Asia startup funding hits $38.5 billion in Q3, AI takes 55%

The Q3 picture is one of scale without acceleration. Total funding of $38.5 billion was down from the prior quarter, which Crunchbase notes had been boosted by a $7.4 billion financing for China's DeepSeek, but it still ranked as the second-highest tally on record. Deal counts stayed relatively flat, which the data provider reads as capital concentrating into a smaller set of favored startups rather than broadening out. Late- and growth-stage rounds accounted for about $20 billion, kept aloft by Moonshot AI's $3.5 billion Series F and several hundred-million-dollar rounds such as D-Robotics' $400 million Series C and Qupital's $300 million Series C. Earlier stages told a different story: Series A and B funding fell 28% quarter over quarter to $13.6 billion, though it was still up 65% from a year earlier, while seed and angel funding reached $4.9 billion, up around 22% sequentially and more than double year-ago levels. The regional split was the sharpest signal, with China drawing roughly $27 billion, far ahead of India's $2.9 billion and Singapore's $2.5 billion; funding to India and Singapore fell significantly quarter over quarter, and Israel's totals declined slightly. Crunchbase says it will watch whether that divergence persists.