SEA fintech funding triples in 9M as mega-rounds mask fewer deals

Ant International’s $1.2b Series A funding round lifted early-stage funding numbers.

Fintech funding in Southeast Asia (SEA) rose 206% year-on-year (YoY) to $2.3b in the first nine months of 2026 despite there having less funding rounds.

A total of 42 funding rounds were recorded over the period, down 44% from 75 in 9M 2025, according to data from Tracxn Technologies.

Funding for 9M 2026 stands at 43% of the peak reached in 9M 2022.

Funding was concentrated in “a small number of very large rounds”, Tracxn said, with internet first business payments and crypto financial services being the top categories.

Four mega-rounds—rounds above $100m— accounted for $2b or 86% of the total funding raised, Tracxn said.

Ant International notably raised $1.2b in a Series A round in June 2026, backed by Alibaba and Ant Group.

Ant International propelled early stage funding—Series A and B—to a total of $1.4b raised in 9M 2026, equal to 61% of all capital raised for the period.

CRYPTO raised $400m in a Series D round, and Ajaib raised $270m in a Series C round. Edena Capital raised $100m in January 2026.

Late stage funding—series C, private equity, and pre-IPO—grew 137% to $806m across 7 rounds.

Seed funding dropped 46% YoY to $53.3m across 18 rounds.