June 2025 Investment Snapshot: Capital Hits a Heatwave

After a sleepy Q1, the funding frenzy in Q2 hasn’t just continued – it’s accelerated. June 2025 brought a summer heatwave of venture capital across Southeast Asia and MENA, extending May’s big rebound. Investors aren’t taking a vacation; they’re doubling down on AI, fintech infrastructure, and even quantum bets like it’s 2021 all over again. In short, funding in June didn’t snooze – it sizzled.

Southeast Asia led the charge once again, with Singapore and Jakarta as ground zero for mega-rounds, while the Middle East saw moonshot deals that read like sci-fi. From insurtech unicorn-building to surgical robots and satellite dreams, this wasn’t just funding – it was future-casting with cash. Let’s break down the highlights.

Southeast Asia: Funding Frenzy Finds a New Gear

Forget any talk of cooldown – Southeast Asia kept sprinting in June:

• Bolttech (Singapore)– Raised $147M in a Series C round for its global insurtech platform, vaulting it to a unicorn valuation. Investors included international VCs, corporates, and insurance giants. Insurtech? Still hot.

• Syfe (Singapore) – Picked up $80M in a Series C extension for its wealthtech platform, with global family offices and Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures backing the round. Robo-advisors, but make it global.

• Salmon(Philippines) – Grabbed $88M across equity and bond components to fuel its rural lending platform. Fintech with inclusion baked in—and one of the country’s largest rounds in years.

• Amartha (Indonesia) – Secured $55M in debt financing to expand microloans for women-led businesses. Microfinance is having a macro moment, especially when it’s impact-driven.

• Galaxy Education(Vietnam) – Scored nearly $10M to build out AI-powered ESL edtech. Profitable and scaling fast—proof that not all edtech is post-hype.

• Instapay (Malaysia) – Raised $3M in Series A2 to grow its migrant worker e-wallet platform. Remittance and migrant services are finally catching investors’ attention.

• Shiok Burger (Singapore) – Closed an undisclosed pre-Series A to fuel its tech-enabled F&B expansion. Cloud kitchens with a side of capital.

• 10Ants Enterprise (Thailand) – Pulled in $500K pre-seed to revitalize urban spaces using proptech. Green cities are becoming green fields for VCs.

New Funds Brewing

• Jelawang Capital (Malaysia) – Launched a $236M government-backed fund-of-funds to catalyze local VC activity. It’s more than capital—it’s crowding in ecosystem players.

• Endeavor Catalyst Fund V – Targeting $300M globally to co-invest in scaleups across Asia, MENA, LatAm, and Africa. Proof that the "frontier" is looking more like the fast lane.

MENA: Moonshots and Megadeals

From the Gulf to the Levant, June saw MENA’s venture scene go full sci-fi. Big checks flowed into deep tech and fintech alike:

• Nawy (Egypt) – Landed $75M in Series A and debt to scale its real estate platform. From brokerage to mortgages to fractional ownership, it’s full-stack proptech with pan-MENA ambition.

• WakeCap (Saudi Arabia) – Raised $28M to expand its AI-powered construction safety wearables. Contech’s having a renaissance—and Saudi’s leading the blueprint.

• Octa (UAE) – Secured $20M in debt to grow its SME credit platform. Fintech meets structured finance—non-dilutive capital is trending.

• Octane (Egypt) – Picked up $5.2M to digitize fleet fuel and payments. Think Stripe for logistics—on wheels.

• Kumulus Water (Tunisia)– Raised $3.5M to turn desert air into drinking water. Climate tech for the win.

• SaturnX (UAE) – Closed $3M seed for its Gulf–South Asia stablecoin payment rail. Cross-border fintech gets crypto infrastructure.

• XFOLIO (Lebanon) – Landed $2M to build out digital wealth tools for MENA and Francophone markets. A leaner, meaner alternative to legacy banks.

• Prop-AI (UAE)- Raised $1.5M to deploy AI for real estate operations. Property tech gets predictive.

• Darwinz AI (Saudi Arabia) – Grabbed $325K to build productivity AI for SMEs. Lean, local, and laser-focused.

• Talenteo (Algeria) – Scored a six-figure round to expand its HR and payroll SaaS into Francophone Africa. HR tech with cross-border hustle.

More Money in Motion

• Shorooq’s Nahda Fund II (UAE) – Backed by the Arab Fund’s Badir initiative, this structured credit vehicle is helping startups scale without equity dilution. Venture debt is no longer niche.

• Early-stage accelerators in Egypt and Tunisia kept buzzing, quietly feeding the pipeline with promising AI, logistics, and marketplace plays.

WOWS Insights

Two big signals flashed green this month:

• Deep tech gets real. Investors aren’t just funding apps, they’re backing platforms for robotic surgery, AI observability, and climate resilience. From Jakarta to Jeddah, the frontier is now a tech lab.

• Smart capital is moving local. SEA and MENA aren’t waiting for Silicon Valley validation anymore. Local funds, sovereign capital, and family offices are leading rounds and bringing discipline with the dollars.

Want to explore these deals or meet the startups behind them? WOWS Global connects investors and startups across Asia and MENA. Let’s talk.