Shift happens!

Sign up for the Daily Newsletter, sent exclusively to our premium subscribers. We break down the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community. Get the newsletter in your inbox everyday with a premium subscription.

Hello readers,

I’ve lived long enough on Earth to see multiple groundbreaking innovations become so integrated into our daily lives that they seem almost mundane.

I witnessed the release of the first iPhone and saw Facebook come to life. Apparently, I’ll also watch Kickstarter evolve from being a hotbed of indie projects to one that helps a legacy firm like L’Oreal raise funds, as one of today’s Thoughtful Tidbits dives into.

Grampa Simpson once said, “I used to be with ‘it’, but then they changed what ‘it’ was. Now what I’m with isn’t ‘it’ anymore and what’s ‘it’ seems weird and scary. It’ll happen to you!”

Well, if we keep a growth mindset, hopefully we’ll manage to be with “it” for a little while longer.

You can find all other important investment deals that happened in the last few days in our weekly funding news wrap-up.

Let’s dive into the biggest deals and M&As that recently took place.

---

The biggest deals by country

🇮🇳 Darwinbox, a Hyderabad-based HR tech startup, has secured US$140 million in a series E funding round co-led by Partners Group and KKR.

🇦🇪 Flow48, a fintech company headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, has raised US$69 million in series A funding, comprising both debt and equity. The round was led by Breega, with participation from 212, Speedinvest, Daphni, Endeavor Catalyst, Evolution Ventures, and Plus VC.

🇨🇳 NXin is a Chinese agricultural internet platform. It has received US$39.8 million in strategic funding from the Jiangsu Province Yancheng Agricultural Science Digital Technology Development Fund.

---

M&As

---

Startups that are raising funds

---

Behind the Glasswall

---

Invest in forming fruitful connections at #TIAConference2025

---

Exclusive listicles

---

Thoughtful Tidbits