SEA & MENA Keep the Deal Flow in Play

From Singapore’s AI power grid bets to Saudi Arabia’s fintech pipeline, November felt like a tight, disciplined game rather than a goal fest. Southeast Asia leaned into deep tech and infrastructure. MENA kept its early‑stage bench busy, with more seed and pre‑Series A rounds coming through.

Southeast Asia: Deep Tech and Infrastructure Move Up the Order

November didn’t deliver many giant rounds in Southeast Asia, but the region still put points on the board. The focus shifted to “hard” problems: AI power, connectivity, circular waste, and bio‑manufacturing.

• Amperesand (Singapore) — US$80M Series A
  A next‑generation power infrastructure company for AI data centers and other critical loads, Amperesand closed an oversubscribed US$80 million Series A co‑led by Walden Catalyst Ventures and Temasek.

  • Builds solid‑state transformer platforms for high‑density AI data centers.

  • Capital will go into scaling manufacturing and deploying ~30MW of systems from 2026.

• Transcelestial (Singapore) — US$9.7M top‑up round
  Wireless laser communications startup Transcelestial raised an additional US$9.7 million, bringing total funding to about US$34.7 million.

  • Funds support rollout of its “SpaceLaser” links in Japan, targeting resilient, high‑capacity connectivity for cities and emergency networks.

  • New investors include MPower Partners and NTT Finance, signalling Japan’s interest in SEA deep tech.

• Blue Planet Environmental Solutions (Singapore) — Strategic Series B investment
  Integrated waste‑management platform Blue Planet secured a strategic investment from Novo Holdings, which joins its Series B syndicate.

  • Blue Planet runs circular waste infrastructure across India, Southeast Asia, New Zealand and beyond, turning waste into energy and materials.

  • New capital will back more “zero‑waste” projects and M&A‑driven expansion in high‑growth markets.

• Moladin (Indonesia) — US$35M Series C
  Jakarta‑based used‑car and auto‑finance platform Moladin closed a US$35 million Series C round, with investors including CyberAgent Capital, DST Global Partners, East Ventures, K3 Ventures, Peak XV Partners and Rocket Internet.

  • Moladin runs a large used‑car marketplace and financing arm, with over 26,000 agents and dealers across more than 100 cities in Indonesia.

  • The company has already disbursed more than US$500 million in auto loans since 2023, targeting both consumers and MSMEs

• Anomaly Bio (Singapore) — US$2.6M pre‑seed
  Biotech startup Anomaly Bio raised US$2.6 million in pre‑seed funding led by US‑based Pebblebed Ventures, with several well‑known angel investors from Notion, Solugen, Ecovative and others joining.

  • The company engineers microbes to produce bio‑based ingredients via fermentation, targeting sectors from crop protection to nutrition and personal care.

  • The round funds a new lab and pilot‑scale facility in Singapore, in line with the country’s push into advanced biomanufacturing.

SEA game plan in November: fewer big headline rounds, more solid plays in infrastructure, climate, and deep tech. The ball is moving through companies that already have technology in market or clear industrial demand, not just slideware.

MENA: Early‑Stage Bench Stays Busy

While MENA has already crossed US$3 billion in VC funding year‑to‑date and overtaken Southeast Asia on total capital for the first time, November showed that the region’s early‑stage pipeline is still very active.

Recent deals across Saudi Arabia and the UAE looked like a steady string of smart passes rather than one giant shot:

• Ghanem (Saudi Arabia) — US$7.1M equity round
  Proptech firm Ghanem raised US$7.1 million from Al‑Romaih Group, a major local real‑estate investor.

  • Ghanem offers fractional ownership of Saudi real estate and broader investment tools for the sector.

  • Funds will support product development and more diversified real‑estate investment opportunities, aligned with Vision 2030.

• Kingpin (UAE) — US$3.5M seed
  Dubai‑ and Abu Dhabi‑based Kingpin, an AI‑native B2B SaaS platform for distributors and brands, closed a US$3.5 million seed round backed by Infinity Ventures, Red Swan Ventures, Mu Ventures, COTU, Outliers, and Hub71 support.

  • Kingpin helps brands and wholesalers discover retailers, manage pricing, and automate sales workflows across beauty, fashion and sports.

  • Capital will build engineering and AI teams and support expansion from the Middle East into Europe and North America.

• Nabta Health (UAE) — US$2M pre‑Series A
  Femtech startup Nabta Health secured US$2 million in pre‑Series A funding, taking total raised to about US$4.5 million.

  • Nabta runs an AI‑powered hybrid women’s‑health platform, combining digital tools with clinical partners.

  • New capital will go into MENA expansion, new diagnostics and at‑home testing, and deeper partnerships with employers, insurers, and hospitals.

