E-108: Asia’s Deep Tech Focus Deepens

Asia is on its way to becoming a deep tech superpower.??

And it is not just because of China, which attracts the second biggest pie of global deep tech venture capital funding every year, after the US.?

Now deep tech is a wide, wide sector.?

Emerging from the intersection of advanced science and engineering innovations, it generally entails artificial intelligence, robotics, blockchain, biotech, space tech, and quantum computing, and cuts across multiple impact areas including climate and sustainability, demographics, technology, and security.

Of these areas, AI has gathered much-awaited momentum. For context, in Q3 2024, Chinese AI startups raised US$1.3 billion in venture capital , up from US$600 million in the previous quarter.?

Beyond China, there are other Asian challengers in the deep tech race. For instance, Singapore.?

The city-state has been focussing on deep tech for a while now. It runs the Startup SG Equity scheme, a part of its S$28 billion Research, Innovation, and Enterprise (RIE) 2025 plan, aimed at boosting private-sector investments into deep-tech startups. Just recently, Singapore announced adding to this scheme another US$322 million to support local deep tech startups.?

With this, the government plans to invest alongside global and local investors to give a leg up to private-sector investment in early-stage deep-tech startups.

Furthermore, local deep tech start-ups can tap a US$37.7 million fund over the next five years under a new incubator program managed by Singapore’s two leading universities—the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

Dubbed the National Graduate Research Innovation Programme (Grip), it combines two existing incubator programs from NUS and NTU with the newfound goal of supporting 300 start-ups by 2028 and spin-off more than 150 companies by 2030.

The program will be launched in January 2025 and back researchers and entrepreneurs developing innovations in areas such as artificial intelligence, space, smart cities, and semiconductor technologies. It will also equip these deep tech entrepreneurs with founder-ready skill sets and match them with investors.

Another up-and-coming contender is India, which has showered its love on space tech startups in recent years, allowing them to enjoy collaboration with government space agencies and thrive.?

The Indian government has just approved a US$119 million fund for its burgeoning space sector. About 40 startups will benefit, with the check ranging between US$1.1 million to US$7 million, depending on how mature each startup is.?

India currently has nearly 250 space startups, mostly providing cost-effective services and hardware to sectors like communications, agriculture, and commodities. Yet, it only has a 2% share of the global commercial space market. The country, which is among the top five space-faring nations, is looking to change that.?

Beyond China, India, and Singapore, another country is looking to pave the way in deep tech—Vietnam, which is already an emerging electronics manufacturing hub.?

But in Vietnam’s case, the initiative is led by the country’s largest conglomerate Vingroup, which has just launched a US$150 million VC fund VinVentures for tech startups.

The new fund will be financed with US$100 million from a previous investment portfolio, while its billionaire founder and CEO, Pham Nhat Vuong will gradually contribute another US$50 million from his wealth to the fund.

VinVentures’ target tech sectors include AI, semiconductors, and cloud computing, which partially fall under the deep tech domain. The fund will back seed and Series A Vietnamese startups, before expanding to other regions in Southeast Asia. Notably, the group has tech startups of its own, including VinAI, a generative AI company, and VinBigData, which provides data science services.?

Although Vietnam remains quite far behind when it comes to deep tech, the journey has definitely started.?

On that note, let’s dive into this week’s recap.?

Buzzing Deals

? Vietnamese B2B startup PangoCDP netted US$1.5 million in seed funding led by Kairous Capital. PangoCDP specializes in integrating social chat apps with customer data to help businesses understand their customers better and drive meaningful personalized interactions across marketing, sales, and care campaigns. It provides companies with a suite of tools, solutions, and mini-apps to reach, acquire, engage, and transact with their customers on social media platforms. PangoCDP has also partnered with Zalo, a messaging platform used by almost 85% of the Vietnamese population.

? Malaysian fintech firm DCAP Holdings raised undisclosed funding from Gobi Partners . The investment was made through the Gobi Dana Impak Ventures (GDIV) fund, backed by Khazanah Nasional Berhad. Founded in 2020, DCAP operates a Lending-as-a-Service model and collaborates with banks, credit companies, automobile dealers, and cooperatives to offer lending options, including a green financing initiative for electric two-wheelers.? DCAP uses AI, machine learning, and data analytics to offer tailored financial services for lower-income groups, who make up 92% of its clientele.?

