Bengaluru: SEA Tech funding rose 176% year-on-year to $13.5 billion in the first nine months of 2026, compared with $4.9 billion during the same period in 2025, according to the Tracxn SEA Tech – 9M 2026 Report.
The funding was raised across 189 rounds, a 28% decline from 263 rounds in 9M 2025.
The sharp increase in SEA Tech funding was largely driven by a small number of mega-rounds.
The report said 18 rounds of $100 million or more accounted for approximately $12.2 billion, or 90% of the total funding raised during the period. The remaining $1.3 billion was distributed across 171 rounds.
DayOne and Kling AI Account for 54% of SEA Tech Funding
Three major funding rounds accounted for a substantial share of SEA Tech funding in 9M 2026.
Singapore-based Kling AI raised $2.8 billion in a Series D round in July 2026, while Singapore-based DayOne raised $2.5 billion in a Series C round in June and another $2 billion Series C round in January.
Together, the three rounds amounted to $7.3 billion, representing 54% of the total SEA Tech funding raised during the first nine months of 2026.
The three deals also accounted for about 85% of the $8.6 billion year-on-year increase in funding.
Kling AI’s $2.8 billion Series D was the largest funding round during the period and represented about 21% of all SEA Tech funding raised in 9M 2026.
The round was backed by Baidu, Tencent and Lighthouse Capital, among others. DayOne’s $2.5 billion Series C was backed by Hillhouse, Coatue and Indonesia Investment Authority, while its $2 billion Series C was backed by Coatue and Indonesia Investment Authority.
Other major funding rounds included Ant International’s $1.2 billion Series A, Sharpa’s $670 million Series D, Supabase’s $650 million Series F, CRYPTO’s $400 million Series D and Airwallex’s $320 million Series H.
Late-Stage Funding Reaches $10.2 Billion
Late-stage funding emerged as the dominant component of SEA Tech funding in 9M 2026, accounting for 76% of total capital raised.
Late-stage funding rose to $10.2 billion from $3.1 billion in 9M 2025, representing a 227% increase.
The increase came despite a relatively similar number of late-stage rounds, with 19 rounds recorded in 9M 2026 compared with 17 in 9M 2025. The report defines late-stage funding as Series C+, private equity and pre-IPO rounds.
Early-stage funding also increased, reaching $3 billion across 80 rounds, compared with $1.6 billion across 94 rounds in 9M 2025.
Ant International’s $1.2 billion Series A in July accounted for 40% of early-stage funding during the period.
Seed funding stood at $270 million across 90 rounds, up from $224 million across 152 rounds in 9M 2025. Seed-stage rounds represented 48% of all funding rounds but accounted for only 2% of total SEA Tech funding.
Enterprise Applications, Infrastructure and FinTech Lead Sectors
Enterprise Applications, Enterprise Infrastructure and FinTech were the top-funded sectors in the SEA Tech funding landscape during 9M 2026.
Enterprise Applications attracted $6 billion, an increase of 578% from $889 million in 9M 2025. Enterprise Infrastructure received $5.4 billion, up 149% from $2.2 billion, while FinTech funding reached $2.6 billion, an increase of 193% from $898 million in the previous year.
At the category level, Data Center Infrastructure raised $4.7 billion, accounting for 35% of total SEA Tech funding.
Video Creation Tools followed with $2.8 billion, while Payments attracted $1.6 billion. Professional Service Robots and Industrial Robotics raised $696 million and $670 million, respectively.
The top two categories, Data Center Infrastructure and Video Creation Tools, together accounted for $7.5 billion, or 56% of total funding.
Singapore Accounts for 94% of SEA Tech Funding
Singapore dominated the regional SEA Tech funding landscape in 9M 2026, with companies based in the country raising $12.4 billion. This represented 94% of total funding, up from a 90% share in 9M 2025.
West Jakarta ranked second with $270 million, all of which came from Ajaib’s $270 million Series C round in August 2026.
Bangkok raised $121 million, while Kuala Lumpur and Taguig raised $111 million and $91 million, respectively. Jakarta recorded $81.5 million.
Singapore, West Jakarta, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur together accounted for 98% of all SEA Tech funding raised during the period.
SEA Tech Funding Rounds Fall 28%
While total SEA Tech funding increased sharply, the number of funding rounds declined. Companies raised capital through 189 rounds in 9M 2026, down 28% from 263 rounds in 9M 2025.
The number of first-time funded companies also declined to 85 from 124, a 31% decrease.
Series A and later-stage rounds totalled 95 in 9M 2026, compared with 110 in 9M 2025. The report also noted that 9M 2026 marked the highest funding level across the periods covered since 9M 2019, at $13.5 billion.
Acquisitions and IPOs Decline
The exits landscape recorded 39 acquisitions in 9M 2026, down 13% from 45 in 9M 2025. There were also 10 IPOs, compared with 13 during the same period in 2025.
The largest acquisition was ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, which was acquired by KKR and Singtel for $5.2 billion. Grab acquired Atome for $1.5 billion, while BizLink acquired Interplex for $900 million.
Among public listings, SHEIN led with an IPO market capitalisation of $26.3 billion, followed by MiniMax at $6.5 billion. RANS Entertainment was another notable listing during the period.
ShopBack Emerges as SEA’s New Unicorn
SEA recorded one new unicorn in 9M 2026, compared with three in 9M 2025. ShopBack became the region’s new unicorn in February 2026.
ShopBack, a Singapore-based online platform providing cashback rewards, coupons and promo codes for purchases, had raised $331 million before its unicorn round across nine funding rounds and had 21 institutional investors before the unicorn event.
Globally, 130 new unicorns were created during 9M 2026, compared with 102 in 9M 2025. SEA’s single new unicorn therefore represented a smaller share of the global new-unicorn activity during the period.
Investor Activity in SEA Tech
The number of existing investors in the SEA Tech funding ecosystem fell to 152 in 9M 2026 from 244 in 9M 2025, while first-time investors declined to 70 from 107.
Iterative, Antler and 500 Global were the top Seed Stage investors. Vertex Ventures, Openspace Capital and SEEDS Capital were the leading Early Stage investors, while Asia Partners, EDBI and Georgian were the top Late Stage investors.
The Tracxn report shows that SEA Tech funding reached $13.5 billion in 9M 2026 despite fewer funding rounds and fewer first-time funded companies, with the overall capital pool heavily concentrated in large late-stage transactions and Singapore-based companies.
Also Read: Dodge AI Secures $2.65M from Accel and Google to Tackle Enterprise IT Fires
