Investments plateau across SEA in 2022 as recession looms

Over the past year, Southeast Asia’s startup scene has seen a steady decline in the total number of funding rounds as well as the total amount raised on a monthly basis, Tech in Asia‘s data shows.

Image credit: Tech in Asia

While the year started slowly in terms of funding activity, data from November 2021 through November 1, 2022, showed that the investment landscape was at its busiest in March, which saw US$3.9 billion in deals in the region.

Most of the money was invested in the ecommerce and fintech sectors.

Funding slowed after March, with April, May, June, and September seeing investments plateauing at around US$2 billion each.

Total funding declined further after that. In August, the figure sat at around US$1.3 billion, and the industry didn’t breach the US$1 billion mark in July and October.

Total funding rounds closed tell a similar story: From March through June, the region saw about 80 deals completed per month. It tapered off starting in July, with monthly deals through October averaging around 61.

Startups in the general internet, ecommerce, logistics, and transportation sectors saw the bulk of investment rounds. Meanwhile, the verticals of agritech and gaming saw fastest growth in the number of funding rounds, year on year.

Startups in Singapore saw the most investment activity, with Indonesia coming closely behind.

See Also: A cheat sheet of M&As in Southeast Asia