The Southeast Asia (SEA) FinTech startup ecosystem witnessed a total of $193 million in funding, which marks a 66 percent drop compared to the $584 million raised in the first quarter of 2024 and a 30 percent decline from the $274 million raised in the fourth quarter of 2024, Tracxn said Thursday.

The data intelligence platform said in its Q1 2025 Southeast Asia FinTech Report that the SEA region witnessed its peak funding in the third quarter of 2021, after which the funding started to decline steadily except for the second quarter of 2022.

“Despite the decline in funding in this space, the region is witnessing a significant increase in digital adoption along with government support and the growing focus of FinTech companies in this region with region-specific solutions,” it said.

According to the report, the seed-stage rounds in the region in the first quarter of 2025 attracted $34.1 million in total funding, representing a 52 percent drop compared to the $70.7 million raised in the first quarter of 2024 and a 22 percent decline from the $43.6 million raised in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, early-stage rounds secured $101 million in funding in the first quarter of 2025, a decrease of 68 percent from the $318 million raised in the first quarter of 2024, but showing an increase of 47 percent from the $68.8 million raised in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Late-stage rounds witnessed a total funding of $58 million in the first quarter of 2025, experiencing a drop of 70 percent and 64 percent compared to the $195 million and $162 million raised in the first quarter of 2024 and the fourth quarter of 2024 respectively.

Cryptocurrencies, alternative lending, and investment tech were the top-performing segments in the Southeast Asia FinTech ecosystem in the first quarter of 2025.

The cryptocurrencies segment witnessed funding of $97.5 million, a drop of 24 percent compared to $129 million received in the first quarter of 2024 and a 3 percent decline in comparison with $101 million raised in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Sygnum, provider of banking solutions for digital assets, raised $58 million in a Series C funding round.

The alternative lending segment recorded $34.6 million in funding in the first quarter of 2025, a decline of 47 percent compared to $65.4 million in the first quarter of 2024 and a drop of 40 percent from $57.5 million in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Techcoop, a FinTech platform providing lending solutions to the agriculture industry, raised $28 million in a Series A funding round.

The investment tech segment saw total funding of $34.3 million in the first quarter of 2025, a drop of 45 percent and a growth of 37 percent compared to $62.7 million and $25 million raised in the first quarter of 2024 and the fourth quarter of 2024, respectively.

Endowus, the provider of a goal-based investment platform for individuals, raised $17.5 million in a Series B funding round.

The Southeast Asia FinTech space did not witness any $100 million+ funding rounds in the first quarter of 2025.

In contrast, there was one $100 million+ funding round in the first quarter of 2024 and the fourth quarter of 2024 each.

The region recorded one unicorn in the first quarter of 2025, while one unicorn was also observed in the first quarter of 2024. No unicorns were seen in the fourth quarter of 2024 in this space.

Sygnum, provider of banking solutions for digital assets, earned the unicorn status in January 2025, and it is the only FinTech company to become a unicorn in 2025 on a global scale.

The SEA FinTech space did not witness any initial public offerings (IPOs) in the last five quarters.

The SEA FinTech sector recorded six acquisitions in the first quarter of 2025, reflecting a 45 percent decline from 11 acquisitions in the first quarter of 2024 but a 20 percent increase compared to 5 in the fourth quarter of 2024.

Coinseeker, a blockchain intelligence platform, was acquired by Titanlab, a development arm of Tokenize Xchange, in a deal valued at $30 million.

Singapore leads the funding in the Southeast Asia FinTech space as the highest-funded city, followed by Thu Duc and Petaling Jaya.

A notable 74 percent of the funds raised in the SEA FinTech space originated from Singapore.

East Ventures, Y Combinator, and 500 Global are the overall top investors in the Southeast Asia FinTech startup space.

Iterative, Selini Capital, and AppWorks were the lead investors in seed-stage funding in the first quarter of 2025.

Citi Ventures, HSG, and PayPal Ventures emerged as the top early-stage investors during the same period.

The SEA FinTech ecosystem saw a sharp funding decline in the first quarter of 2025, impacted by global funding challenges, investor caution, and market saturation.

Despite the overall downturn and absence of $100M+ funding rounds, the emergence of a new Unicorn and continued digital adoption underscore the region’s potential.

Singapore’s dominant share in regional funding, the performance of the cryptocurrencies and alternative lending sectors, and rising investor specialization across stages reflect an evolving FinTech landscape driven by region-specific strategies, Tracxn concluded.

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