From Cocoa to Cyber: Capital Turns Up the Heat in SEA & MENA

August kept the funding heat alive across Southeast Asia and MENA. From foodtech reinventing cocoa to fintechs reshaping corporate spend, the month saw fresh capital pouring into healthtech, cybersecurity, AI, and beyond. What stood out wasn’t just the variety of sectors, but the scale: from scrappy $1M seeds in Jakarta to $100M checks in Tel Aviv, investors are clearly betting on both ends of the spectrum.

Confidence is building, discipline is tightening, and the region’s ecosystems are showing that growth stories are no longer exceptions; they’re becoming the norm.

Southeast Asia (SEA): Seeds and Scale

It was a month where Southeast Asia showcased its full spectrum, from sustainable cocoa powders to deep-tech semiconductors.

• Prefer (Singapore) – Cocoa, reimagined. The foodtech startup turning agricultural by-products into sustainable cocoa and coffee powders raised US $4.2M co-led by At One Ventures and Chancery Hill Capital. The round fuels pilot-scale production, cocoa R&D, and new partnerships across Asia.
  
  

• WaterHub (Indonesia) – Tackling plastic waste one refill at a time. The Jakarta-based startup secured US $1M seed from Archipelago Ventures and The Radical Fund to scale its smart refill stations, bringing affordable, plastic-free drinking water to more communities.
  
  

• Naluri (Singapore) – Healthtech at work. The company raised US $5M as part of its $14M Series B, led by Telus Global Ventures’ Pollinator Fund for Good with backing from Sumitomo Corporation Equity Asia and M Venture Partners. Next up: expansion into the Philippines and Vietnam.
  
  

• Respiree (Singapore) – Breathing new life into hospitals and homes, Respiree raised US $11.6M Series A to scale its AI-powered 1Bio™ disease-monitoring platform across the U.S., APAC, and Gulf.
  
  

• Chocolate Finance (Singapore) – Sweet money. The savings app raised US $15M Series A+ to fund its Hong Kong launch and develop new tools for transparent daily returns in SGD and USD.
  
  

• Gupshup (India/SEA) – Talk of the town. The conversational AI platform bagged US $60M in equity and debt, fueling expansion and stoking IPO rumors for 2026.
  
  

• Graas AI (Singapore) – E-commerce gets sharper tools. Graas raised US $9M, led by Tin Men Capital, to grow its AI-powered SaaS suite.
  
  

• SixSense (Singapore) – Industrial AI goes global. The defect-detection startup secured US $8.5M Series A to expand into Malaysia, Taiwan, and the U.S., while accelerating AI R&D.

Fueling the Next Wave

And the capital builders weren’t idle either:

• Strive (SEA, India, Japan) – Formerly Gree Ventures, Strive announced a $130M first close for its third Asia-focused fund, reinforcing its B2B tech playbook.
  
  

• China Galaxy Securities & CICC – Two Chinese state-backed banks unveiled plans to pump over US $1B into Southeast Asia, targeting AI, healthcare, renewable energy, and consumer tech.
  
  

• Antler – The early-stage VC deployed US $7.4M in H1 2025 into SEA AI startups, while signaling larger initial checks in response to the region’s early-stage crunch.

Zooming out: fintech roared back in the first half of the year with US $776M raised, a 31% jump from the previous half. SEA overall clocked US $2B in H1 funding, buoyed by late-stage deals. By Q2, ASEAN startups had notched a record US $5.8B quarter, showing that global confidence is snapping back. The caveat? Investors are demanding sharper fundamentals and a clear path to profitability. The days of “growth at all costs” are officially behind us.

MENA : Fintech Muscle and Cyber Firepower

MENA’s August funding was all about ambition, from flashy AI entertainment plays to hard-nosed cybersecurity bets.

• Astra Nova (Saudi Arabia) – Where AI meets Web3. The startup raised US $4.7M seed to build an AI-driven entertainment platform and prep for a token launch.
  
  

• Alaan (UAE) – A fintech blockbuster. The spend management platform scored US $48M Series A to roll out AI-enabled corporate cards and real-time expense controls across the Middle East.
  
  

• Recruitment Professional.me (UAE) – Résumés are out, micro-LLMs are in. The Abu Dhabi-based HRtech startup raised US $3.1M seed led by Raha Beach Ventures to scale its AI-powered job-matching platform across EMEA.
  
  

• Coraly.ai (Egypt) – Proptech with an AI twist. Raised US $2M pre-seed from Salica Oryx Fund to expand fulfillment centers across Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, and Mansoura.
  
  

• Wuilt (Egypt) – Arabic-first and founder-friendly. Raised US $2M seed to expand its free website and e-store builder into the UAE and GCC, with AI merchant tools on the horizon.
  
  

• Wittify.ai (GCC) – Raised US $1.5M pre-seed to scale its Arabic-first conversational AI platform across the region.
  
  

• Noma Security (Israel) – The heavyweight of the month. Raised US $100M Series B, bringing total funding to $132M, to secure enterprise data pipelines against AI agent threats.
  
  

• Tonic Security (Israel) – Complementing the cyber surge, raised US $7M seed for synthetic data and privacy-safe enterprise AI solutions.
  
  

On the ecosystem front: Saudi Arabia continues to dominate, capturing 56% of MENA VC in H1 2025 (~$860M across 114 deals). The wider region raised $1.5B in H1, its strongest first half since 2022, with fintech, AI, logistics, and digital infrastructure driving momentum. Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Exchange (HKEX) opened a Riyadh office to woo SEA and MENA firms for secondary listings, a new avenue for founders with IPO dreams.

Who’s Writing the Checks

If August proved anything, it’s that the investors themselves are shaping the story.

In Southeast Asia, Vertex Ventures SEA & India backed Elivaas’ $10.4M play in upscale travel. Tin Men Capital doubled down on SaaS with Graas AI. And Strive’s $130M fund-close reinforced its role as a seed-stage workhorse.

In MENA, fresh faces stepped into the spotlight. Raha Beach Ventures led Recruitment Professional.me’s $3.1M seed round in HRtech. Salica Oryx Fund backed Coraly.ai’s $2M pre-seed in Egypt. Meanwhile, international specialists wrote the month’s biggest checks, with global cybersecurity investors piling into Noma Security’s $100M Series B.

The thread? AI done with purpose. From Arabic-first platforms like Wittify.ai and Wuilt to deep-tech plays like SixSense, capital is following founders who apply AI with precision, not hype. Local funds are taking bold bets on region-specific needs, while international players supply the muscle for scale.

WOWS’ Take: Shaping the Next Wave of Growth

August’s dealmaking across Southeast Asia and MENA showed more than just momentum, it reflected a maturing investment story. From micro-LLM job-matching in Abu Dhabi to AI-powered healthtech in Singapore, capital is no longer chasing hype but backing sharper, verticalized innovation. With global institutions writing nine-figure checks alongside local funds seeding the next wave of founders, the ecosystems are building balance, depth, and resilience. 

As 2025 enters its final stretch, expect SEA and MENA to keep proving that these markets aren’t just catching up, they're setting the pace for the next generation of global venture stories.