? Indonesian fintech firm Finfra landed a US$2.5 million seed check from Cento Ventures , Accion Venture Lab, Z Venture Capital, and Avafin’s founder Matiss Ansviesulis.? Finfra is a lending-as-a-service infrastructure provider that offers digital tools for loan management, scoring, portfolio analytics, and regulatory-compliant access to capital. The new capital will enable Finfra to scale its embedded lending solutions to support Indonesia’s digital SME ecosystem. Finfra also partnered with Tyme Group, a multi-country digital banking network, to help it launch embedded lending options like merchant cash advances across Indonesia.

? Japanese financial services firm Gojo received US$233 million in a Series . Of the total funding, the company raised US$122 million through equity financing from investors like the International Cooperation and Development Fund and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Asset Management from Japan and US$111 million via debt financing from multiple lenders. Gojo & Company, Inc., headquartered in Tokyo, has group companies in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, India, and Tajikistan and aims to make high-quality affordable financial services accessible in 50 countries.

? Vietnam-based fashion brand Coolmate secured US$6 million in Series B funding led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India. Founded in 2019,? Coolmate is a direct-to-consumer men’s apparel brand headquartered in Hanoi. With the fresh funding, the company plans to enhance its product offering as it aims to expand its footprint in Southeast Asia.?

? Indonesia-based solar energy developer Hijau secured an investment from Singapore’s Clime Capital ’s Southeast Clean Energy Fund II (SEACEF II), which could extend up to USD 10 million. Founded in 2017, Hijau, previously known as ATW Hijau,? delivers solar energy solutions for commercial and industrial customers. The new funds will help the company expand its project pipeline to meet the growing demand for sustainable energy.

? Singapore-based anti-financial crime software firm Tookitaki received an undisclosed amount of funding from True Global Ventures (TGV)’s Opportunity Fund.? Founded in 2015, Tookitaki specializes in financial crime detection and prevention for banks and fintech companies. It runs two platforms: Anti-Financial Crime (AFC) Ecosystem for community-driven financial crime protection and FinCense, an end-to-end compliance platform. So far, the company has monitored over 10 billion transactions for its clients. The company intends to use the funds to accelerate its growth and drive innovation in financial crime prevention across Asia.

? Singapore-based mixed reality and AI company BuzzAR bagged US$1.16 million in funding from the HSBC New Economy Fund. Founded in 2018, BuzzAR specializes in experiential engagements and leverages AR and AI to digitize people, places, and payments at scale. The company will use the fresh funds to advance Buzz AI Experience (BAE), its AI-driven digital tour guide product in collaboration with the Saudi Tourism Authority. The partnership integrates BAE’s storytelling and personalization capabilities within Saudi Arabia’s hospitality sector, including built-in booking and payment functionalities for travelers. The firm also plans to expand its presence in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly Saudi Arabia.

Mergers & Acquisitions in Southeast Asia

? Telecommunications firm under Singaporean conglomerate Keppel M1 is buying 70% of ADG National Investment and Technology Development, a Vietnamese IT company, for S$37.8 million (approx. US$28.5 million). ADG's founder and other existing shareholders will keep the remaining 30%. This deal marks M1's entry into Vietnam's growing technology market.?

ADG has a large network of agents and partners across Vietnam and works with major global technology companies to bring computing and storage solutions and high-performance networking solutions. The acquisition is expected to be finalized in early 2025, pending approval from Vietnamese authorities.

? Tower Capital Asia (TCA) will acquire a majority stake in Kiztopia , a leading family edutainment brand with family entertainment centers (FECs), offsite events, and intellectual property content licensing across Southeast Asia and East Asia. Kiztopia runs 15 FECs across Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.?

TCA will become the largest shareholder, with existing shareholders retaining a minority stake. This deal will help Kiztopia expand its operations and develop new, innovative entertainment offerings. With TCA’s support, Kiztopia will also improve operations and create intellectual property for licensing and merchandising to bring its offerings to new markets. This proprietary deal aligns with TCA’s strategy of backing high-potential businesses in Southeast Asia poised for regional success.?

And that’s the wrap for this edition of #ICYMI , our weekly curated highlights from the Asian tech ecosystem. Subscribe to receive it every Thursday and stay updated on the noteworthy tech developments you might have missed during the week. Like this newsletter? Share it with your friends and colleagues here .