• Takadao (Saudi Arabia) — US$1.5M seed
  Takadao raised US$1.5 million in seed funding from a set of Shariah‑focused investors including Hasan VC, Syla Invest, Wahed Ventures and others.

  • The startup offers blockchain‑based, Shariah‑compliant savings and loans plus cooperative life insurance products.

  • The round also supports its LifeCard, a prepaid Visa card that lets users spend stablecoins like cash where Visa is accepted.

• SahmAlgo (Saudi Arabia) — US$1M seed
  AI‑driven fintech SahmAlgo closed a US$1 million seed round led by Gharesah Investment.

  • The platform provides advanced trading and portfolio tools for Saudi investors and is building institutional products for brokers and asset managers.

  • Funds will go into algorithm development, data infrastructure, and reliability upgrades for the fast‑moving Saudi market.

MENA game plan in November: keep feeding the early‑stage funnel. Most rounds are small, but they’re spread across proptech, femtech, fintech, and AI SaaS. This builds a wide bench for later‑stage “star players” in 2026–27.

Who’s Writing the Checks?

The investors behind these rounds tell you where the smart money is lining up:

• Temasek, Walden Catalyst, MPower, NTT Finance backing Amperesand and Transcelestial show global and Japanese capital leaning into SEA infrastructure for AI and communications, not only software.

• Novo Holdings taking a Series B stake in Blue Planet links European “planetary health” capital with Southeast Asia’s waste and circular‑economy infrastructure.

• CyberAgent Capital, DST Global Partners, East Ventures, K3 Ventures, Peak XV and Rocket Internet staying in the Moladin story shows continued conviction in Indonesian used‑car and auto‑finance platforms that are already at scale.

• Pebblebed Ventures and well‑known US biotech founders writing early checks into Anomaly Bio show that frontier biology in Singapore is now attracting global specialist capital from day one.

• On the MENA side, Al‑Romaih Group (Ghanem), Infinity Ventures and COTU (Kingpin), and a mix of regional VCs and angels in Nabta Health, Takadao, SahmAlgo highlight a healthy blend of local strategic money and international funds taking early positions in AI and fintech plays.

In short, the “team owners” are getting more sophisticated: pairing infra, AI and climate themes with founders who show real traction.

What November Tells Us

Keeping the sports lens light, November’s tape shows a few clear patterns:

1. SEA is playing the long game with infrastructure.
   Power for AI data centers, last‑mile laser links, circular waste platforms, and bio‑manufacturing all drew capital. These are slow‑build assets, but once they’re in place, they can support many “applications” on top.

2. MENA’s early‑stage pipeline is deep and balanced.
   Saudi Arabia and the UAE are spreading bets across real estate, women’s health, fintech, and AI tools. This lines up with data that MENA has already hit US$3 billion of VC funding in 2025 and outpaced Southeast Asia on total capital for the first time.

3. AI and financial rails are now core themes, not side stories.
   From Kingpin and SahmAlgo to Takadao and Nabta Health, most new cheques touch AI, data, or new ways to move and manage money.

4. Local companies are playing on global fields.
   Transcelestial is using Singapore capital to build in Japan. Kingpin is using Gulf backing to expand in Europe and North America. Blue Planet is scaling waste infra from Asia into other emerging markets with Novo Holdings.

WOWS’ Take: Follow the Right Playbook

November shows that both Southeast Asia and MENA are very much in season, the matches just look different. In Southeast Asia, investors are leaning toward deep tech and infrastructure: power for AI data centers, connectivity, circular economy solutions, and advanced bio-manufacturing. The mood is disciplined rather than speculative. Capital is flowing to teams that already have customers, revenue, and technologies that can support many use cases over time.

MENA, on the other hand, is building a deep early-stage bench. Saudi Arabia and the UAE continue to back a wide mix of proptech, fintech, femtech, and AI-driven platforms. Round sizes are mostly modest, but the pipeline is broad and aligned with long-term national and regional priorities. Combined with the fact that MENA has now overtaken Southeast Asia on total VC dollars this year, the region is moving from “interesting outlier” to a real fixture on the global map.

At WOWS Global, we sit at the intersection of these two ecosystems and track this flow of capital and ideas week by week. We see which founders are getting term sheets, which sectors are heating up or cooling down, and which funds and family offices are actively deploying across SEA and MENA. That view lets us understand not just where money is going, but why, and what that means for the next fundraising cycle.

For investors, this means WOWS Global is a partner you can follow to stay ahead of SEA and MENA intel and to source opportunities that fit your mandate. For founders, it means having a team that can help you shape the right fundraising strategy, from positioning and metrics to the investors you should actually be speaking with in each market. The game is still wide open. The difference now is that you need a clear playbook, and WOWS Global is here to help you write it.