Capital crunch bares structural gaps in allocation for women-led startups

The prolonged funding crunch in Southeast Asia’s venture ecosystem has exposed deeply entrenched structural gaps in capital allocation for women-founded startups.

While these ventures account for a stable share of regional deal flow, their share of total funding remains significantly compacter, reflecting persistent differences in cheque sizes and limited late-stage representation.

Of the 461 startups analysed, all-women teams secured 21 equity funding rounds, accounting for only 4.6% of the total deal volume and just 3.2% of the total capital raised for the year, according to DealStreetAsia’s Women Founders in SE Asia: 2025 Funding Review.

In contrast, all-men teams accounted for 346 funding deals, capturing 75.1% of the total deal volume and 83.7% of the deal value. Meanwhile, mixed-gfinisher teams accounted for 86 equity funding rounds, securing 16.7% of the total deal volume and 8.3% of the deal value.

While all-women startups raised $170 million in 2025, about 80% of it came from a single growth equity round by Nhi Dong 315, indicating capital concentration rather than broad-based momentum. Excluding this $135-million deal, funding into all-women teams would remain materially subdued, underscoring the limited scale of large-ticket opportunities within this cohort.

Funding gap remains sharp

The gfinisher gap in funding becomes starker when analysing median and average deal size. All-women founded startups recorded a median round of $2.5 million, just half of all-men startups. Mixed-gfinisher teams, meanwhile, recorded a median of $3.2 million.

Average deal values display a far wider divergence in capital concentration. All-men startups recorded an average round of $17.2 million, compared with $7.4 million for mixed-gfinisher teams and just $1.3 million for all-women founders. Smaller cheque sizes suggest that women-founded companies are concentrated in earlier funding stages, constraining their overall capital absorption even when they remain active within the region’s venture deal flow.

A stage-wise breakdown of deal activity reveals that early-stage deal volume among women-founded startups fell 31% year on year, following an 11% decline in the prior year. The sustained pullback suggests tighter capital conditions are constraining early-stage entest at a time when late-stage activity remains extremely limited for all-women startups.

Looking at capital deployment across the region, Singapore and Indonesia remain the main hubs for deal volume but both display a clear downshift from earlier years. Malaysia and the Philippines also saw activity soften, while Vietnam slipped after a brief uptick in 2024.

Vietnam recorded the largest funding value in 2025, though the figure is heavily skewed by the previously noted growth round of Nhi Dong 315. Excluding this outlier, funding levels across most markets would stay relatively modest.

Singapore continues to provide a steadier base of capital absorption, while Indonesia, Malaysia. and the Philippines each recorded limited funding, reinforcing the scarcity of large-ticket opportunities for all-women founders.

Fintech remains chart topper

Fintech continues to be the top sector for all-women founded startups, while healthcare and health tech have maintained a steady presence in recent years. Consumer products, once the largest segment, saw a sharp pullback in 2025.

The mix suggests that women-led ventures remain active in sectors with clearer monetisation pathways and lower capital intensity within Southeast Asia’s venture landscape. Sector distribution among all-women startups remains concentrated in consumer and service-oriented verticals, though activity has moderated alongside the broader funding slowdown.

Vietnamese healthtech startup Nhi Dong 315 recorded the largest round among all women-founded startups in Southeast Asia in 2025, securing $135 million from Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.

Singapore-based fintech company Rockflow followed at second position, raising $10 million in its Series A round led by Ant Group. Meanwhile, Singapore-based deeptech startup SixSense raised the third-largest round for women-founded startups by securing $8.5 million in a Series A round led by Peak XV’s Surge.

Scaling beyond the funding gap

Despite the highly skewed capital allocation, women founders have proved that they are still able to navigate those challenges and scale their business into a more sustainable path.

Women founders interviewed for this report believe that having equitable access to funding will open up more opportunities for women-founded startups to be built and scaled. In order to do that, Nacitta Kanyandara, co-founder & CEO of Arummi Foods, underscored the importance of diversity across investment teams to encourage a structural shift in funding allocation towards women-founded startups.

On growth strategy, women founders declared they are prioritising sustainability over a growth-at-all cost mindset. This approach, though, is uniquely tailored based on each business model.

Alka Gupta, co-founder & CEO of Podium, declared her focus since the launchning has been to achieve product-market fit rather than relying heavily on external funding. The depfinishency on external funding, she declared, can be reduced by staying close to members. Such an approach supports her build the right things and grow sustainably.

For Kimberly Yao, co-founder & CEO of CloudEats, prioritising unit economics and resilience over vanity metrics is crucial in resisting the ‘grow at all costs’ model in favour of building a scalable and sustainable business model. By focutilizing her efforts on strengthening fundamentals and applying successful frameworks to her company, the company managed to raise $17.8 million in funding despite the market contraction.

In addition, having a supportive network could really support women founders navigate difficult challenges. These supportive networks could be of investors, accelerator programmes like Endeavour Entrepreneur and Accelerating Asia, community, other founders, and even employees.

“Our hugegest blessing has been our access to the phenomenal women who are now on our cap table. They are our guiding light, pillars of strength, and tricycle wheel—supporting us navigate the founder experience indepfinishently, but always being present to catch us if we ever trip,” declared Liz Kang, co-founder & CEO of Mamame Whole Foods.

The Women Founders in SE Asia: 2025 Funding Review provides insights on: