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Hi readers,

Journalists always have to strike a balance between being fair and balanced and publishing in a timely manner. I often read stories from news outlets that are one-sided, which makes me think that the editorial team probably rushed to push out that story.

This is especially true with pieces that are critical about someone or something, as bad news is good news in the world of journalism, right? But the sad part is that every story has different nuances, narratives can be skewed when you only look at certain sides.

Of course, at times there are companies or people who don’t want to comment, in which case a journalist is constrained. But I would argue that there are still ways to build a fair and balanced narrative.

VC firm Peak XV, which was spun off from Sequoia Capital in June 2023, drew a lot of questions. For one, a slew of senior leaders exited Peak XV just 18 months after the spinoff. For another, these departures came after Peak XV reduced its latest fund size by 16% and cut its fees. It hasn’t also helped that many of its portfolio companies like Zilingo and eFishery have been in the news for the wrong reasons.

But looking deeper, I found that many of the executives who had left to start their own ventures received funding from Peak XV. This indicates that they likely didn’t leave the VC on bad terms.

Peak XV has also shifted its focus to the US and is even forming a team in the country. Just this week, the firm welcomed Y Combinator exec Arnav Sahu as a partner in the US.

In Southeast Asia, Peak XV is investing in companies that are building for global markets instead of those with a regional approach. There was data showing that the firm has been scaling back its investment in the region, especially in Indonesia.

While the VC has made some great investments while under the Sequoia Capital name, I’m curious to see how the personnel and strategy changes will affect Peak XV going forward.

— Collin Furtado, journalist at Tech in Asia

Top stories this week

Image credit: Timmy Loen

1️. Peak XV’s global surge: from SEA cuts to US push
The VC firm is changing its tack as it seeks a bigger exposure to the AI gold rush.

2. Global investors bet on SEA stocks amid US-China tensions
Still, most of the interest centers on Singapore and Malaysia.

3. Swift action needed as Indonesia’s growth falters
Beyond manufacturing, ecommerce giants like Tokopedia are also quietly cutting jobs.

4. EWA startups at a crossroads as scaling gets brutal
More M&A deals like Kredivo-GajiGesa may be coming, but earned-wage access startups will need new strategies to stay afloat.

5. 100 and counting: India’s growing unicorn roster
Nearly 15 years after its first unicorn emerged in 2011, India has produced 105 startups with billion-dollar valuations.

6. GoTo posts full-year adjusted profit amid merger whispers
The Indonesian company expects to earn up to US$99 million in adjusted earnings in 2025, more than double the figure last year.

7. Surviving the funding game: how timing can make or break your startup
Industry realities, economic conditions, and market volatility can affect the time gap between funding rounds.

8. As US turns tepid, Asia’s climate tech sector seeks new funders
Family offices, sovereign wealth funds, and investment arms of corporations outside the US could fill the gap.

9. Indonesian startups’ struggles pose dilemma for Danantara
The country’s startups sorely need a fresh funding source. But fraud and other issues may push the sovereign fund elsewhere.

10. Going solo may give Amazon Pay the edge in India
Following the acquisition of fintech lender Axio, Amazon is exploring launching a standalone Amazon Pay app in India.

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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 reader,

How has your week been? Mine has been incredibly busy, and if the number of M&As in this week’s newsletter is any indication, it’s been the same for Asia’s tech and business world. Frankly, this is the most M&A’s in one week I’ve seen in all the time I’ve been writing this newsletter.

Between the start of a new year and the many public holidays in Q1, things have gotten off on a slow start. But this week’s deals may mean March is when things really start firing on all cylinders.

Here’s hoping your work has kicked off well too.

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

🇮🇳 Zolve, a cross-border neobanking startup based in India, has secured US$251 million in series B funding. The round was led by Creaegis and included participation from banks HSBC and SBI as well as VC firms GMO and DG Daiwa.

🇭🇰 Insilico Medicine is an AI-driven drug discovery company based in Hong Kong. It has raised US$110 million in its series E funding round, which was led by Value Partners Group, with investments from Warburg Pincus, OrbiMed Advisors, and Eli Lilly & Co.’s venture arm.

🇮🇱 Sola Security, an Israeli cybersecurity startup, has launched from stealth mode with US$30 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by S Capital and former Sequoia venture capitalist Mike Moritz. S32, Glilot Capital Partners, and other angel investors joined the round.

🇦🇺 Sydney-based workplace well-being platform Sonder has closed a US$25.2 million series C round. Hostplus, Blackbird, MA Growth Ventures, and Seek Investments were the participating investors.

🇨🇳 Weimei Health is a smart medical solutions provider based in China. It has received US$13.7 million in series A funding from Hongding Investment.

