Asia’s startup funding held up at the second-highest level in years in the third quarter, even as investment fell slightly from Q2 totals.
Overall, investors put $38.5 billion into reported seed- through growth-stage financings for countries in the region in Q3, per Crunchbase data. Of that, a majority went to AI-focused companies, echoing the trends we’ve seen globally.
Deal counts, meanwhile, were relatively flat. That indicates concentration of capital into favored startups remains pronounced but is not intensifying.
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An AI-driven quarter
Around 55% of investment — an estimated $21 billion — went to AI-focused companies. Total funding is down substantially from the prior quarter, which was boosted by a $7.4 billion financing for China’s DeepSeek, but still the second-highest tally on record.
For Q3, a couple of extra-large rounds bolstered the AI investment tally. The largest went to Beijing-based foundational model company Moonshot AI, which secured $3.5 billion in July at a reported $35 billion valuation.
Kling AI, the AI spinout of China-based short video platform Kuaishou Technology, was the second-biggest fundraiser. The generative video startup raised around $3 billion in a July financing that included Baidu and Tencent.
China leads by far in country-by-country breakdown
China was the leading Asian destination for venture investment by a very wide margin.
Per Crunchbase data, roughly $27 billion — or 70% of all Asian startup funding in Q3 — went to China-based companies. India was a distant second, with $2.9 billion, followed by Singapore, with $2.5 billion.
For perspective, below we charted third-quarter startup funding tallies for the six countries with the largest totals.
Late stage
Most capital went to late- and growth-stage funding rounds.
Per Crunchbase data, investment at this stage totaled around $20 billion in Q3. That’s down a bit from the prior quarter but nearly double year-ago levels and the second-strongest showing in four years.
Multiple jumbo rounds kept the total high. The largest was Moonshot AI’s aforementioned $3.5 billion Series F.
Several others raised financings in the multiple hundreds of millions. Shenzhen-based D-Robotics, a provider of robotics hardware and software, for instance, picked up $400 million in a September Series C. And Hong Kong-based Qupital, an e-commerce fintech platform, secured $300 million in Series C funding as it eyes an IPO.
Early stage
Early-stage investment drifted lower in Q3 but remained at historically high levels.
Per Crunchbase data, financing for startups at the Series A and Series B stages totaled $13.6 billion for the just-ended quarter. That’s a decline of 28% from the prior quarter but up 65% from year-ago levels.
Seed
Reported seed funding hit its highest level in years, boosted by investor enthusiasm around AI.
In total, investors poured $4.9 billion into reported seed and angel deals across Asia, per Crunchbase data. That’s up around 22% from the prior quarter and more than double year-ago levels.
A big quarter for China
Overall, Q3 was a robust period for venture funding to China-based companies, with far smaller sums going to other Asian startup hubs. Funding to startups based in India and Singapore was down significantly quarter over quarter, while Israel’s investment totals declined slightly.
We’ll keep an eye out in the coming months to see if this divergence of fortunes persists.
Related Crunchbase query:
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Methodology
The data contained in this report comes directly from Crunchbase, and is based on reported data. Data is as of Oct. 5, 2026.
Note that data lags are most pronounced at the earliest stages of venture activity, with seed funding amounts increasing significantly after the end of a quarter/year.
Please note that all funding values are given in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Crunchbase converts foreign currencies to U.S. dollars at the prevailing spot rate from the date funding rounds, acquisitions, IPOs and other financial events are reported. Even if those events were added to Crunchbase long after the event was announced, foreign currency transactions are converted at the historic spot price.
Glossary of funding terms
Seed and angel consists of seed, pre-seed and angel rounds. Crunchbase also includes venture rounds of unknown series, equity crowdfunding and convertible notes at $3 million (USD or as-converted USD equivalent) or less.
Early-stage consists of Series A and Series B rounds, as well as other round types. Crunchbase includes venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $3 million, and those less than or equal to $15 million.
Late-stage consists of Series C, Series D, Series E and later-lettered venture rounds following the “Series [Letter]” naming convention. Also included are venture rounds of unknown series, corporate venture and other rounds above $15 million. Corporate rounds are only included if a company has raised an equity funding at seed through a venture series funding round.
Technology growth is a private-equity round raised by a company that has previously raised a “venture” round. (So basically, any round from the previously defined stages.)
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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