FOMO Saturday

Hello reader,

Diversity is the theme this week - and we do love a broad mix.

The week's largest disclosed rounds are tackling very different parts of the economy. Fintech player Navi Technologies leads the pack with a US$100 million fundraise, but things get more eclectic from there. Among the other bigger bets are world models, disease detection, data infrastructure, and geospatial intelligence.

Capital seems to be spreading its bets across the field. There isn't one trend tying the biggest checks together - and maybe that's the trend.

You can find all other important investment deals from the last few days in our weekly funding news wrap-up.

Let's dive into the biggest deals and M&As that have recently taken place.

-- Lilian

THE BIGGEST DEALS BY MARKET

🇮🇳 Navi Technologies, formerly known as BAC Acquisitions, is a digital financial services company based in India. It has bagged US$100 million in a bridge round from Prosus Ventures.

🇨🇳 Kokoni is a 3D printer developer hailing from China. It has secured US$74.6 million in a strategic investment round from undisclosed investors.

🇯🇵 Craif is a bio-AI company developing urine-based disease detection technology. Based in Japan, the firm has raised US$34.5 million in series D money from Granite-Integral, Tauns Laboratories, Unreasonable, and X&KSK.

🇦🇪 Naran is a mobility fintech startup headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. It has secured US$10 million in debt and equity financing from Landel.

🇦🇺 Australia-based Nbryo, which develops advanced bio-digital and robotic platforms for cattle reproduction, has bagged US$7 million in a recent seed round, bringing its total seed funding to approximately US$14 million. Its backers include AgriZeroNZ, Tenacious Ventures, Sowing the Seeds of Farming Innovation Fund, and the Gates Foundation.

Here's the complete list of this week's funding chart: 54 deals worth over US$356.6 million.

M&AS

🇰🇷 South Korean startup SpaceY operates DIO, a part-time and freelance professional recruitment platform. It has been acquired by Day1 Company for an undisclosed amount.

STARTUPS THAT ARE RAISING FUNDS

Fundraising is hard. To make things slightly easier, we've compiled this list of fundraising startups for our subscribers. Do you run a startup that's raising at the moment or know someone who does? Sign your company up for listing here.

Here's a preview of the startups:

🇱🇰 This payments platform from Sri Lanka offers flexible and rewarding spending for consumers.

🇮🇩 This Indonesia-based startup develops net-zero eyewear materials from ocean-bound plastic waste and captured emissions.

🇰🇷 Headquartered in South Korea, this firm develops semiconductor architecture tailored for AI tasks outside data centers.

You can find the full list of fundraising startups in Asia over here.

BEHIND THE GLASSWALL

Fundraising often involves reaching out to several contacts, many of whom founders might not have dealt with before. To provide some transparency to this process, we created Glasswall, a platform for founders to give feedback and recommendations on investors. Check out the full list here.

• ✅︎ "Surprisingly positive. Didn't expect their analyst to know that much about our industry, making communication much simpler." - Read more
• ❌ "We once pitched Folius' junior associate, who did not seem very knowledgeable or conversant in English. We never received a follow-up or rejection; we were simply ghosted. It was not a great experience." - Read more
• ✅︎ "Tatiana understands founders. Founders should leverage her international experience and network." - Read more

START DISTRIBUTING BEYOND YOUR PITCHES

Secure a startup booth at our conference

For over a decade, the Startup Factory at Tech in Asia Conference has been the definitive launchpad for defining tech companies in Asia. We are taking this legendary energy and refocusing it on the most critical market shift of our time: industrial-scale AI deployment.

Now called Startup Booth, the exhibition space serves as your high-velocity base to move beyond the pitch deck and into the production stacks of 1,500 decision-makers from companies like HSBC, Canva, Ferrero, and ComfortDelGro. For just US$750, you secure an exhibition slot for two days and two conference passes to bridge the gap from startup ambition to real-world results.

Don't just showcase your product; start your distribution journey where Asia's tech future is built. Find out more here.

EXCLUSIVE LISTICLES

Lists of most active investors in the region

China | India | Indonesia | Japan | Singapore | Southeast Asia

List of top-funded startups in Asia

China | India | Indonesia | Israel | Japan | Hong Kong | Singapore | South Korea | Vietnam

THOUGHTFUL READS

1️⃣ AI makes a crowd

The AI boom is not just competing for headlines; it is also competing for capital, chips, electricity, and land. Is AI starting to crowd out other parts of the economy? This Financial Times piece dives deeper.

2️⃣ Thanks for the memory

It's not all about graphics processing units when it comes to AI infrastructure. Micron's newly launched US$250 million Paradigm Fund signals what the next wave of AI will demand: memory, storage, and hardware. Just a little supply-chain anxiety for your weekend reading, courtesy of Global Corporate Venturing.

3️⃣ Your next hire might be the breach

There's been a lot of talk about cybersecurity, but threats do not always arrive as malware. Surprise, surprise - sometimes it's a candidate who gets a laptop and login access. This VC Cafe piece explains why hiring, onboarding, and identity checks are becoming part of the security perimeter.

4️⃣ A case for humans

After weeks of headlines about expanding machine capabilities, Reach Capital's US$265 million Fund V is a refreshing reminder that human potential is still part of the AI equation. Read this article from TechCrunch to learn more.

5️⃣ A model for numbers

Much of the AI boom has focused on models that understand words. Synthefy bets businesses also need models that understand numbers, from forecasting and fraud detection to pricing and risk analysis. This SiliconAngle piece details the company's US$6.5 million seed round to build foundation models for numerical data.

Today's edition was written by Lilian Tang. It's edited by Mina Deocareza.

EVENTS HAPPENING

This is your last chance to be in the room Enterprise AI's next chapter gets decided at ignitePRO at BATIC on August 25 in BICC The Westin Resort, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia. Leaders from Meta, Microsoft, AWS, Nokia, Rakuten, Lazada, Telkom Indonesia, Telin, and more will set the direction of Asia's digital future. Seats are limited and registration closes soon. Sign up here.

Can AI communications scale? Part of Tech in Asia Conference 2026, this roundtable luncheon on September 15 brings leaders together to explore what it takes to keep AI-powered customer communications reliable at scale. Exchange practical approaches to deliverability, channel reliability, email, and customer trust with peers navigating similar decisions. Get your Tech in Asia Conference 2026 pass to unlock access and register your interest for the roundtable.