SEA

Lenovo study: ASEAN+ leads in hybrid AI adoption at 68 percent

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN+), which includes Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan, leads in hybrid artificial intelligence (AI) adoption at 68 percent, surpassing global and Asia Pacific (AP), Lenovo study showed Wednesday.

Alibaba’s Tsai warns of a ‘bubble’ in AI data center build-out – report

Many of those projects are built without clear customers in mind, Tsai told the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Malaysia’s Deemples launches in Thailand after $2M funding

Deemples, a Malaysia-based golf platform and mobile app, has officially launched in Thailand - the region’s golf tourism hub that is dubbed the Golf Capital of Asia, after raising its $2 million funding last year.

MoneyHero launches AI Agent through strategic partnership with Ada

MoneyHero Limited, a personal finance aggregation and comparison platform in Greater Southeast Asia, has partnered with global AI consumer service firm Ada to launch an artificial intelligence (AI) Agent for customer service, aiming to transform customer experience while driving operational efficiency.

Maybank partners TikTok Shop to drive digitalization of ASEAN SMEs

Malaysian lender Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) has announced the first multi-market small and medium enterprises (SME) upskilling and digitalization collaboration between a financial institution and TikTok Shop in the ASEAN region.

Tracxn: SEA tech startups funding up 30 percent quarter on quarter to $909M in Q1 of 2025

South East Asia (SEA) tech startups raised $909 million in the first quarter of 2025, 30 percent higher than the fourth quarter of 2024, Tracxn said Thursday.

Gobi Partners backs Funding Societies to advance SME financing, fintech innovation across SEA

Funding Societies | Modalku, the largest small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) digital finance platform in Southeast Asia, has announced a strategic equity investment from Gobi Partners, an Asia-focused venture capital firm.

Singapore’s Venturi Partners launches $225M second fund

Venturi Partners, a Singapore based growth-stage consumer-focused investor in India and Southeast Asia, has announced the launch of its second fund, targeting $225 million, with a hard cap of $250 million.

HK’s Watawaste to raise funds in 2025 as its sustainable food app Yindii eyes expansion across Asia [Q&A]

We talked to Louis-Alban Batard, 
Co-founder & CEO, Watawaste HK Ltd (a Cyberport incubatee) which develops sustainable food app – Yindii, to learn more about the company’s achievements in 2024, its plans and priorities in 2025. He also shared his views on the outlook of the tech ecosystem in Hong Kong for the new year and how he sees Southeast Asia.

TNGlobal Tracker: Startup Funding Snapshot for February 2025

The Southeast Asia (SEA) Monthly Funding Tracker for February 2025 indicates that funding activity slowed during the month. Total funding amounted to $92.9 million across 18 rounds, marking a decline of 86.56 percent compared with January 2025 and a 69.03 percent decline from February 2024.