SINGAPORE Trends and Developments Contributed by: David He, Benjamin Teo, Kinnari Sahita and Binh Vong, Gunderson Dettmer Singapore LLP
ing an over 30% decline in deal value and 16% decline in deal count. This reflects a trend observed in other emerging markets. The Middle East experienced a year- on-year decline of 29% in 2024, while Africa saw a drop of 44%, according to deal data compiled by Magnitt. In contrast, venture funding in the USA rose by over 20% year-on-year in 2024, and Europe experienced only a modest decline of 5%, as reported by Crunchbase. Latin America was the lone standout among emerging venture markets, with a 27% increase in dollars deployed in 2024, but struggled with currency deprecia - tion amid a rise in the value of the US Dollar. While the statistics may paint a bleak picture for Singapore and other South-East Asian nations, it is important to note that many regional start- ups opted to obtain fresh funding through con - vertible instruments instead of traditional priced equity rounds, and such transactions are typi - cally not publicly disclosed nor are they required to be filed in public databases. Nevertheless, it is undeniable that the recovery and uptick in deal - making activity that many in the region antici - pated and hoped for did not materialise. Deal Highlights Singapore-headquartered start-ups continued to account for the majority of headline-grabbing deals in 2024. Semiconductor manufacturer Sili - con Box completed a USD200 million Series B round that began in 2023, while insurtech start- up bolttech secured over USD100 million in a Series C round. AI and data collaboration start- up Atlan raised USD105 million in its Series C funding, open-source developer platform Supa - base secured USD80 million in a Series C round, and wealth management platform Endowus raised over USD50 million in a funding round that started in 2023. Philippine fintech start-ups also
experienced success in 2024, with Mynt rais - ing over USD300 million to achieve a valuation of USD5 billion, BillEase completing an undis - closed Series C round led by TPG’s The Rise Fund, and consumer fintech Salmon Group rais - ing two rounds totalling USD55 million to scale its lending business. The fintech sector, driven by start-ups specialis - ing in payments, decentralised finance, lending, and wealth management solutions, remained the most active sector in South-East Asia for capital deployment by VCs, followed by e-commerce and software. Start-ups developing software- as-a-service (SaaS) solutions experienced increased success in attracting capital from out - side the region, primarily due to their focus on large enterprise customers and pursuit of global go-to-market strategies. VCs Struggled to Raise New Funds and Close Previously Announced Funds Regional VC firms continued to encounter sig - nificant challenges raising new funds and clos - ing previously announced funds due to an abun - dance of previously raised but undeployed “dry powder” capital and a reduction in funding by limited partners. In 2023, both the value and number of VC funds closed saw a sharp decline compared to 2021 and 2022. Nevertheless, some VCs managed to achieve interim or final closings on funds that they had started raising during those prior years. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, this same momentum did not carry from 2023 into 2024. According to DealStreetAsia, South-East Asia focused VCs closed just 14 new funds for an aggregate of USD2.15 billion in capital in 2024, down significantly from the 32 final closings and USD6.77 billion in capital raised in 2023. First- time fund managers continued to struggle. Deal -
494 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook