Business

Southeast Asia’s venture investors are excited about AI—but less excited about the region

Published

5 months ago

July 29, 2025

Asia editor Nick Gordon here, filling in for Allie Garfinkle. The future of AI is in Asia. At least, that’s the message you’d have gotten at our Fortune Brainstorm AI Singapore conference, which wrapped up in the Southeast Asian city last week.

We covered AI’s impact on just about everything: health care, banking, agriculture, video gaming, and even K-pop. (As an aside, check out my debut as a Korean singer—thanks to some assistance from Korean AI developer Supertone).

DeepSeek’s efficient, powerful—and importantly, cheap—models have shaken up the Asian AI conversation, pushing investors to give the region’s AI developers a second look and encouraging firms to adopt the new technology for themselves.

Granite Asia’s senior managing partner Jixun Foo, speaking on our stage last week, credited the “DeepSeek moment” for democratizing access to AI across the region.

AI optimism has also lifted Hong Kong’s stock market, as investors rush to invest in mainland Chinese AI developers like Alibaba and Kuaishou. Shares in other Asian tech firms—like TSMC, Softbank, and Korea’s Naver and Kakao—have surged amid the AI boom as well.

At first glance, Southeast Asia should be an attractive home for startups. The region’s population is young, still growing, and digitally savvy. But on our conference stage, those that actually have to fund these AI endeavors were more wary.

Even amid a global slowdown, venture funding in Southeast Asia plummeted by almost 80% from 2022 highs, according to CNBC. “Funding dried up dramatically as people looked for more profitable companies and steady cash flow rather than cash-burning tech companies,” said AC Ventures managing partner Helen Wong at the conference.

She urged investors to be cautious. “This is not a very mature ecosystem, unlike China, where you have entrepreneurs that have gone through intense competition…here is still a bit more raw,” she said.

“What’s the exit landscape here [in Southeast Asia]?” Phylicia Koh, a general partner at Play Ventures, asked during a separate panel on video gaming. “That has been a challenge, and one I don’t envy for Southeast Asia-focused VCs.”

Singapore, the region’s financial hub, has had just three IPOs this year as of mid-July. Its largest, NTT DC REIT (a real estate investment trust of data centers from Japan’s NTT) raised $773 million. Hong Kong’s largest IPO—the secondary listing of batterymaking giant CATL—raised at least $4 billion.

Public tech companies haven’t done too well either. In a recent issue of the magazine, my colleague Lionel Lim tells the story of one such startup, the Indonesian ride-hailing firm GoTo, whose shares have plunged by almost 85% since its 2022 IPO in Indonesia.

“[Are] the capital markets here mature enough to support an exit? It hasn’t probably performed as well as investors wanted it to,” Koh added.

Another reason why Southeast Asia struggles? While it’s big, it’s not quite as big as markets like China, India, or the U.S. “Why is there not a RedNote in this part of the world?” Foo asked, using the global name for the wildly-successful Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu. Southeast Asia, smaller than China (and split into different markets), lacks the network effects to supercharge a local content platform.

Still, speakers noted that there are plenty of opportunities in Southeast Asia for those willing to look for them. Wong noted that while fintech and e-commerce firms may have suffered, climate and sustainability startups are still raising funds.

There’s “a tremendous opportunity for a lot of much more specific, highly differentiated visions that could potentially be billion-dollar companies,” said Matthew Graham of Ryze Labs. (He, however, wasn’t interested in a company “trying to be the 19th LLM.”)

And funders based in Southeast Asia are prepared to start investing again—even if not right now. “We want to be patient. We want to see the confluence of talent and market adoption, and then we’ll start investing,” Foo said.

Nicholas Gordon
X: @nickrigordon
Email: nicholas.gordon@fortune.com

Submit a deal for the Term Sheet newsletter here.

Joey Abrams curated the deals section of today’s newsletter. Subscribe here.

VENTURE DEALS

– Lumotive, a Redmond, Wash.-based programmable optics company, raised $59 million in Series B funding from Amazon’s Industrial Innovation Fund, Oman’s ITHCA, Gates Frontier, and MetaVC.

– Positron AI, a Reno, Nev.-based developer of hardware for multimodal AI, raised $51.6 million in Series A funding. Valor Equity Partners, Atreides Management, and DFJ Growth led the round and were joined by Flume Ventures and others.

– BlinkOps, an Austin, Texas-based developer of cybersecurity micro-agents, raised $50 million in Series B funding. O.G. Venture Partners led the round and was joined by Lightspeed Venture Partners and Vertex Growth.

– Fable Security, a San Francisco-based human risk management platform, raised $31 million in funding from Greylock Partners and Redpoint Ventures.

– E2B, a San Francisco-based provider of open-source cloud infrastructure designed for AI agents, raised $21 million in Series A funding. Insight Partners led the round and was joined by Decibel, Sunflower Capital, Kaya, and angel investors.

– Julius AI, a San Francisco-based AI-powered data analyst for knowledge workers, raised $10 million in seed funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, Y Combinator, Horizon VC, AI Grant, 8VC, and angel investors.

– Reach Security, a San Francisco-based developer of AI-powered assistant technology designed to reduce exposure to security risks, raised $10 million in funding from M12 and existing investors including Artisanal Ventures.

– Journey, a New York City-based provider of mental health solutions for companies, raised $8 million in Series A funding. Cambrian Growth Partners led the round and was joined by Manchester Story, Canaan Partners, J-Ventures, J-Impact, Life Science Angels, HealthTech Capital, and others.

– Overwatch Imaging, a Hood River, Ore.-based developer of airborne imaging systems and AI-powered automation software for intelligence and surveillance, raised $6 million in funding. Squadra Ventures led the round and was joined by SEMCAP AI, the Elevate Oregon Venture Direct Fund, and Edo Capital.

– Keye, a New York City-based AI tool designed for private equity teams, raised $5 million in seed funding from Sorenson Capital, General Catalyst, Y Combinator, ERA, Tiferes Ventures, Dunamu Ventures, Palm Drive Capital, and angel investors.

PRIVATE EQUITY

– BVP Forge acquired a majority stake in BetterRx, a Salt Lake City-based hospice pharmacy platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.

EXITS

– EQT and CPP Investments agreed to acquire NEOGOV, an El Segundo, Calif.-based provider of HR and compliance software for U.S. public sector agencies, from Warburg Pincus and Carlyle. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– Gridiron Capital agreed to acquire Greenix Pest Control, an Orem, Utah-based pest control company, from Riata Capital Group. Financial terms were not disclosed.

– Warburg Pincus agreed to acquire FlavorSum, a Kalamazoo, Mich.-based provider of natural flavor solutions for food and beverage companies, from The Riverside Company. Financial terms were not disclosed.

OTHER

– NiCe agreed to acquire Cognigy, a Dallas-based developer of customer service AI agents, in a deal that values the company at approximately $955 million.

IPOS

– Figma, a San Francisco-based design software company, now plans to raise up to $1.15 billion in an offering of 36.9 million shares priced between $30 and $32. The company posted $821 million in sales for the year ending March 31, 2025. Index Ventures, Greylock Partners, KPCB Holdings, Sequoia Capital, and Wu-Wallace Family Trust back the company.

– Firefly Aerospace, a Cedar Park, Texas-based space and defense technology company, announced plans to raise $631.8 million in an offering of 16.2 million shares priced between $35 and $39 on the Nasdaq. The company posted $108 million in revenue for the year ending March 31, 2025. AE Industrial Partners, Astera Institute, and Thomas Markusic back the company.

Source link

Business

JetBlue flight near Venezuela avoids midair collision with U.S. Air Force tanker

Published

1 minute ago

December 14, 2025

Jace Porter

A JetBlue flight from the small Caribbean nation of Curaçao halted its ascent to avoid colliding with a U.S. Air Force refueling tanker on Friday, and the pilot blamed the military plane for crossing his path.

“We almost had a midair collision up here,” the JetBlue pilot said, according to a recording of his conversation with air traffic control. “They passed directly in our flight path. … They don’t have their transponder turned on, it’s outrageous.”

The incident involved JetBlue Flight 1112 from Curaçao, which is just off the coast of Venezuela, en route to New York City’s JFK airport. It comes as the U.S. military has stepped up its drug interdiction activities in the Caribbean and is also seeking to increase pressure on Venezuela’s government.

“We just had traffic pass directly in front of us within 5 miles of us — maybe 2 or 3 miles — but it was an air-to air-refueler from the United States Air Force and he was at our altitude,” the pilot said. “We had to stop our climb.” The pilot said the Air Force plane then headed into Venezuelan air space.

Derek Dombrowski, a spokesman for JetBlue, said Sunday: “We have reported this incident to federal authorities and will participate in any investigation.” He added, “Our crewmembers are trained on proper procedures for various flight situations, and we appreciate our crew for promptly reporting this situation to our leadership team.”

The Pentagon referred The Associated Press to the Air Force for comment. The Air Force didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Federal Aviation Administration last month issued a warning to U.S. aircraft urging them to “exercise caution” when in Venezuelan airspace, “due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela.”

According to the air traffic recording, the controller responded to the pilot, “It has been outrageous with the unidentified aircraft within our air.”

Join us at the Fortune Workplace Innovation Summit May 19–20, 2026, in Atlanta. The next era of workplace innovation is here—and the old playbook is being rewritten. At this exclusive, high-energy event, the world’s most innovative leaders will convene to explore how AI, humanity, and strategy converge to redefine, again, the future of work. Register now.

Source link

Business

Trump admits he can’t tell if the GOP will keep the House despite massive investment pledges

Published

32 minutes ago

December 14, 2025

Jace Porter

President Donald Trump admitted that he’s not sure if his economic policies will pay off for Republicans at the ballot box in 2026.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal that was published late Saturday, he pointed to massive investment pledges that he’s secured since returning to the White House.

But when asked if Republicans will lose control of the House in next year’s midterm elections, Trump replied, “I can’t tell you. I don’t know when all of this money is going to kick in,” adding that forecasts say the second quarter.

Trump has previously touted as much as $21 trillion of investments pouring into the U.S., though recent commitments don’t come close to adding up to such levels.

Still, under trade deals Trump has negotiated, the European Union has vowed $600 billion in investment, Japan $550 billion, and South Korea $350 billion. Separately, Saudi Arabia has promised $1 trillion. Companies have also announced plans to invest hundreds of billions of dollars, though some of that includes money planned during the Biden administration.

While the timing of all the money is uncertain, not to mention how much will actually be spent, companies have expressed the need to diversify supply chains with more domestic production. Apple has said its $600 billion pledge to build U.S. factories will create a “domino effect” that ignites manufacturing across the country.

At the same time, Wall Street expects Trump’s tax cuts from his One Big Beautiful Bill Act to deliver a significant jolt of fiscal stimulus to the economy next year, potentially reaccelerating GDP growth.

That would come as voters made clear in last month’s off-year elections that affordability is their top priority. Inflation has cooled from its 2022 high, but prices are up sharply from pre-pandemic levels, and consumers are revolting over higher insurance, electricity and grocery bills. Even most Trump voters say the cost of living is bad.

Trump has dismissed the affordability issue as a Democratic “hoax” and insists prices are down. He told the Journal that he will lower prices.

“I think by the time we have to talk about the election, which is in another few months, I think our prices are in good shape,” Trump said.

“I’ve created the greatest economy in history. But it may take people a while to figure all these things out,” he added. “All this money that’s pouring into our country is building things right now—car plants, AI, lots of stuff. I cannot tell you how that’s going to equate to the voter, all I can do is do my job.”

Trump has floated some ideas to appease voters on affordability, including a 50-year mortgage to lower monthly payments and $2,000 “dividend” checks. He also continues to pressure the Federal Reserve to lower rates, even though it could worsen inflation, and rolled back tariffs on some food imports.

In his interview with the Journal, Trump didn’t say if he would cut tariffs on other goods. He also warned that if the Supreme Court strikes down his global tariffs, his alternatives are not as “nimble, not as quick.”

“I can do other things, but it’s not as fast. It’s not as good for national security,” Trump added.

Source link

Business

Nicotine pouches can be a better alternative to cigarettes says CEO

Published

2 hours ago

December 14, 2025

Jace Porter

Smoking is one of the clearest public-health failures of our time. More than 500,000 Americans still die each year from smoking-related illnesses, and globally the picture is even more alarming. In the United States, anti-smoking campaigns have reduced the number of new cigarette users, but the effectiveness of these measures may be fading. Indeed, the headline of a widely-shared news story notes “Celebrities Are Making Smoking Cigarettes Cool Again”. Yikes. Meanwhile, a quick trip to Mexico, Europe, or Asia is enough to see that cigarettes remain very much in style.

Reducing cigarette use, and preventing a new generation from getting hooked on nicotine, is a noble goal. That is one reason James Monsees and Adam Bowen founded the vape company JUUL Labs, as a potentially less harmful alternative for adult smokers. But a mix of regulatory missteps by a hostile FDA and market loopholes opened the door to a wave of counterfeit and bootleg vapes, often imported from China, sold in local stores, highly addictive, and completely unregulated. Many people became sick from using vapes with unknown ingredients. Teenagers were easily able to access bootleg vapes from China in youth-friendly flavors. What began as an idealistic goal—moving adult smokers off of cigarettes—turned into a new epidemic.

Now we have two problems: cigarettes and vapes.

I believe science and technology can solve both. I was a tobacco user who became addicted to vaping. I tried everything to quit and cut down my nicotine use. Eventually, I discovered Swedish-style white pouches. That experience led me to create Sesh+, a premium, tobacco-free nicotine pouch made with transparent ingredients. It has been life-changing for me personally: I haven’t picked up a vape since switching to pouches. In Sweden, where oral nicotine products have been widely used for decades, smoking rates are among the lowest in Europe and smoking-related disease is correspondingly lower.

There is growing evidence that nicotine itself, while addictive, is not what primarily causes smoking-related disease; it’s the toxic byproducts of combustion that kill. With vaping, the concern is different: it’s the lack of transparency and quality standards that should alarm us. As a health-conscious consumer, I want to know exactly what I’m putting into my body. That’s why our pouches are independently lab-tested for contaminants like heavy metals and are manufactured in the United States under strict quality controls.

Fake nicotine pouches are already in the U.S. market. Sofia Hamilton writes for Reason that her favorite convenience store unknowingly sells counterfeit nicotine pouches, and how only someone deeply familiar with FDA nicotine rules could tell the difference. No one should have to be a nicotine policy expert just to know whether a product is safe.

Important questions remain. We do not want to create a product that attracts people who don’t already use nicotine. The average Sesh+ customer is over 35, and I’m very proud of that. Early data is encouraging: a recent Rutgers study found that new nicotine users taking up pouches remains very low. Government has a responsibility to keep black-market and counterfeit pouches out of consumers’ hands. Industry must ensure retailers are educated and know what they’re selling. And we need strong youth prevention laws.

Nicotine pouches will only be effective if industry and government work together to ensure we are not attracting youth or non-nicotine users.

In the U.K., the proposed Tobacco and Vapes Bill would ban people born in or after 2009 from ever purchasing nicotine products. In the United States, we have already raised the legal age to buy tobacco to 21. These are the kinds of measures our industry should support. If the legislation in the U.K. passes, I hope other countries will adopt similar policies to prevent youth from accessing nicotine products. I also hope to see product-verification technology adopted as an industry standard so counterfeit nicotine products never reach consumers. Age verification is not enough; we must ensure a market for counterfeit and bootleg nicotine pouches does not emerge.

If companies in the nicotine pouch space work together, we can learn from JUUL’s experience and avoid repeating the same mistakes. Our responsibility is clear: help adult smokers move to potentially less harmful alternatives, without creating a new generation of nicotine users. If we get this right, a world free from tobacco is not just aspirational. It’s achievable.

Max Cunningham is the CEO of Sesh+, a nicotine pouch company based in Austin, Texas and backed by 8VC. The opinions expressed in Fortune.com commentary pieces are solely the views of their authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of Fortune.

Source link