{
  "id": 9526209,
  "title": "SEA startup funding jumps to US$7.25B, but most founders are still waiting",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/24/sea-startup-funding-jumps-to-us-7-25b-but-most-founders-are-still",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-24T08:34:01.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "e27",
    "slug": "e27",
    "url": "https://e27.co/sea-startup-funding-jumps-to-us7-25b-but-most-founders-are-still-waiting-20260924/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Southeast Asia's startup funding market has seen a resurgence, with a total of US$7.25 billion raised across 217 deals in the first half of 2026, according to the Southeast Asia Startup Funding Report H1 2026. This represents a significant rebound from the previous year, but the distribution of funding remains uneven. While capital is flowing into strategic sectors such as AI and cloud computing, only a small number of companies are benefiting from the influx, with the top five deals accounting for 75.5% of equity funding. The growth in early-stage funding remains sluggish, with a 11% decrease year-on-year and the number of deals falling to 195 in H1 2026, compared to 353 in H1 2024. Despite this, the amount of capital directed towards early-stage companies has risen by 56.4%. Singapore continues to lead the region in funding, with Singapore-based companies raising US$6.7 billion across 145 deals. However, the funding gap between Singapore and other Southeast Asian markets is widening, particularly in Indonesia, where only 17 deals and US$104 million in funding were recorded. This suggests a significant lack of growth capital in a market that once produced several of the region's largest venture-backed companies.",
  "summary": "Southeast Asia’s startup funding market is showing signs of life again, but the recovery is not reaching most founders. Venture-backed companies in the region raised US$7.25 billion across 217 equity deals in the first half of 2026, according to the Southeast Asia Startup Funding Report H1 2026 by Kickstart Ventures and DealStreetAsia. That is the […] The post SEA startup funding jumps to…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}