount of funding at US$604 million in Q1 to date. This was followed by tech startups based in Jakarta (US$85.7 million) and those based in Ho Chi Minh City (US$33.2 million).

Top performing sectors

The highest performing sectors when it came to funding were fintech, enterprise applications and retail. Fintech funding was up 52 per cent on the year to US$314 million, but down 67 per cent from the previous quarter.

The enterprise applications sector attracted US$248 million in investments in the first quarter ended Mar 15, 2024, down 17 per cent from the same period a year ago but up 14 per cent quarter on quarter.

Retail companies, meanwhile, raised US$177 million in funding for Q1, down 46 per cent on the year but up 160 per cent on the quarter.

The number of acquisitions in Q1 grew to 21 deals from 16 in Q4 2023 and 12 and Q1 2023, Tracxn found.

Most active investors

East Ventures, 500 Global, and Wavemaker Partners were the most active investors in South-east Asia to date, the data indicated.

When it comes to seed-stage investing, Antler, HashKey Capital, and 500 Global were in the lead. For early-stage investments, UOB, Peak XV Partners, and Openspace Ventures were the most active investors.

The top late-stage investors in Q1 2024 to date were Avataar Ventures and Filter Capital.