When 43 per cent of the world’s funding goes to two firms, where does that leave SEA?
Crunchbase’s numbers for the first half of 2026 are the kind that are supposed to make an entire industry feel good. Global venture funding hit US$510 billion, beating the whole of 2025 in six months and smashing the previous half-year record of US$375 billion set in the second half of 2021. Startup capital, by the […] The post When 43 per cent of the world’s funding goes to two firms, where does…
In the first half of 2026, global venture funding soared to US$510 billion, a 43 percent increase from the previous half-year. OpenAI and Anthropic received a combined US$217 billion, or 43 percent of all global venture capital. This dominance in capital concentration had a significant impact on Southeast Asia, where startups raised only US$2.81 billion across 98 deals in the first quarter of 2026, the lowest quarterly deal count in at least eight years.
Even though the region has been participating in infrastructure deals, it is not a bystander to the capital concentration, as GIC and Temasek-linked vehicles are also involved in the AI mega-rounds. The funding strategy for Southeast Asian founders should shift from dependence on a rising tide that is not lifting most boats, as the capital pool available to those not building frontier models is shrinking.
Written by urgent.news from e27's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
