[SINGAPORE] Digital asset group Sygnum has emerged as the sole new unicorn from South-east Asia in the first half of 2025, data platform Tracxn said in a report released on Thursday (Jun 26).
The Singapore-based firm attained unicorn status in January 2025, after three rounds of funding and a total of eight investors before their unicorn round.
Tech funding in South-east Asia reached US$2 billion in the first half of 2025, boosted by late-stage funding deals. This was 7 per cent higher than US$1.8 billion in the year-ago period, but 24 per cent less than US$2.6 billion in H2 2024.
“These figures reflect both a short-term slowdown and a longer-term recovery trend in the regional market,” noted the report.
The first half of 2025 was marked by more late-stage funding deals and a rise in mega-round activity, contrasting with a general slowdown in early and seed-stage investments, the report added.
Seed-stage investments fell 68 per cent to US$87 million from US$270 million in H1 2024. Likewise, early-stage funding also declined 53 per cent to US$464 million from US$991 million.
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On the other hand, late-stage funding jumped 149 per cent to US$1.4 billion from US$562 million.
There were five rounds of funding worth more than US$100 million in H1 2025, compared to just two rounds in the first half of 2024.
Tech firms in Singapore accounted for 92 per cent of all funding seen across South-east Asia in the first half of 2025. Taguig, a city in the Philippines, trailed far behind in second.
The report noted the “significant role” of Singapore as a funding hub, combined with strong activity across acquisitions and IPOs, underscores the region’s resilience and evolving role in the global technology landscape.
The report pointed out three industries as the top-performing sectors.
Enterprise infrastructure was the highest, attracting US$859 million in funding, a huge jump from just US$22.1 million raised in the first half of 2024. This was followed by fintech, with US$775 million raised – a 26 per cent decrease compared to the year-ago period.
The enterprise applications sector rounded out the top three, raising US$545 million in the first half of 2025, about a third higher compared to US$409 million in H1 2024.
“The dominance of enterprise infrastructure, fintech and enterprise applications highlights growing investor focus on scalable and impact-driven sectors,” the report noted.
