What slowdown? Southeast Asia tech investments more than double in Q1

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Experts have sounded the alarm: winter is coming. That’s why they say startups which want to raise money should raise it now and fast. Yet it seems Southeast Asia is feeling no chills.

Investors poured US$478.4 million into Southeast Asian startups in the first quarter of the year, according to the Tech in Asia database. That’s more than double what was recorded in the first three months of 2015. That’s also double the US$239.2 million tally last quarter.

The number of deals fell to 87 in Q1 2016 from 114 in Q1 2015. That means fewer startups inked terms sheets, but the average funding amount they’ve secured was bigger. The average deal size for was US$5.5 million versus US$1.7 million in Q1 last year.

Over the last three years, global economic growth has been fragile, with advanced economies still struggling to recover from the 2008 crisis. China’s economy has been slowing down. Financial markets, led by China’s, have been wildly volatile, hence talks of a cooldown in financing.

Against this backdrop, investors are looking for new opportunities – and they’re turning to Southeast Asia.

The region has sound fundamentals – it has a population of over 600 million and a GDP worth US$2.3 trillion, which is the seventh largest in the world and projected to rise to the fourth spot. Facilitated access to markets is underway through the ASEAN economic integration, there’s a rising middle class, more people are consuming digital content and paying for goods and shopping online, and mobile phone and internet adoption is climbing.

Investors’ confidence is reflected in the way they bet on startups trying to capture this market. Except for series A, all funding stages were on an upward trajectory, with series C and D funding beginning to sprout.

See: Why mobile payments in Southeast Asia are about to take off

Gaming and social boom

Ecommerce is usually the top sector, but social networking and gaming beat it in Q1 2016.