SEA tech startups raised $10.4b in 2022 amid market downturn

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Southeast Asian tech startups managed to raise about US$10.4 billion in 2022 despite the capital market’s sour mood toward tech globally, according to a report by Momentum Works and Cento Ventures.

The report suggests that 2022 was the region’s third-strongest year on record in terms of capital raised, noting that Southeast Asia didn’t see an abnormal deficit of digital investment capital toward the end of last year.

However, global late-stage investors have started shifting their focus from series C+ funding rounds to earlier investment stages.

The volume of deals worth over US$100 million decreased by 60% in 2022 compared to the previous year. These deals only amounted to US$3 billion last year, making it the lowest annual investment volume for the category since 2016.

Photo credit: Momentum Works and Cento Ventures research

On the other hand, funding for early-stage startups, particularly deals at less than US$50 million, remained relatively stable. Capital injected for series B and C investments slowed down but remained above pre-pandemic levels.

Additionally, the report found that 2022 marked a record year for liquidity. There were four exits last year generating more than US$500 million each: the IPOs of Indonesia-based GoTo and Blibli, the acquisition of Singapore-based 2C2P by Ant Group, and the US$690 million round of Singapore-based Coda Payments that saw its early investors exit.

Photo credit: Momentum Works and Cento Ventures research

At the country level, the Philippines overtook Vietnam in 2022, ranking third in terms of new VC investment. Indonesia once again took the lion’s share of new funding, followed by Singapore.

See also: YC shrinks cohorts, sees less SEA, India investments