Investment Highlights February 2026: Sea Keeps Leaning Into Credit And Mena Keeps The Debt Machine Running

February was a month of execution over spectacle. In Southeast Asia lenders and policymakers both showed up. Credit continued to expand as a serious growth lever while Singapore signaled more support for growth stage funding. In MENA sovereign issuance stayed active and startups kept raising especially in regulated fintech and platform plays built for compliance plus scale.

Southeast Asia: Credit stays central and selective equity keeps finding winners

February deal scoreboard (SEA)

• Fuse Financing and GCash lending arm (Philippines): Signed a $30M loan with ADB to expand MSME credit access with a focus that includes women owned enterprises.

• GULF (Thailand): Secured THB 60B in loan facilities to develop 27 renewable projects totaling 939 MW including solar with storage plus waste to energy.

• Startup SG Equity (Singapore): Government announced a S$1B injection into Startup SG Equity to support tech startups and growth stage companies.

• Polybee (Singapore): Raised a $4.3M seed to scale drone based pollination and yield forecasting.

• Valiance Health (Malaysia): Gobi Partners led an undisclosed pre seed investment to build a standardized healthcare data platform.

What this tells investors (SEA)

• Credit is now a default tool for scaled distribution. ADB backing Fuse signals that lenders will fund expansion when underwriting and reporting can hold up.

• Project style financing remains dependable. GULF’s facility shows capital still flows to contracted assets with clearer cashflows.

• Singapore is trying to close the growth stage gap. The Startup SG Equity top up is designed to crowd in private growth capital when global funding is tighter.

• Early equity is still available for applied outcomes. Polybee and Valiance fit the filter investors keep rewarding: measurable ROI and a credible path to deployment.

MENA: Sovereign issuance stays active and regulated platforms keep scoring

February deal scoreboard (MENA)

• Saudi NDMC (Saudi Arabia): Closed the February 2026 issuance under the SAR sukuk program with total allocation SAR 7.868B split across five tranches with maturities from 2031 to 2041.

• Kingdom of Bahrain (Bahrain): Priced a $2.1B dual tranche offering comprising $800M sukuk trust certificates due 2034 and $1.3B notes due 2038.

• Madfu (Saudi Arabia): Raised $25.5M pre Series A led by Afaq Capital for Sharia compliant BNPL.

• Stake (UAE): Raised $31M Series B led by Emirates NBD with participation that includes Mubadala’s MENA Venture Capital Fund.

• CASHIN (Saudi Arabia): Raised $16M Series A led by Impact46.

• ZIWO (UAE): Secured a strategic growth credit investment from Amplify Growth Fund.

• WafR (Morocco): Closed a $4M seed round to expand last mile financial services distribution.

• Breadfast (Egypt): Raised $50M pre Series C as it scales infrastructure and prepares for a larger Series C.

What this tells investors (MENA)

• Debt is still doing real work. Regular sukuk issuance builds benchmarks and keeps local currency liquidity in play.

• Fintech remains the volume driver. Madfu and CASHIN underline how capital concentrates around regulated rails with real transaction flow.

• Non dilutive capital is widening. ZIWO’s growth credit deal signals more companies can fund expansion without forcing an equity round on a bad timetable.

• Distribution models still attract equity when the compliance story is strong. Stake and WafR show investor appetite for platforms that connect capital to assets or services through regulated channels.

Who’s writing the checks: February’s starting lineup

Southeast Asia

• Development finance funding MSME access through proven digital lenders.

• Bank facilities and project finance backing renewables plus storage with contracted capacity.

• Government co investment aiming to crowd in private growth capital.

MENA

• Sovereign debt programs sustaining local market depth through sukuk issuance.

• Regional banks and institutions stepping into growth rounds for regulated platforms.

• Private credit and growth credit expanding the menu beyond equity for enterprise platforms.

WOWS Take

February’s deal mix points to one clear theme: financing is becoming part of the product strategy. In SEA credit and structured facilities are increasingly used to scale distribution while policy support aims to strengthen the growth stage pipeline. In MENA debt markets keep the system liquid while equity continues to reward regulated platforms with defensible unit economics.

If you want reliable intel on SEA and MENA follow WOWS Global. We track the deals and the structures behind them then translate those signals into fundraising strategy. For investors and fund managers we help sharpen timing instrument choice and narrative so capital raising matches what is actually being funded across SEA and MENA today.

FAQs

What is structured credit and why is it showing up more?

Structured credit is debt with rules tied to performance such as repayment behavior receivables or portfolio quality. It is showing up more because it can fund growth while limiting dilution when cashflows are predictable enough to underwrite.

How should investors evaluate a growth credit facility versus an equity raise

Start with what the debt funds and how it is repaid. Review covenants pricing maturity and whether the facility scales with performance. Then compare those terms to the company’s margins default risk and cash conversion cycle.

Does a debt heavy cycle reduce equity opportunities?

Not necessarily. Debt heavy cycles often sit on top of equity funded platforms. The shift mainly changes what investors reward: disciplined underwriting predictable collections and clean governance.