Driven by large-scale investments in Chinese electric vehicles and artificial intelligence... Asian startups' investment in Q4 surpasses 31 trillion won

In 2025, overall venture capital investment in Asian startups showed a sluggish trend, but vitality emerged in the last quarter, signaling a rebound. According to Crunchbase statistics, the total investment from seed to growth stages across Asia last year reached $67.5 billion (approximately 97.2 trillion KRW), down about 6% from the previous year, marking the lowest level in nearly five years. The overall downturn was due to weak investment flows in the first half of the year, but after entering the second half, investment activity rebounded, especially centered around China, with a market sentiment reversal.

The investment amount in the fourth quarter was $21.7 billion (about 31.2 trillion KRW), a 19% increase from the previous quarter and a 22% increase year-over-year. In particular, later-stage investments became more heated, with a notable upward trend in follow-on funding rounds with large capital concentrations.

Follow-up investments in growth-stage companies (Series C and above) in the fourth quarter totaled over $10.4 billion (about 15 trillion KRW), setting the highest quarterly record of the year. The annual cumulative investment reached $30.8 billion (about 44.3 trillion KRW). Among them, Chinese startups successfully attracted large funds, leading the overall atmosphere. Electric vehicle brand Deepal raised $8.74 billion (about 1.26 trillion KRW), autonomous delivery company Neolix raised $6 billion (about 8.6 trillion KRW), and AI developer Moonshot AI raised $5 billion (about 7.2 trillion KRW), each completing fundraising in Series C or D rounds.

Early-stage investments also showed signs of recovery. In the fourth quarter, a total of $8.9 billion (about 12.8 trillion KRW) was invested in Series A and B rounds, reaching the highest level of the year. On an annual basis, the total was $28.2 billion (about 40.6 trillion KRW), a decrease of about 10% compared to the previous year. At this stage, companies focused on intelligent driving technology, such as NeueHCT, and Israel’s AA-I Technologies, which develops artificial intelligence generalization technology, each attracted $2 billion (about 290 billion KRW), drawing significant attention.

Investments in seed-stage startups also rebounded at the end of the year. In the fourth quarter, the investment amount was $2.1 billion (about 3 trillion KRW), the highest in nearly a year; on an annual basis, it was $8.2 billion (about 11.8 trillion KRW), a slight decrease of 6% from the previous year.

Investments in artificial intelligence (AI) startups set a new milestone in 2025. The total annual investment in AI-related fields reached $16.7 billion (about 24.05 trillion KRW), with over 38% concentrated in the fourth quarter. Advanced technology sectors such as AI infrastructure, autonomous driving, and intelligent agent AI became the main targets of investment.

By country, China still maintains the position of the largest venture capital market in Asia, followed by India, Israel, Japan, and Singapore. The large financing rounds in China’s electric vehicle, autonomous driving, and AI infrastructure sectors in the fourth quarter further underscored this point.

Overall, although Asian venture capital in 2025 was constrained, signs of recovery are clearly emerging. The rebound in the fourth quarter is an indicator of an optimistic outlook for investment flows in 2026. However, compared to the peak levels of 2021, there is still considerable room for recovery. Some analysts point out that the intensity and direction of investment need to shift toward expansion, which requires additional policy stability and the elimination of global economic uncertainties.