Here’s the complete list of this week’s funding chart: 86 deals worth over US$680 million.

M&As

🇮🇱 Otorio, an Israel-based provider of operational technology security solutions, has been acquired by Armis, a cyber exposure management and security company, for US$120 million.

🇰🇷 Vuno, a South Korean AI healthcare firm, has sold its AI chest scan business to fellow healthtech company Coreline Soft. The former will then use the proceeds from the sale to purchase a 3.23% stake in the latter firm.

🇰🇷 Ulike Korea, a digital livestock company, has been acquired by Metec Holdings, a startup specializing in livestock methane gas research. The financial details of the deal were not made publicly available.

🇮🇳 CreditNirvana, an AI-powered debt management and collections automation platform based in India, has been acquired by Perfios, a financial services technology company, for an undisclosed sum.

🇮🇱 Metis, an Israeli startup that specializes in AI solutions that monitor cloud-native databases, has been acquired by Dynatrace, a software intelligence company. The financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed, but industry estimates place the deal in the tens of millions of dollars.

🇸🇬 Singapore-based e-scooter startup Ion Mobility has been acquired by TVS Motor. Financial terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed, although Tech in Asia reported in January that shareholders got back a fraction of the value of their shares.

Startups that are raising funds

Fundraising is hard. To make things slightly easier, we’ve compiled this list of fundraising startups for our subscribers. We send fundraising startups directly to investors’ inboxes.

There’s no better time to list your startup, and you can do so here.

🇹🇭 This Thai company says it turns creator marketing into a performance-driven channel.
🇮🇩 This company from Indonesia offers quality aromatherapy solutions.
🇳🇬 This Nigeria-based firm digitalizes and distributes insurance products and services.

You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia over here.

Behind the Glasswall

Fundraising often involves reaching out to several contacts, many of whom founders might not have dealt with before. To provide some transparency to this process, we created Glasswall, a platform for founders to give feedback and recommendations on investors. Check out the full list here.

• ❌”Does not respect founders time. Junior folks scouted us and manager came to the meeting without being prepared.” – Read more.
• ✅︎ “Investor friendly, smart and they do the right amount of due diligence without the nonsense. Super hard working and our success in raising each of our rounds was off the back of their advice, involvement and mentoring.” – Read more.
• ❌ “Through our discussion and upon sending our data room, it is clear that the team didn’t read through any of the documents provided and asked really dumb questions.” – Read more.

A fresh chapter awaits ASEAN startups

Commit to resilience, innovation, and strategic partnerships

Southeast Asia’s startup scene has shown resilience and innovation amid global economic headwinds. Still, moving forward requires strategic insight and collaboration.

At the Asia Economic Summit, we’ll tackle these complexities head-on, addressing critical questions on navigating the current venture cycle, overcoming key weaknesses in the region, and anticipating trends that will shape the future of tech in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Build thriving enterprises, resilient economies, and sustainable ecosystems by exploring technologies that will transform businesses, harness overlooked investment opportunities, and influence impactful and inclusive policies. Learn more about the Asia Economic Summit today.

Exclusive listicles

Lists of most active investors in the region

China | India | Indonesia | Japan | Singapore | Southeast Asia

List of top-funded startups in Asia

China | India | Indonesia | Israel | Japan | Hong Kong | Singapore | South Korea | Vietnam

Thoughtful Tidbits

1️⃣ What comes after product-market fit?

Well, apparently, a lot more work. Lucky for all of us, Figma chief product officer Yuhki Yamashita shares some key lessons on product scaling in this First Round Review article.

2️⃣ The cold, hard numbers of AI

AI’s been the talk of the tech world for a couple of years now, but money talks louder than any other stats. Tomasz Tunguz, general partner at Theory Ventures, takes a look at which firms are pulling in the big bucks in the scene at the moment.

3️⃣ Oscar prognostications

The Oscars are a lot of flash and pizzazz – mostly unnecessary, in my opinion, although Conan O’Brien’s hosting did at least make it more fun than usual. But hey, you know what else the big annual event is good for? Giving us indications on the next evolutionary steps the industry will be taking. This Rapid Response podcast episode dives into that.

4️⃣ “Does this unit have a soul?”

AI development continues unabated, and the hot new topic nowadays is reasoning models. What are they? How do they work? What’s next? These questions and more are explored in this video on the Andreesen Horowitz website.

5️⃣ Remember all that dry powder?

It’s still there. This Pitchbook article says that “of the US$677 billion of VC dry powder globally, 53% resides in funds between three and five years old” that are yet to be deployed.