Southeast Asia funding hits $3.68B as Kling AI dominates

By Amara Osei

Southeast Asian startups raised $3.6827 billion across 13 funding rounds in October 2026, according to TNGlobal’s SEA Monthly Funding Tracker, which uses Tracxn data. The total rose 1,665% from $208.64 million in September 2026 and 933% from $356.47 million in October 2025.

The number of rounds fell. TNGlobal counted 13, versus 17 in September 2026 and 23 in October 2025. The tracker attributed the record dollar total to a handful of very large late-stage financings, led by Kling AI’s roughly $3 billion Series E raise.

How concentrated was October’s funding?

Kling AI raised $2.98 billion and took roughly 81% of all capital deployed. Removing that deal leaves about $703 million, according to the tracker. TNGlobal described the remainder as “still a healthy month, but a fraction of the headline figure.”

Manus raised $500 million, and Supabase raised $150 million. With Kling AI, those two deals lifted the top three to about 98.6% of October’s capital. The three also accounted for the $3.63 billion the tracker classified as late-stage funding.

Which stages captured the capital?

Late-stage financing, defined as Series C onward plus private-equity funding, supplied $3.63 billion, or 98.6% of October’s total. Early-stage rounds supplied $36.1 million, or 1%, and seed rounds supplied $16.6 million, or 0.4%. TNGlobal described October as a late-stage month shaped by mega-rounds rather than broad-based deal activity.

Which deals led the month?

TNGlobal’s top-funding table for October listed these 10 deals:

• Kling AI — $2,980 million
• Manus — $500 million
• Supabase — $150 million
• Orochi Network — $8 million
• NEU Battery Materials — $7.6 million
• Salary Hero — $7.6 million
• Ai Lytics — $7.4 million
• Parallel Loop — $6.6 million
• Aliena — $5.5 million
• Blue Whale Energy — $4 million

The fourth-ranked round brought in $8 million, less than one-twentieth of Supabase’s $150 million. The seven deals below Supabase each raised between $4 million and $7.6 million.

Which investors backed the biggest rounds?

Boyu Capital invested $500 million in Singapore-based Manus, and TNGlobal classified Boyu as a private-equity fund. Within the tracker’s incubator category, Y Combinator invested $150 million in Singapore-based Supabase. 500 Global put $7.6 million into Salary Hero in Watthana, Thailand, and $5.5 million into Aliena in Singapore.

Cento Ventures invested $7.6 million in Salary Hero in Watthana, Thailand, and an undisclosed amount in Finfra in Jakarta, Indonesia. SG Growth Capital invested $7.4 million in Ai Lytics and $4 million in Blue Whale Energy, both in Singapore.

ADB Ventures invested $4 million in Blue Whale Energy and an undisclosed amount in Finfra. That tracker entry labels both companies Singapore-based, unlike Cento’s Jakarta identification of Finfra.

What happened in IPOs and acquisitions?

TNGlobal recorded one technology IPO, matching September, and three acquisitions, also matching September but down from seven in October 2025. Betagro Group acquired FreshKet on October 21, 2026, and an undisclosed acquirer acquired CryptoBilis on October 10, 2026. GCash was the month’s only company to go public.

Where did the capital go?

Singapore-based startups captured $3,659.7 million, nearly all of the $3,682.7 million deployed across Southeast Asia. Watthana, Thailand, ranked a distant second with $7.6 million. TNGlobal described Singapore’s near-monopoly as evidence of its role as the region’s dominant funding hub.

What did AI drive?

TNGlobal placed AI at the center of October’s largest checks. It grouped Kling AI, Manus and Supabase within AI and AI-adjacent infrastructure, including developer tooling. The tracker tied their dominance to continued investor appetite for generative AI and developer tools. That mix reinforces its finding that October’s headline total came from concentration rather than broad-based deal activity.

The next monthly test is whether financing broadens beyond the three largest AI and AI-adjacent rounds or remains concentrated in a few mega-rounds. October’s nearly 18-fold jump from September came with fewer rounds and a 98.6% late-stage share, leaving that concentration as the key measure for investors.